Genesis

“So, I’ve had this idea for a while…”

It was so long ago that my friend Jackie, one of the founders of this website, shared her idea with me that I can’t even pin-point how far back it was. What I do know, is that her idea has finally come to fruition and just by reading this very post, you’re a part of her vision being realized.

When she got into the nitty-gritty, about the concept of a nation-wide e-commerce platform for Canadians to purchase, discuss and read about Canadian wine, I had two immediate thoughts:

Wow, this is going to be a nightmare to develop.

How can I be involved?

Fast-forward months (years?) later and Jackie and I find ourselves in BC wine country for a few days. We’re in a rented Toyota Yaris, crisscrossing and looping Okanagan Lake, Skaha Lake and zipping along the highway stopping in at many a winery sharing the My Wine Canada vision. There may have been a refreshing ale or two at the end of each of these long, hectic days.

So here’s the deal.

My background is managing restaurants in Vancouver, eventually running a couple wine programs, and now find myself consulting with various restaurants, contributing to a host of publications, judging wine competitions and so on. The common thread through all of this has been my unending passion for BC wine and the desire to share my enthusiasm for it.

While I would love to be able to say the same about Canadian wine from other provinces, it wasn’t until last year that provincial borders started to crumble down, allowing us exposure to Canadian wines that have long been the stuff of legend. I’ve been hearing about places like Ontario’s Creekside and 13^th Street wineries for years, and when you tell me about places like L’Acadie in Nova Scotia, well, you may as well have been talking about appellations on Jupiter.

But now, because of a simple-yet-complicated idea, I can finally access these wines quite easily. Not only that, I can learn about them from colleagues across the country who contribute to the My Wine Canada blog, the platform I’m fortunate enough to have the keys to.

This website makes this country a little smaller and our national wine community a little less fragmented. This is tremendously exciting to me.

Thanks for being a part of it, I hope you enjoy exploring this great country of ours as much as I do.

Kurtis Kolt is a Vancouver-based wine consultant, writer, competition judge and enthusiast. He’s not half as fancy/boring as that sounds. He Tweets and Instagrams @KurtisKolt.