Winemaker Gary (Gennadi) Zhygailo.
Most people don’t think of the Fraser Valley as wine country. It sits in the rain shadow of Vancouver, where damp coastal weather keeps umbrellas permanently within reach. And yet, just outside Langley, Chaberton Estate Winery has been quietly challenging expectations for decades.
Founded in 1975 by Claude and Inge Violet, Chaberton holds the distinction of being one of the oldest estate wineries in British Columbia, and the very first in the Lower Mainland.
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A top tasting room experience.
Santa Barbara wine country offers no shortage of beautiful estates, yet Presqu’ile Winery manages to immediately distinguish itself. The architecture is modern and graceful without tipping into excess, the setting frames sweeping vineyard and coastal views, and the experience is curated in a way that feels both intentional and inviting.
It’s the kind of destination where the glass in your hand feels inseparable from the landscape around you: ocean-cooled breezes, rolling vineyards, and a striking modern tasting room that seems to frame it all like art. Add to that a thoughtful food program and wines that capture both precision and personality, and Presqu’ile becomes much more than a stop on the trail, it feels like a complete experience of what makes this region so compelling.
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A comprehensive look at BC wine today.
Wine Growers British Columbia gathered the province’s leading producers under one roof for the annual Swirl Around BC Wine Expo, an exclusive day-long celebration designed for trade and media. More than 60 wineries representing the province’s diverse growing regions poured their latest releases, offering a comprehensive look at the state of BC wine today.
The day unfolded in two parts: a dynamic walkaround tasting of new releases and a series of curated seminars tackling the industry’s most pressing challenges.
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Working my first harvest in Oregon 2024.
Last fall, I did something I never thought I’d do, I worked a wine harvest. Not from the sidelines, not as an observer, but right there in the thick of it cleaning tanks, sampling, sorting fruit and even helping with blending trials. I didn’t pick grapes (turns out, that’s its own brutal art form), but I did just about everything else, thanks to the incredible generosity of Tracy Kendall at Folly of Man in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
It was messy, physical, humbling, and absolutely thrilling. I came away with sore muscles, purple-stained hands, and a deeper respect for the craft than any wine tasting could ever offer.
Winemaker Alison Moyes with the just bottled 2024 Chardonnay.
But even as the last tank was pressed off and the cellar began to quiet down, I knew I was only just beginning to understand the life of a wine. So when winemaker Alison Moyes of Solvero Wines in Summerland, BC invited me to join her team for bottling, I jumped at the chance. Their 2022 Chardonnay was recently crowned Best White Wine in Canada at the All Canadian Wine Championships, and this time, they were sealing up the 2024 vintage.
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It’s a truth universally acknowledged in tasting rooms and patios alike: rosé is a wine that makes people smile.
More than just a summer sipper.
There’s a reason for that. It’s easy to love. Rosé doesn’t ask much of you, just pop the cork, pour it cold, and bask in the moment. But herein lies the danger: too often its charm is mistaken for a lack of depth. Rosé has become the wine equivalent of a vacation fling, flirted with in summer and often abandoned by fall.
We’d like to argue for something radical: rosé deserves to be taken seriously. Not in a nose-in-the-air, decant-it-for-two-hours kind of way. But seriously, as in worthy of attention, worthy of respect. And above all, worthy of being part of the year-round conversation in wine.
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