RobR

I also currently use Cellar Tracker for managing my inventory. One of the things I like is being able to tag where in your cellar the wine is physically located. This makes counting...

"Hello Rob!
Thanks for answering! I red your blog also, very interesting.
I was in BC about 12 years ago, visiting some of my friends and spend there 6 months, and then it was just time for me to go home. But it was a wonderful time, as I already mentioned. I also lived not far from the White Rock beach and liked to walk there once in a while. I hope some day I’ll be able to visit that area again. (By the way, sorry, if I do some mistakes – I’m struggling with English grammar sometimes))
Concerning our wines from this area: I’m at the South of Russia, which is generally known as Northern country, but our area in some ways similar to BC – we don’t have a lot of snow, humidity is quite high here, and we have substantial amount of rains. Weather on the Black Sea coast is much softer than further to interior. And basically all vineyards are located along the coastal line (which is a part of foothills of Caucasus mountains). As I said, I just began to study wines and everything that related to it, so my knowledge is limited. In the future I’m planning to travel more around our area to see some vineyards and wineries. One of it was founded several years ago by specialists from France (Chateau Tamagne), and now they making one of the best wine in area, using French technologies and local sorts of grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are probably two most popular sorts that grow here (and also my favorite type of wine). Another famous winery (Abrau-Durso, it’s also lakes’ name) that is very popular around here is making Champaign type of wine, and people arguing about the name: can we call it “Champaign”, if it produced outside of this French province. But this winery was found around 100 years ago and has a long history. They making very good sparkling wine, although it’s not my favorite, cause malignly I like dry red. I guess Russian wine industry is unknown outside of Russia: some vineries have rich history and experience, but in general I think our country lacks some good classification system and quality control. So in some way we just at the beginning of the journey – to the world market, at least. In the future I can write you more about some particular wines if you will be interested.
Regards,
Dmitriy.
"
reply

"Hello Dmitriy.

White Rock is a beautiful area. I live about 30 minutes drive from there. My wife and I go for walks on the White Rock beach every once in a while. Beautiful area. Why did you decide to leave?

The wines in BC have really received international recognition in recent years. While they are still not considered on par with California wines, they are well on their way.

I have seen almost any varietal of grape being grown in the vineyards I've seen. Pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay. Recently, some wineries have been trying pinotage grapes (from South Africa I believe), but with some difficulty. The more sensitive varietals can survive here, but are more suceptible to damage. Most of the high-end wineries here, in order to maintain their quality, use only the best 50% of their grape harvest. Most actually trim the vines so only 50% of the grapes are remaining when harvest time comes. The theory is that they want the vines putting all of their energy into fewer grapes to make fewer grapes better.

The rocky soil of the Okanagan Valley in BC makes it ideal for vineyards. The winemakers here will attempt to grow anything. A lot of the vineyards in this area are over 15 years old and have been shipped in the past to winemakers all over the world. In the last 10-20 years, a lot of these vineyards have started make their own wines instead of selling off their grapes. Obviously, this has come with great success.

I have a profound love for BC wines, and especially for the experience of travelling from winery to winery for a long weekend. I do prefer dark, full bodied reds. However, I am on a bit of a pinot noir kick lately. I do have a shiraz set aside for this weekend though.

I do keep a blog of some of my experiences as well if you would like to check it out. This outlines some of the recent wines I've tried and some of my travels through the valley.

http://robr21.wordpress.com/

Let me know a little bit about your experiences with Russian wine as well. I'm not very familiar with any wines from that area, but I'm always interested to learn and try something new.

Regards"
reply

"Hi! I'm also new on this site and I'm just trying to figure out how does it work. I'm from Russia, and the situation with wine is quite different here, althouh I'm living in the most popular winemaking area of Russia - not far from Black Sea coast. I'm writting you because about 12-13 years ago I lived in BC (White Rock), and I have a lots of wonderful memories from these times. At that time unfortunately I wasn't so much interested in wines, so I don't know about the winemaking industry of that area. What kind of grapes are tipical for BC? What is your favorite wine (red, dry) produced there?
Regards, Dmitriy."
reply

That would look great on a BlackBerry (which incidentally still outsells the iPhone). http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/05/blackberry-curve-iphone.html So I'm not quite sure why...

Great tips, and I'm glad you pointed out the proper storing temperatures. When my grandfather (a Scotsman) taught me about storing red wine, he said that red wine was meant to be stored at...

"Hello Rob!
Thanks for answering! I red your blog also, very interesting.
I was in BC about 12 years ago, visiting some of my friends and spend there 6 months, and then it was just time for me to go home. But it was a wonderful time, as I already mentioned. I also lived not far from the White Rock beach and liked to walk there once in a while. I hope some day I’ll be able to visit that area again. (By the way, sorry, if I do some mistakes – I’m struggling with English grammar sometimes))
Concerning our wines from this area: I’m at the South of Russia, which is generally known as Northern country, but our area in some ways similar to BC – we don’t have a lot of snow, humidity is quite high here, and we have substantial amount of rains. Weather on the Black Sea coast is much softer than further to interior. And basically all vineyards are located along the coastal line (which is a part of foothills of Caucasus mountains). As I said, I just began to study wines and everything that related to it, so my knowledge is limited. In the future I’m planning to travel more around our area to see some vineyards and wineries. One of it was founded several years ago by specialists from France (Chateau Tamagne), and now they making one of the best wine in area, using French technologies and local sorts of grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are probably two most popular sorts that grow here (and also my favorite type of wine). Another famous winery (Abrau-Durso, it’s also lakes’ name) that is very popular around here is making Champaign type of wine, and people arguing about the name: can we call it “Champaign”, if it produced outside of this French province. But this winery was found around 100 years ago and has a long history. They making very good sparkling wine, although it’s not my favorite, cause malignly I like dry red. I guess Russian wine industry is unknown outside of Russia: some vineries have rich history and experience, but in general I think our country lacks some good classification system and quality control. So in some way we just at the beginning of the journey – to the world market, at least. In the future I can write you more about some particular wines if you will be interested.
Regards,
Dmitriy.
"
reply

"Hello Dmitriy.

White Rock is a beautiful area. I live about 30 minutes drive from there. My wife and I go for walks on the White Rock beach every once in a while. Beautiful area. Why did you decide to leave?

The wines in BC have really received international recognition in recent years. While they are still not considered on par with California wines, they are well on their way.

I have seen almost any varietal of grape being grown in the vineyards I've seen. Pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay. Recently, some wineries have been trying pinotage grapes (from South Africa I believe), but with some difficulty. The more sensitive varietals can survive here, but are more suceptible to damage. Most of the high-end wineries here, in order to maintain their quality, use only the best 50% of their grape harvest. Most actually trim the vines so only 50% of the grapes are remaining when harvest time comes. The theory is that they want the vines putting all of their energy into fewer grapes to make fewer grapes better.

The rocky soil of the Okanagan Valley in BC makes it ideal for vineyards. The winemakers here will attempt to grow anything. A lot of the vineyards in this area are over 15 years old and have been shipped in the past to winemakers all over the world. In the last 10-20 years, a lot of these vineyards have started make their own wines instead of selling off their grapes. Obviously, this has come with great success.

I have a profound love for BC wines, and especially for the experience of travelling from winery to winery for a long weekend. I do prefer dark, full bodied reds. However, I am on a bit of a pinot noir kick lately. I do have a shiraz set aside for this weekend though.

I do keep a blog of some of my experiences as well if you would like to check it out. This outlines some of the recent wines I've tried and some of my travels through the valley.

http://robr21.wordpress.com/

Let me know a little bit about your experiences with Russian wine as well. I'm not very familiar with any wines from that area, but I'm always interested to learn and try something new.

Regards"
reply

"Hi! I'm also new on this site and I'm just trying to figure out how does it work. I'm from Russia, and the situation with wine is quite different here, althouh I'm living in the most popular winemaking area of Russia - not far from Black Sea coast. I'm writting you because about 12-13 years ago I lived in BC (White Rock), and I have a lots of wonderful memories from these times. At that time unfortunately I wasn't so much interested in wines, so I don't know about the winemaking industry of that area. What kind of grapes are tipical for BC? What is your favorite wine (red, dry) produced there?
Regards, Dmitriy."
reply

I also currently use Cellar Tracker for managing my inventory. One of the things I like is being able to tag where in your cellar the wine is physically located. This makes counting...

That would look great on a BlackBerry (which incidentally still outsells the iPhone). http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/05/blackberry-curve-iphone.html So I'm not quite sure why...

Great tips, and I'm glad you pointed out the proper storing temperatures. When my grandfather (a Scotsman) taught me about storing red wine, he said that red wine was meant to be stored at...