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With so much delicious B.C. wine out there, and new wineries springing up almost every day, it's hard to know where to start drinking until now
Live music events, busy tasting rooms, long, late sunsets—summer in wine country is here! And, as Lizzo so aptly said—it’s about damn time. Booking and paid-for tastings continue to be a trend, and honestly, I’m all for it. It means you get dedicated attention and time for your tasting, and you can really get into exploring wines with an engaged server, rather than fighting your way through a crowded tasting bar.
This month, Vancouver’s Bar Susu brings the funk with some lesser-known wine recommendations; we meet Valley of the Springs winemaker, Jody Scott from—yes!—the Kootenays; and there are the usual events, news, and my personal recommendations for the summer. Cheers!
Bar Susu’s Joe Casson has a quartet of delicious, low-intervention wines to recommend for this season. Seek ‘em out at a cool wine bar near you soon.
A winery in the Kootenays? Who knew?! I popped in to visit Valley of the Springs in Nakusp on a recent trip and was delighted by Jody and Brenda’s beautiful cool climate whites and reds. Tough to track down in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, either call to order for delivery, or just head on up there to visit if you want to try a taste of Arrow Lakes terroir!
NB: This summer, what should we be drinking from B.C.?JS: There are so many good things in this province! I’m an aromatic white wine drinker—I like a crisp, nice finish. If there’s a bacchus on the menu, that’s what I’m ordering. I love the bacchus from Recline Ridge, and Chaberton’s bacchus from the Fraser Valley is delicious too. I love the ehrenfelser from Summerhill Winery—it’s so great.
NB: What food-and-wine myth would you like to dispel?JS: That you can’t have red wine with fish! There’s always a good light red to [pair with seafood]: pinot noir, Zweigelt… we made a great gamay nouveau last year, just two months in neutral barrels, and we had it with salmon—it was so nice.
NB: What wines should we be drinking from Valley of the Springs?JS: Our vista is a big hit; it’s our baby. I guess it’s the first wine that we made, and it came about because we just didn’t have enough fruit when we first opened, and our consultant suggested making a white blend of ortega and siegerebbe together. From day one, it’s been the most popular wine that we’ve made, so we just keep doing it! We could make a separate wine with them both now, but we just keep co-fermenting and carrying on. It goes with charcuterie, cheese, chicken—everything. It’s so food-friendly, but it’s a great summer patio-sipper as well.