2018 Mandaray white blend

Photo: Contributed Wine: Mandaray (white blend), 2018 Winery:  Mt. Boucherie, West Kelowna Why drink it? A collaboration with Save On, this white blend also has a partner red under the relatively new “white label”. The 2019 is available now; the 2018 is a blend of R

The taste of change

Photo: Contributed We have been fortunate to have warm days as the calendar page turned to September. The nights are, however, cool. Everything is different as summer sets on the horizon and autumn rises.  When Ella and I walk in the orchards, the air is crisp and the aromas in

Pinot Noir Clonal Series

Photo: Contributed Wine: Pinot Noir Clonal Series, 2018 Winery: CedarCreek, Kelowna Why drink it? Why not have three bottles of Pinot Noir instead of one? CedarCreek has put together three pinots from three different clones – 115, 667, 777 – for the wine geek in all of u

An heirloom like no other

Photo: Contributed As a gardener, I look forward to the harvest all summer. All the watering, weeding, trimming, and encouragement is in hopes of a beautiful bounty this time of year. For a Prairie kid like me who grew up watching my parents hope desperately for enough warm, sunny d

2017 Fourth Dimension

Photo: Contributed Wine: Fourth Dimension (red blend), 2017 Winery: Time, Penticton Why drink it? Four varietals go into this bottle, hence the name – Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon, with the “Dimension” a nod to the concept of time, of cours

The food of angels

Photo: wallsdesk.com As summer draws to a close, many of us will be racing to grab one more moment in the sun or one more taste of the season. Here in the Okanagan there are many local summer flavours, but the quintessential flavour of summer across the world for thousands of years has

Don't steal from farmers

Photo: Contributed I was going to write about the wonderful abundance of fresh produce in the Okanagan and how to use it. But I had a conversation that inspired me to change my approach. Besides, I’m sure you have a zucchini loaf recipe already. Bear with me while I giv

Screaming Frenzy Meritage

Photo: Contributed Wine: Screaming Frenzy Meritage (red blend), 2017 Winery: Black Swift Vineyards, West Kelowna Why drink it? If there ever was a perfect red wine to define a year, such as the one we continue to endure, this is it – at least in the name. A red blend dominated

Camping memories hang on

Photo: bp.blogspot.com As my regular readers will know, I’m an old-fashioned gal who loves nostalgia. Apparently nostalgia is a popular thing in a pandemic world. It might be one reason why camping has been a top activity for families this summer.  People are creating new

Last call for summer

Photo: express.co.uk Why is it that summer always seems to be the season that goes by the fastest?  No matter how many sunny days we enjoy, there are green tomatoes in the garden when the days cool off and marshmallows left unroasted even as the nights expand in length.  T

Moraine Pinot Noir

Photo: Contributed Wine: Pinot Noir, 2018 Winery: Moraine, Naramata Why drink it? A lot of care has gone into this Pinot, the “heartbreak grape”, in a bottle that expresses the Naramata Bench alongside classic hints of French pinots. Floral and dried rose petal notes mix

Sunshine in a jar

Photo: Contributed I remember a song when I was a kid about swinging on a star and carrying moonbeams in a jar. I always wanted to do those things Bing Crosby sang about, but I never even managed to find a firefly much less a moonbeam. One thing I did discover though, was how to cap

Liquidity Chardonnay 2018

Photo: Contributed Wine: Chardonnay, 2018 Winery: Liquidity, Okanagan Falls Why drink it? A beautiful golden hue in the glass, this is a chardonnay that doesn’t push any oak boundaries for the “anything but chard” crowd, but is most definitely refine

The joys of camping

Photo: Contributed We took our annual camping trip this past week. It has been our tradition the last 10 years to go to the Cascades and camp at a family campground on a small lake in Washington. We can sit on the dock or swim or paddle on our boards during the day and then lounge a

Township 7 Pinot Noir

Photo: Contributed Wine: Pinot Noir, 2018 Winery: Township 7, Penticton Why drink it? A richer Pinot Noir, as Okanagan pinots go, made with care in a Burgundian style, aged in French Oak for a year. The ruby-raspberry colour in the glass leads to complex aromas that may inspire live

The original cool: ice cream

Photo: Contributed The quintessential treat of summer is a frozen one. Nowadays, there are many variations on this theme, what with global eating trends and dietary restrictions being so common. Originally though, everyone knew it as “cream ice” or “iced cream.”

Old-fashioned summer fun

Photo: Contributed This summer is full of what we didn’t expect and absent of what we normally expect for the season. Even the weather has been cool and rainy. But amidst the craziness that has become 2020, there are chances to have some good old-fashioned fun. Have you bee

Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris

Photo: Contributed Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris Wine: Pinot Gris, 2019 Winery: Burrowing Owl, Oliver Why drink it? Pinot Gris should be a staple white wine for the summer. This one is very Okanagan in style, with surprisingly intense aromas right out of the bottle reminiscent of a fr

2 decades of food and drink

Photo: Contributed Martin and Kristin have mint tea in the Sahara This weekend, Martin and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. In reflecting upon that time, we have reminisced over many adventures shared in all the years of living together, not to mention all the memorabl

Estate Sauvignon Blanc

Photo: Contributed Wine: Estate Sauvignon Blanc Winery: CedarCreek, Kelowna Why drink it? Made in the style of fresh, herbaceous New Zealand sauvignon blancs, the herb notes of sage and fresh cut grass lift immediately out of the glass after a swirl of this very pale golden green wi