Educational Rosé tasting being offered by OK College

Photo: Okanagan College

Penelope Roche, co-owner and proprietor of Roche Wines

Looking to brush up your wine knowledge before the holidays?

Okanagan College is hosting an educational tasting session all about Rosé at the Penticton campus next month.

Penelope Roche, co-owner and proprietor of Roche Wines, will present the course Rosé Styles: BC & Around the World on Dec. 12. The tasting session runs from 7 – 9 p.m. in the B.C. Wine Information Society Sensory Centre in the Centre of Excellence.

“This is a chance to explore how incredibly different one Rosé can be from the next. We might contrast an Okanagan Rosé with a French Rosé for example, and how climate and many other factors produce such profound differences in the taste of the wines,” says Roche. “We’ll taste seven or eight wines over the course of the night, comparing the styles and learning a little bit about the winemaking processes.”

Roche and her husband Dylan are committed to an all-natural approach to their vineyards on the Naramata Bench.

“We are focused on hands-on organic farming, with traditional French ‘savoir-faire’, to make exceptional wines which express unique Okanagan terroirs. We are also committed to environmental stewardship, as it’s important to us for the health of our family and ecosystem, and for the contribution it makes to the quality of our wines.”

Winemaking runs deep in Roche’s family. She counts six generations of viticulture and winemaking at Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion in the Bordeaux region of France.

From oenology and viticulture studies in Bordeaux to winemaking in Spain, New Zealand and Australia, she brings to the Okanagan a profound and holistic understanding of the grapevine’s relationship with its environment, from a winemaker’s perspective. Roche is also a winegrowing consultant, and teaches viticulture at Okanagan College.

The tasting session costs $78.75. Seating is limited. Register online at okanagan.bc.ca/rosestyles.