Wilf's Wine Press

This fellow needs a little encouragement. He's retired, ferrchrissakes, so we know he has the time.
He's a good wine writer who needs a push. Take some time to fire a comment or two his way.
Ask him if he's got any tours planned.

Fermentation vs. Wholesalers and the 3 Tier System.

Click on the title and see how Tom goes after those carpetbaggers!

Alright, maybe it doesn't have much to do with what happens in Canada but maybe it does?

Isn't the U.S. three tier system (producer, wholesaler/distributor, retailer) a lot like the Canadian system of producer and provincial liquor control board?

Except the Canadian version sees the provincial board scooping the lion's share of the cash because most of the time it acts as distributor and retailer.

Isn't it time something changed in our neck of the woods? Right now, wineries can sell directly to restaurants but the transaction has a real "big brother" smell about it with lots of paperwork and plenty of coin paid to the government for the privilege of selling your own product.

Shouldn't the government butt out? Without playing the social conscience card?

"We need the cash flow to fund social programs to respond to the damage caused
by alcohol in our society".

Does anybody really believe all the revenues (or even a sizable portion) collected in this scheme actually go to alleviating the ills of alcoholism? Worse yet, rumour has it the BC board is looking at ways of getting more of the cut from wine producers who now sell direct to restaurants and other licensees.

Whether it's the U.S. system or the Canadian system, ham-handed politics keeps the cash flow racing into the government trough.

And the answer is . . . . 158 Wineries

A few posts back I asked you to guess how many wineries in BC there were when you combine the existing with the ones in "pre-approval".

(Sounds like some junk mail credit card solicitation)

When I migrated to the land of the sunshine tax in '96 there was probably about 40.

Quite a few of you already had the answer. Either you are very savvy or you read the same material I did. Which I can't recall where it's located.

The Wine Guy's Blog: Trouble comes in threes so what's next ?

The Wine Guy's Blog: Trouble comes in threes so what's next ?

I thought TA was titratable acidity?

A lot of you have heard of Cleavage Creek wines. Did you know the model search for the 2006 vintage had started? Have you got what it takes?

You may ask . . . WHY does BC wine cost so much compared to, say, Chile?

As an appetizer to the title subject, perhaps you'd like a little poll to wet your appetite.
Vote without looking down too much then scroll for the answer.

I recently heard a conversation between a grower and winery owner. Guess how much per ton the grower wanted for his average merlot for 2006?
	$975 ?
	$ 1075 ?
	$1300 ?
	$1800 ?
	$2325 ?
	$ 2500 ?
	$ 3000 ?
	$ 3500 ?
	$ 3850 ?
	$ 4200 ?
Free polls from Pollhost.com

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Scrolling, scrolling over the bounding main ...!

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All right.

$4200 a ton.

I'm still trying to figure who is doing this. And why? What kind of freakville business plan is this?

We pay about $2000 /ton for Merlot.

Rule of thumb: Knock the last two digits off the ton price to approximate the retail value of a bottle on release. So $42 for a brand new winery with no track record? Over $85 on a restaurant list?

Those are big balls.

I guess everyone wants to be instantly rich. While in Chile and Argentina there are folks working the grapes for about $9.00 (US) a day. That'll keep your costs down.

Vancouver International Wine Festival (VIWF) Tasting Result #1

With hundreds of wines to choose from it's not easy to spot the winners in the short few hours one has to work the room.

But here's one. Or two.

Casas Del Bosque (Chile)
Casa Viva Pinot Noir 2003
$12.95
#207670 (BCLDB)

Sorry about having to turn your head sideways.
Sideways . . . Pinot Noir . . . get it?

Here's a great entry level Pinot. Full of vibrant fruit characterized by strawberries and rhubarb, good pie cherry on the nose, judicious use of oak and assertive tannins. At 13.7 % alcohol it may have more bite than necessary but still performs well. Best with food. I took a risk and scooped the last 4 bottles available to our session. I was only going to take two but I felt spiteful when I was denied my other two previous selections by earlier shoppers.

BIG TIP: This house also has a 2005 Pinot Noir at $19.95 that I tasted at the show but it wasn't in the shop for sale. The product code is 86611. It's a stand-out already and may approach the Sokol Blosser I will write about soon. Find and buy if you can.

Vancouver WIne Festival Results

First, let it be known that I attended a "trade" portion of the show so some of the items I tasted were perhaps not available to everyone who showed for the regular event.

If a crowd is any measure of success then the Vancouver International Wine Festival trade day was a success with lots of buyers and restaurant people filling the aisles.















From Australia (above) to Germany (at left) to the U.S. and from home (BC); there was plenty to taste from around the world.

France was the theme region and so the French wines were heavily represented and grouped en masse.

I'll be publishing some tasting notes from time to time over the next week so check back often.
One of the oddest moments of the festival came when I realized I was spitting tastes of $180 per bottle Champagne as I had to drive 300 km. at the close of the tasting. Odd at first but I got used to it.

Just how many wineries are there?

Why not try to guess the answer?

Lots of new wineries in BC. If you add the established ones to those in "pre-licensing", how many do you think there are? Answer on Monday!
	12?
	190?
	73?
	107?
	89?
	158?
	50?
	117?
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Award Winning Wines Packaged!

Nothing is quite like the feeling that I get when a wine I've made is in the bottle.

All the time the wine is in tank or barrel is seems a little bit unfinished. It seems more vulnerable to outside influences.

There's closure, pun intended, when the cork or cap is in place.

So today, after a week's delay and some down time on the line, I finally bottled the Township 7 Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Un-oaked Chardonnay from the 2005 vintage.

They are all excellent wines and destined to win many accolades. My friend in PR told me this.

Vancouver Playhouse Festival Friday

Heading to Vancouver Thursday for the wine tasting on Friday. Bringing camera and will take notes. Will try to post a report by Sunday at the latest so check back.

Best deal in awhile: Say you buy a couple cases of wine at the on-site store. BCLDB will deliver them to your local government store free of charge. Beats lugging them out to the car and travelling around with them, tempting the thieves or fate as you continue to make with the celebrations as such.

Corker Continues to Trouble

We're bottling but we're not happy about it.

The corker is still functioning but it's making a strange sound. This means something is not right, but to us laypeople, it can't be determined exactly what.

We're also not happy with our tech support so we are in the process of talking with a new group which will ultimately result in a lot of our equipment requirements being satisfied by them as well.
You can't beat Randy and Randy for service. Check out their stuff