For any of you who know me, or have attended any of my Cornucopia wine seminars in past, you will already know that ‘Samantha Loves Riesling’. I truly do, and there are so many reasons why. Somehow in the chaos of our current trade war with our neighbour, other politcal tensions, and so many complications within my industy, I missed International Riesling Day last week! I can’t believe it!
Our friend Dave Paterson from Tantalus Vineyards in East Kelowna reminded me with his Instagram post on the upcoming release of his 2024 Niagara (Ontario) Riesling which I’m so excited to try. Though in past, again due to Canada’s own complicated inter-provincial trade laws, we didn’t see much wine coming to BC from Ontario. Their Riesling has always been fantastic, and I worked with several of them during the start of my Sommelier career in Banff, Alberta where we had access to wine from everywhere. It is hard to say if we will actually get those old trade barriers removed and see more out of province Canadian wine here in BC, but at least we can get excited for what Dave and his team at Tantalus did here in BC with some outstanding Ontario Riesling.
RIght here in our backyard, I have been making up for missing the actual Riesling Day (most days are Riesling Day around here anyway) and along with my dearest people, have been enjoying the current release of one of my favourite wines from the last edition of Cornucopia. Fort Berens Estate Winery is just on the other side of the coast mountains from Whistler, and for several years they have been making a single vineyard Reserve Riesling in addition to their classic and dry bottlings. There is still a bit of the 2022 Reserve that was featured at Cornucopia 2024 in November available to order from the winery, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Steely, aromatic, with more body and texture than you might expect, in a fuller, drier package perfect for food. The vineyard is in Lillooet, and due to the miracle that is Riesling, the vines have survived the weather challenge of recent years. I recently stocked up on this beauty and have several bottles stashed away for short and long term cellaring, though it is hard to resist today.
Cheers to Riesling, to our valued winery partners, and brighter days ahead! Grab a bottle of Riesling, dispel the old myths you have about this remarkable grape, and celebrate life.
