Most of the wineries on the idyllic island of Vancouver Island, British Columbia are located in the Cowichan Valley. The Cowichan Valley is a fertile valley north of Victoria that boasts of having the best weather in Canada. This area is considered to be in Canada's only Maritime Mediterranean Climatic Zone. The valley was originally described by First Nations people as The Warm Land. The Cowichan Valley has also been more recently described as New Provence. This title comes from the fact that it is home to wineries, organic farms and a growing local food culture. Spaswinefood was fortunate to visit five wineries during the recent Cowichan Wine & Culinary Festival.
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| Enjoying Somenos Rosé at Averill Creek Vineyard © Spaswinefood |
Most Vancouver Island wineries are working with international grape varieties that do well in this region. However, you will find that some wineries are working with less known grape varieties, such as Cabernet Libre. During our visit to the
Cowichan Valley the wineries that we visited were:
1. Averill Creek Vineyard
Averill Creek Vineyard, 6552 North Road,
Duncan is Vancouver Island’s largest estate winery. While at Averill Creek we tasted from the following wine list:
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| Tasting Room at Averill Creek © Spaswinefood |
We also tried samples of their 2009 Pinot Noir and 2009 Prevost.
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| Tasting Room at Averill Creek © Spaswinefood |
We enjoyed tasting Averill Creek wines and having a
picnic lunch.
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| Averill Creek Vineyard Somenos Rosé © Spaswinefood |
It is without doubt that this winery has a beautiful picnic area. The staff at this winery was very helpful; in fact they provided us with suggestions on other wineries to visit.
2. Blue Grouse Estate Winery
Blue Grouse Estate
Winery,
4365 Blue Grouse Road, Duncan has produced handcrafted estate wines for 23 years.
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| Blue Grouse Estate Winery Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
The winery's 23 years expertise shows well in its white wines. We were fortunate to taste their 2011 Siegerrebe, 2010 Ortega, 2010 Pinot Gris and their 2011 Estate Vicesimus.
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| Blue Grouse Estate Winery, Estate Vicesimus 2011 © Spaswinefood |
Blue Grouse does produce an awesome 2010 Black
Muscat. Their Black Muscat has a very unique aromatic nose; there is such a difference between the nose and palate. We really liked uniqueness of this wine. We also enjoyed tasting their 2007 Pinot Noir.
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| Blue Grouse Estate Winery, Estate Black Muscat 2010 © Spaswinefood |
Blue Grouse Winery has an inviting picnic area, with plenty of shade. It is just perfect for a picnic on a hot summer's day.
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| Blue Grouse Estate Winery © Spaswinefood |
It was a special treat to taste Blue Grouse Estate Winery's award winning wines.
3. Cherry Point Estate Wines
Cherry Point Estate
Wines,
840 Cherry point Road, Cobble Hill is Vancouver Island’s premier estate winery.
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| Cherry Point Estate © Spaswinefood |
We did not do a wine tastng at this winery. We
did however, enjoy a fabulous Tapas lunch served by their bistro, with some of Cherry Point
Estate wines.
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| Tapas Lunch at Cherry Point Estate © Spaswinefood |
Cherry Point has a fabulous setting for a bistro or a picnic lunch. They also have a more formal dining area.
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| Cherry Point Estate Courtyard © Spaswinefood |
All too soon we had to leave Cherry Point Estate Vineyards.
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| Cherry Point Estate © Spaswinefood |
4. Enrico Winery
Enrico Winery, 3280 Telegraph Road, Mill Bay has a very inviting
tasting room.
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| Enrico Winery Tasting Room © Spaswinefood |
We enjoyed getting to know Enrico Winery wines in their relaxing tasting room.
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| Tasting at Enrico Winery © Spaswinefood |
During our visit we tasted the following whites: 2011 Ortega, 2010 and 2011 Pinot Grigio. Their 2011 Pinot Noir Rosé was quite refreshing. For the reds we tasted 2010 Cabernet Libre and 2011 Merlot. I especially liked discovering their Cabernet Libre.
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| Enrico Winery Cabernet Libre 2010 © Spaswinefood |
While at Enrico's I took the time to visit the vineyards.
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| Vineyards at Enrico Winery © Spaswinefood |
In fact it was exciting to check out the Cabernet Libre grapes growing in the vineyard.
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| Cabernet Libre Grapes at Enrico Winery Vineyard © Spaswinefood |
Enrico Winery has a picnic area but regrettably we did not have time enough for a picnic.
5. Twenty Two Oaks Winery
Twenty Two Oaks Winery 1-6383 Lakes Road,
Duncan is a new winery with lots of enthusiasm.
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| Twenty Two Oaks Winery © Spaswinefood |
While at Twenty Oaks we sampled the wines that they were pouring. The whites were 2011 Pinot Gris, 2010 and 2011 Vinblanc (a Pinot Noir pressed as a white). The red we tasted was a 2010 Gamay Foch.
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| Twenty Two Oaks Winery © Spaswinefood |
Their wines labels, original label with oak tree and more recent Drink you Pretty, are very appealing. This winery has a very inviting picnic area. The young woman pouring wine the day we visited was quite helpful.
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| Vineyards and Picnic Area at Twenty Two Oaks Winery © Spaswinefood |
The Cowichan Valley wineries that we visited were all very welcoming. In fact all of the wineries we visited had a picnic area and Cherry Point Estate Winery also had a bistro. This makes it so enjoyable to visit Cowichan Valley Wine Country.
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| Cowichan Valley Wines © Spaswinefood |
You maybe wondering where the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver
Island fits within Canada’s viticultural picture. In this case Canada has
two appellations, namely Ontario and British
Columbia. British Columbia's appellation has four "designated viticultural
areas" (DVA's). These DVA's include Okanagan Valley, Fraser Valley,
Vancouver Island and Similkameen Valley. Both provinces participate in a Vitners
Quality Allicance (VQA), an appellation of origin that is modeled
after the European system. A Vancouver Island VQA would certify a wine is
from this region and meets the quality standards. I invite you to join me in
my travels in British Columbia and elsewhere in search of the best in Spaswinefood.
Sharon
September 2013
Victoria, British Columbia
© Spaswinefood
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