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Wine bars in Metro Vancouver are rapidly expanding their wine lists to include natural wines, due to popular demand. You may be wondering: what classifies a wine as ‘natural’? A number of factors are included in the definition, such as wines made with organically or biodynamically grown grapes, low intervention processes, and having little or no preservatives added. By Catherine Dunwoody Here are some hot spots to hit—and what to sip: VV Tapas Lounge VV Tapas Lounge offers flights of all their natural wines that are sold by the glass, plus happy hour deals at 50% off where the guest receives the wine ‘blind’ (no peeking at the label) and is asked to try to guess the grape or region for a VV gift certificate. Be sure to try BC natural wines like the Free Form Riesling from Summerland, and Artakama’s Syrah, from Oliver. 957 E Hastings Street Vancouver Pacific…

Try these new wine releases! By Catherine Dunwoody The fall harvest season also means our wineries introduce much-awaited releases to their wine store collections. Visit one of these four hyper-local, BC wineries today and start sipping autumn’s best. Visit Langley to try Township 7 Seven Stars Vega Sparkling Wine, perfect to enjoy now or tuck away for the upcoming festive season. Pairs beautifully with crabcakes, prosciutto or creamy cheeses. In Fort Langley, try this crisp Valley Commons Pinot Gris with its notes of apples, peach, and pineapple, refreshing and perfect with brunch at home. Backyard Vineyards Simply Social Syrah is the perfect wine to transition into autumn, with its notes of peppercorn, lavender cherry and plum. Bragging rights? This wine claimed the silver medal at the All-Canadian Wine Championships. Visit the Langley winery to snap it up. Pacific Breeze Winery in New Westminster released their 2020 Reserve Fifty /…

By Catherine Dunwoody Classic French cuisine is not particularly easy to find in BC, let alone in the outlying areas of Metro Vancouver. Perhaps that’s why Langley’s Bacchus Bistro in the Chaberton Winery is such a hidden gem, authentic dishes served in a beautiful setting  – with dedicated customers who return regularly. West Coast Food regular contributor Catherine Dunwoody had the opportunity to chat with Chef Ashley Chisham over classic dishes including French onion soup and duck confit, that did not disappoint. Where were you born?  Vancouver BC, born and raised. What was food like in your growing up household?  My mom is an excellent cook! Most everything was made from scratch and with a lot of care. Homemade pierogies and cabbage rolls were always a favourite, as well as pasta, tacos. Roasts with all the traditional sides like Yorkshire pudding etc. on special occasions. And there was almost always…

By Gail Johnson The Fraser Valley might be best known for produce like corn, berries and apples, but the region is increasingly gaining recognition for its wine. New and more established wineries are making the area a draw for those who like to sip red, white, rosé—or walnut. Walnut wine is indeed a thing. It’s the signature wine, in fact, of Langley City’s Vista D’oro Farms & Winery. That’s not to say that Patrick and Lee Murphy’s 10-acre farm overlooking the Golden Ears mountains doesn’t produce grapes; it grows many different types of vinifera grapes. But it’s walnuts that got really got the entire operation off the ground over a decade ago. The winery’s flagship 2008 D’oro, a fortified port-style wine, is a blend of Marechal Foch and Merlot, B.C. brandy, and fresh green walnuts. The walnuts grow on three mature trees that the original homesteader planted on the property…

By Kathy Mak When it comes to fruit wines, it seems those made from grapes get most of the love. But in the Fraser Valley, wines made from fruit beyond grapes, especially berries, are thriving and rising in popularity. There are nearly as many non-grape fruit wineries as there are grape-based fruit wineries, and it’s easy to see why when there’s a plethora of berry farms in the region. The first berry farm in the Fraser Valley to produce grape-free table and dessert wines was the Fort Wine Co., which started as a cranberry farm. In 2001, their winery opened on the farm and today is one of a dozen wineries, and growing, in the valley dedicated to making berry-driven wines. They are also the only fruit winery in the Fort Langley area. The wine maker, Toby Bowman, takes the lead in producing 10 different fruit wine varieties (5 table…

By Tim Pawsey Hidden in the shadow of the Okanagan, the Fraser Valley is often overlooked, but this up and coming wine region is within an hour’s drive of Vancouver. However, it’s easier to grasp the scope of the valley when approaching from the east, as the mountains yield to a vast expanse of green stretching as far as the eye can see. Nourished by the Fraser River, over the years, the fertile valley has become the Lower Mainland’s bread—and now wine—basket. And while the actual area under vine may be small, a growing number of 200 acres is divided between 32 vineyards. Pioneering, French born viticulturist Claude Violet got everything going when he and his wife Inge founded Domaine de Chaberton in 1981. They built up the vineyards and winery, and opened selling to the present owners in 2005. The key to their success was that they planted cool…