BC Wine Shop’s Gerrit Van Staalduinen shared just a small amount of his lifetime’s worth of knowledge at one of the afternoon seminars during the 18th Annual Sun Peaks Winter Okanagan Wine Festival. Here’s just a few nuggets:
- B.C. has approximately 10,000 acres of vineyards and will most likely max out around 12,000 in a few years. For comparative purposes Washington State has 80,000 and Australia has 3 million.
- Approximately 90 per cent of B.C. wine is consumed in the province.
- “Chardonnay has many faces.”
- Regarding the dryness scale — “That’s wine by numbers, that’s not what wine is about. Learn your grapes and don’t worry about numbers.”
- In general, the hotter the region, the higher the sugars and therefore the higher the alcohol content.
- Pinot Gris could be called the most important varietal in B.C. at 1,100 acres.
- Typically we serve whites too cold and reds too warm.
- His answer when asked what the best wine is? “The one that I’ve never tried.” In other words, keep an open mind.
- “Looking at world cultures though wine is very interesting. Some people look at culture through music or art, but I challenge you to look at it through wine.”
- On Pinot Noir — “It’s not always about being, the biggest, baddest,
fullest red.” - “I always say Merlot is a lot like shag carpet.”
- 2012 and 2014 are two of the best vintages B.C. has ever had.
- “There’s a lot to be said for value. Not always is the most expensive wine the wine you are going to like.” Merlot is a great wine to roll the dice on regarding price.
- If a winery is investing in telling you a story about where the grape comes from that’s a positive sign. It’s coming from a special place. Now figure out where that place is.”
- B.C. produces some of best Cab Franc in the world.
- Canada makes and produces wine in every province.
- There are really no bad ice wines.
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