Podcast 98 – Soaring Eagle’s Return

Happy New Year!

We’re starting off the year by welcoming back an old friend. Soaring Eagle returned last fall with a small lineup of wines and Nick and I tasted one of them recently. Here’s what happened…

Podcast 97 – Interview with Stephen Wyse

I like talking about wine. I can and do talk about it all day long sometimes. Most of the time, I’m lucky enough to get payed to do that.

Stephen Wyse from the boutique winery Young & Wyse in Osoyoos, BC, likes to talk about wine too. When I got to talk to him in his wine shop recently, the time went by quickly and the result is this podcast which pushes 45 minutes. It’s a great conversation with a guy who knows wine. He also has some great advice for anyone who is feeling a little burned out with their job.

We’ve featured Young & Wyse before – exactly 2 years ago in fact – when Amber, AJ, and I tasted their Shiraz from their first vintage in 2008. Their winery has been on our radar ever since with unique blended wines like the “Amber” (our Amber bought one, of course) and the Black Label aka the “33,30,24,13″. Now with new vintagea of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and a cozy wine shop just outside of town, this is one winery that should be on your must-visit list.

Podcast 97 – BS Rosé

This week, we focus on something that a great many ‘serious’ wine lovers seem to disregard: Rosé. It’s almost a bad word among a certain generation of wine lovers who won’t touch the stuff.

THAT IS GREAT!! Please keep ignoring it!

Keep assuming that it’s all simple, sweet, girly wines and pay no mind to it at all. Without you wanting to buy it, demand will stay low and prices will match it accordingly.

For the rest of us who know about how good r-o-s-é’s from BC can be, here’s an awesome one from Bartier-Scholefield (produced at the Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland) that Nick and I tried recently. Cheers!

Podcast 95 – Light Up the Vines Part 2

My coverage of Summerland’s Light Up the Vines festival continues with this podcast. I had the amazing opportunity to interview someone who is normally the one that interviews other people – amazing people in the world of wine and music – Terry David Mulligan, host of Tasting Room Radio and Hollywood and Wines, joins me for a chat about music, wine, and broadcasting advice. He has just released his memoirs, “Mulligan’s Stew” and was eager to chat and share his experiences about music, wine, and what it takes to grow grapes in Naramata.

Also featured this week is a cavalcade of cameos from returning Wine Country BC Podcast guests as we roll down Bottleneck Drive, including Joyce Wegner from Wineries Refined of BC (Podcast 90 and 51), Kim Lawton from the Similkameen Wineries Association (Podcast 83), Allison Markin from All She Wrote (Podcast 83), and Chytra Brown from Savour Magazine (Podcast 51). And making his podcast debut this week is Brian Glaum, president of the BC Wine Appreciation Society, who is also welcome to stop by the Wine Country BC studios for a full podcast next time he’s in the Okanagan. (Sorry, dropped a hint there…)

Podcast 94 – Light up the Vines Part 1

Summerland is a lovely town north of Penticton. I lived in Summerland briefly for my first season in the Okanagan Valley and I thoroughly enjoyed it there. Every fall they have a Festival of Lights and this year they sweetened the deal with an artisan’s market and a Light Up the Vines winery shuttle bus tour that wandered through most of the wineries around town.

There were also a few people promoting their new books and we will hear from two of them today. We will hear from Ricardo Scebba about his new cookbook “That’s Amore” which is full of recipes from his restaurant near Lake Country. He makes no secrets about his cooking and this book has some truly outstanding recipes. (He’s also great at doing impressions of the movie Spinal Tap – ask him next time you go to his restaurant – He might give you a discount.*)

I also had the chance to speak with Judie Steeves about her cookbook called “Jude’s Kitchen.” It’s a huge book of recipes based on local ingredients that has some expert wine pairing for each recipe. You’ll have to listen to find out who the expert is but as a hint, he’s been on the Wine Country BC podcast before!

And finally, I couldn’t help but get a word in with Peter Young of Okanagan Wineland Dressings who makes one of my favorite salad dressings of all time. Many of his products are available in local wine shops and delis throughout the Okanagan Valley.

*Or he might charge you double. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.