A New Door Opens

There hasn’t been a whole lot to celebrate this past year so small victories are worth celebrating. After a year of uncertainties with jobs, limited times to gather to play to play music, and the constant spectre of the pandemic, some good news came to me unexpectedly this fall that I felt was worth celebrating.

I am writing another book and just signed the contract this past week!

There is not a lot about it that I can share yet because it does not yet exist. It is also likely to change through the writing and drafting process. I want to focus on some of the most amazing wines being produced in B.C. right now and I’ve chosen around 50 wines to showcase in this book. Many of these have been what I consider to be ‘star performers’ – wines that are consistently good, year after year, but that don’t necessarily get the attention that they deserve. I have also included other new wines that are adventurous that I think have huge potential for the future.

To celebrate the beginning of the new book, I thought that I would try a wine that I had not yet tried but had often heard about. I’d heard mutterings and musings from customers, friends, and people in the industry about French Door Estate Winery all summer. “Have you been to French Door yet?” “Have you tried their Rosé?” “The tasting at French Door is not to be missed!” “Wow, the view is incredible!” “The wines are soooo good!!”

Working in a wine shop all week means that on my days off, the last place that I want to go is to someone else’s wine shop. I just need time away from the din of that atmosphere.

I now regret that decision somewhat.

To be fair, I have been to the building where French Door is now located. The winery and wine shop is in the same building that used to be Montakarn Estate Winery, next door to Le Vieux Pin. I wrote Montakarn’s first article in Wine Trails magazine some years ago and went back to visit on a couple of occasions. Montakarn moved to Okanagan Falls a couple of years ago after selling the Oliver property which is now French Door.

French Door Estate Winery “Héritage” (apparently pronounced “hare-ee-tahj” – not like “meritage”, which rhymes with “heritage”) is amazing. If the pronunciation confuses you, the wine won’t. It is a laser-guided red blend dominated by Syrah. It has a complex array of beautiful flavours that are smooth as silk but has an elegance like the sight of an opulent chandelier in a grand ballroom. It is a highly illuminating wine.

In short, the perfect wine to celebrate the start of something good. It also raises the bar on the wine that I will need to choose for celebrating when this new book gets released in the fall of 2021.

Cheers from wine country!

~Luke