BC VQA Red Wines

Canadian Main Wine Regions:

Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands.. Of these five Okanagan Valley has most of B.C. ‘s wineries.

With five individual VQA regions, each with unique climates and soils, viticultural practices vary widely in different areas.

Area under wine: 6000 acres (2400 hectares) of vines.

How Wine is classified:

Vintner’s Quality Alliance (VQA). This ensures that the wine has been tasted by panel of judges that sets standards of Canadian Vintners and Growers.

Climate: Okanagan Valley: Located on the 50 N Latitude is one of the most northerly places to grow wine. This area is considered a desert as its only gets a little as 15 centimeters of rain in the south. Summers are very hot helping to increase the grape sugar. Grapes do not usually grow after October as winters are quite harsh.

Soil: West Bank of Okanagan Valley-sandy loam and clay. East Bank-stony and sandy clay.-South–rocky and gravel-North–sandy soil.

Main grapes:

Auxerrois, Riesling, Ehrenfelser, Gamay, Bacchus, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Kerner, Merlot, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

Attribute offers sweet aromas of blackberries, white pepper licorice and graphite. Full-bodied, powerful and rich..

The 2006 Attitude (70% Cabernet Sauvignon – 30% Merlot) Spent two years in French and American cask. This wine exhibits aromas of blackcurrants, soft and easy drink wine.