We’re pretty spoiled living here in British Columbia. We’re blessed with a.bun.dance…a very large quantity of something. We live sandwiched between ocean and mountains with no shortage of sports. It doesn’t get much better.
But speaking of sandwiches…Vancouver is a foodie city. Condé Nast Traveler named it one of the best food cities in the world. And for a lot more than just a sandwich. More on this some other time.
We’re also known for wine. Of course it’s better to be here to enjoy the full experience as many wineries (and there are a plenty) do not ship outside B.C. And the few that do, do not ship all their supply as for the most part they’re smaller batch lots. Which in turn makes the tasting experience that much more personal.
For those of you familiar with wines of British Columbia you probably know about the Okanagan wine region – located in southern British Columbia, and one of the warmest regions in all of Canada.
Having said this, we have several local wineries closer to our home in Vancouver. And bit by bit we’re exploring all of them. For this post I’ll focus on Chaberton Estate Winery in Langley, B.C. – about 45 minutes outside Vancouver.
Langley is a part of the Fraser Valley wine region, which produces high-quality and hand-crafted wines with different styles and varieties. The fertile farmland around the city, especially in the Fraser Valley, is home to many historic orchards and fruit fields that grow berries.
The terroir in South Langley is similar to that of some of the best wineries in Northern France, making it the ideal place to grow a range of different cool weather grapes. The history of the winery dates back to 1975 when the founders, Claude and Inge Violet sold their winery and vineyard in France and decided to start their next chapter in the “New World”. So I suppose this means we are considered “New World Wine” with still a way to go. But if you weren’t already aware of this, you might not even be able to tell.
If wining were a sport we would win the gold medal. Actually, we kind of treat it like a sport.
I enjoyed a deluxe private tasting last week before a delicious lunch at their award winning French inspired bistro. Rated by the Vancouver Sun as one of the top 3 al Fresco dining restaurants in Vancouver, the Bacchus Bistro with a vineyard view, serves authentic French cuisine prepared with local ingredients and a West Coast flair. Coupled with a glass of wine, it was superb.
My favourite white is their estate grown Siegerrebe (a grape grown primarily in Germany) – hand picked right from the Langley Estate. The flavour is bursting with honeydew melon and mango notes, with fresh grapefruit and velvet feel on the palate. We bought a few bottles from the wine shop on our way out.
I tend to say upon leaving a place I want to re-visit…“We’ll be back.”
Chaberton Estate Winery
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