March 14, 2012

Thornhaven rocks–full stop.

Have you ever had a winery experience that was so awesome that you went back the next weekend to do it all over again?

Well, that’s what happened to us this past summer. We were looking for a winery with a picnic license in Summerland and stumbled upon Thornhaven. If I’m being completely honest, I’d purchased a Groupon earlier in the year knowing we were moving to the area and this may be a good opportunity to use it. Well, did we ever make the right decision.

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On arrival, you’re greeted with Mexican inspired rounded corners and beautiful fluffy patio furniture, along with a rolling vineyard and views of Okanagan Lake. Not too shabby for a 15 minute drive from home. The wine shop is petite but functional and owner Jan Fraser is there with her enormous smile and contagious laugh.

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Like most wine lovers we have certain styles that we like. My hubby and I both like oaky Chardonnay and really floral Gewurztraminer. Well, they hit the nail on the head. Both whites were not only in our style, they were perfect. Great balanced acid, medium-oak, full Chard and a fruity, yet super floral, spicy Gewurzt. We left the wine shop with 6 bottles.

We brought our chilled Gewurzt onto the patio and started dolling out lunch to the kids, now 5 and 1. Shortly after we sat down on the overstuffed patio set, the band started; a local band with great character. My 5 yr old got up and danced off her lunch. For a family who loves wine and has little kids, they made it easy. Fancy location, great wine, fabulous entertainment and I didn’t have to pay $15 for a club sandwich to go with it. Sweet!

Enter week 2…
My parents arrived the following weekend to catch some Okanagan sun that was stuck somewhere in Texas. Mostly cloudy and partially rainy their whole 5 days, we spend most of it shopping and drinking coffee. On the Saturday we decided to risk it and packed up our lunch and headed back to Thornhaven. It was packed this week, patio was ram-jam full and we squished on to the edge, purchased our wine and sat down at a little table not large enough for our 4 glasses. The entertainment started, a lady by the name of Pam Ferens and we were off. The sun came out, had to go back and change into my shorts in the back of the van, and the afternoon was a success. But the fun didn’t stop there. The group next to us was ready to leave so we fell into their lounge section and hunkered down to a 2nd bottle of wine. Then the karaoke began..

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There was a cute as a button little girl there named Taylor and she requested to sing Mamma Mia, I leaned to my daughter and said you know that one, being one of our fav movies! A few songs later, Anabel, Taylor and I were singing Mamma Mia to a great crowd of locals and stoppers-by on what turned out to be the best afternoon we’d ever had in a winery.

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August 3, 2011

I’ll NEVER move to the Okanagan!

If any friend or family member had ever asked in the past, I would categorically answer, “No, we are NEVER moving to the Okanagan”. Even if you’d asked me in February I’d have still said no. However, in a flurry of excitement on June 10th, I moved my family to the greatest valley on earth.

Having always wanted to work for a winery, I was torn, due to the fact that I wouldn’t do it in the Okanagan. I was always so thrilled when another one popped up in the Fraser Valley, which meant more potential options for future work. My passion relating to wine has always been focused on winemaking, not serving at a tasting bar, so in 2007 I enrolled in my very first college course; a starter class to a diploma in winemaking at UC Davis. After loving the info and finishing with an A+, I went back to my quiet, stay-at-home, Mom life.

During the early spring this year my hubby and I began to discuss many future options of change, one of which was moving to St. Catharines and pursuing a winemaking degree at Niagara College. Also during this time I had really embraced the social media movement, following and chatting with winery owners, staff, winemakers, etc. As fast as I could, I was learning the ins and outs of the social revolution that was going on all around us and trying to keep up. I had decided at the time to start my own company and help small wine shops or wineries on social media start-ups. I had registered myself into a social media boot camp, and had booked my first client, when everything changed!

I had done some serious research leading up to eat.drink.tweet (my social media boot camp) Googling or Facebook searching every attendee of the conference so I was prepared to network. I knew faces, professions, hobbies; I was a mini networking stalker! One of the most important things I learned was of a winery that hadn’t updated their FB page in over 6 months. I made a note to chat with them at the conference. Well, they didn’t know what hit them. As soon as I saw their name tag I jumped,

“You guys haven’t updated your Facebook page since September, that’s crap, you’re a big business!”

As they hung their heads, their response was,

“We know; that’s why we’re here.”

Little did I know, I had just chewed out the GM and the new Director of Sales. They were looking at hiring a full time, on-site Communications Manager, so initially I offered contract remote services to help them in the interim. This was a perfect opportunity for me; it would be great to have a big name for the credentials as I built my social media start up. Upon driving home, though, I thought, “I could do that job…”

What followed was like waiting 3 extra weeks for the baby to decide it’s ready: stress, doubt, illness, worry and insomnia. Having been a stay-at-home Mom with no formal background in media, marketing or communications, all I could tell them was that I knew I could do it. After multiple meetings and phone calls they were convinced, and on April 30th I was offered the job.

Yay me!

Well, if I thought waiting for a job offer was stressful, try selling your house, having your hubby quit his job, start working from home as much as you can and still raise 2 kids! That was tricky. From April 30, we sold our house in 3 weeks and were moved in 5. June 10, game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, was our moving date, as long as they could have us moved in by 5pm so we could go to the pub, which they did. Since then I have worked full time at the winery, doing social media, web updates, writing a newsletter, quarterbacking advertising and starting a wine club, among other bits and pieces. Being part of their team has been fantastic; there is such a huge amount of respect being thrown around by all members.

The kids didn’t fare as well as me with the move. Both got the flu and fever and hubby dealt with more illness in his first 2 weeks of being stay-at-home Dad than I did in 5 years.

As for the overall relocation, it’s been grand. I feel more at home in Penticton after 6 weeks than I did after 6 years in our old hometown. Here’s to being dreadfully wrong and thrilled to be proven so.

Cheers!

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March 29, 2011

Perseus Winery

I recently attended a wine tasting for the Naramata Bench wineries at eat.drink.tweet, a social media conference for the wine industry, in Penticton. Meeting small batch winery owners, winemakers and staff is my favourite part of the wine business. I’m a huge advocate for the small case, boutique style wineries.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Buree, current GM of Perseus Winery in Penticton. Prior to winery consulting, Tony spent 10 years as a wine consultant at the 39th and Cambie, BC Liquor Store. Now; Tony is a wine, building, land, terroir and winery architect, having worked in the past on Le Vieux Pin and La Stella Wineries. Perseus and Tony are embracing the social media wave. They are new to Facebook and have QR codes on their labels,  well on their way to social media success.

Perseus opened its doors in July of 2010 and this year it will be a 3000 case winery. They produce a Pinot Grigio, Sauv Blanc, Merlot and a Shiraz/Cab blend. Their two specialties are the Invictus, a Bordeaux blend and the Tempus, a 100% Syrah wine, a varietal rarely found in B.C. Perseus has over 100 acres of grapes all over the Okanagan and supplement occasionally with purchased old vine BC grapes until their own are mature enough.

When Tony works with a winery he starts at the end and works his way backwards. His philosophy and main question is “What restaurant do you want to see your wine at?” If the answer is the local pubs’ house wine or Le Gavroche’s flagship red, he’ll know how to take you there. This makes sense, who do you want your end buyer to be? This answers so many questions; quality or grapes, quality of winemaker, value, labeling, packaging, physical winery and much, much more. I actually phoned Tony (that’s the machine you text on, that rings occasionally) after the conference and was planning on asking a few questions and letting him get back to his busy day, but ended up chatting for over 45 minutes about the multiple facets of the BC wine industry. It’s pretty cool chatting with someone that is passionate about the same things as you and wants nothing more than to share that passion. Thanks Tony!!

Along with learning about the winery I also had the pleasure of tasting a few wines. At the Naramata Bench tasting I tried the Tempus, a 100% Syrah varietal. This wine had a leather, smoky aroma with a chocolate, oaked flavor and a medium-long finish. In my judging experience, as an amateur, we judge on a 20 point scale, not 100. I gave this wine 17/20, which would be 85 points. Funnily enough, on my way to the conference I stopped at the BC VQA wine shop in Penticton. Luke, recommended the Perseus Synergy (the Shiraz/Cab blend), after I asked for a red in the $20 range. I didn’t have time to drink it that weekend so brought it home to share with my hubby. It was just as yummy with great raspberry, black cherry and vanilla aromas and a dry, tannic but fruit-forward flavor with a medium finish. I gave this wine 16/20. Both were excellent and I look forward to trying more next time we’re up in the valley.

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March 16, 2011

Social media + wine = Sarah’s perfect day!!

Part one of eat.drink.tweet

Well, if Twitter wasn’t addicting before, it is now. I’m still fuzzy on the application for my personal life; however, for business and branding, it’s a no brainer. After attending my 1st social media boot camp this weekend, eat.drink.tweet., orchestrated by All She Wrote Consulting, I realize I’m in the right place at the right time. I started actively Tweeting in early November 2010 and with just over 200 Tweets prior to the event, I increased by Tweet count by nearly 20% in 3 days.  There’s not a better feeling in the world than being in a room of people who all share the same passion.

The weekend started with a keynote speech from Rick Bakas, social media entrepreneur and bacon lover. Rick’s accomplishment’s and accolades are so awesome please visit his sites www.bakasmedia.com or www.rickbakas.com. In summary, Rick is a certified sommelier and was the 1st social media director for a winery. Rick’s talk, titled “Not in new media by 2011? Out of Business by 2016,” was bold and energetic.  This was particularly frightening for businesses that hadn’t figured it out yet. They were scared on Friday but by Sunday they had embraced at least part of new media.  Rick talked about the investment of social media as being a return on attention instead of an ROI. With the focus of your Tweeting on @replies and not general statements you’ll build a network of faithful followers. For larger companies he suggests having a team of Tweeters, not just a sole-Tweeter. From the gardener to the owner, people want to know all the unique aspects of your business.

Rick left promptly for a major social media conference in Texas, South by Southwest, to continue his busy speaking tour. He didn’t leave the Okanagan without some of our fabulous wine, bringing Tinhorn Creek, Black Cloud and Poplar Grove, which he shared with some of his Twitter followers on the road.

Stay alert for the next installment of post-conference eat.drink.tweet.

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March 4, 2011

Luigi Bosca Malbec Review

There’s nothing better than finding a wine on the rack that you didn’t know was there. Even slightly better than that….the fact that it was awesome. Last week I tasted a Luigi Bosca Malbec from Argentina. Wonderful aromas or chocolate, coffee and leather with a spicy flavour of tobacco and smoke. Finishing with a medium-long finish this wine was well worth the $20.

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January 14, 2011

Why am I resentful towards BC VQA?

Well, that is a big question, full of opinion and not necessarily fact, or at least not a lot of research.  In my circle of wine friends I’m known to be a bit of a downer on BC wines. This has nothing to do with quality, of course, just the public perception of BC wine. The province has publicly come out of the closet regarding the “cellared in BC,” “cellared in Canada” wines, which is great. But there is no one addressing the non-VQA, non-cellared in BC wines.

The issue I have with VQA is that it gives the public the impression that the wine with the designation is better than a wine without. Unfortunately, this may not be true. Small boutique style wineries that produce small batches, may produce fantastic wines, but can’t justify the price of going through the VQA process. Obviously there has to be price for the process but it’s the impression that is left for the public that ticks me. I love the idea of some quality-governing body taking a look at wines produced in BC and evaluating them. However, just because a wine doesn’t have the VQA designation, doesn’t mean its crap. Disappointingly, these wines are not really represented in wine shops. When it comes to BC wine, there is the VQA section and the “cellared in BC” section. No small boutique, garage wineries here. Now, in fairness, maybe they don’t want to be there. But what happens to the un-assuming public when they go to the winery and see wine with no VQA neck-tie and think, “this stuff must be no good!” Plenty of wineries have chosen to go fully non-VQA or partially non-VQA like; Silver Sage, Garry Oaks or Robin Ridge. These wineries make great wines but in all likelihood they are just too small to justify the marketing expense.

There are obviously plenty of benefits to VQA and I hope they expand and continue to educate the public.  What I don’t want is the public to ignore all the small batch wineries and buy only from large mass produced VQA wineries.

Photo by Sarah Lefebvre

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