The Similkameen Valley (wiki) is not a new wine region in BC, but it seems like it has only recently been remembered, or maybe, more appropriately, rediscovered. Located in the very south of BC, just west of Osoyoos, it is surprising that the Similkameen has taken so long to get serious attention.

The acreage has more than doubled in the last few years (now roughly 7% of BC’s vineyards), and – finally – the majority of wineries (there are 12 in total) have joined together to form the Similkameen Wineries Association in an opening effort to promote the region.

The perception of the Similkameen today is that it is too remote, too far away from everywhere. It has thus been largely forgotten. I am guilty of this too, having always thought of it as ‘hours away’ in my nearly 8 years living just to the north in Peachland. This common misconception has been the main reason this fantastic region remains largely unvisited by the majority of wine tourists and media.

When I checked out the area and found out how great it was, we packed up the family and moved there to take full advantage of the affordable land and top quality acreage potential. We are planting a small vineyard this year (just under 4 acres of Riesling & Chardonnay), and I am also helping out the local wineries to launch the Similkameen Wineries Association – a regional marketing group that was just begging to happen.

The Association is launching its new logo and hosting its inaugural event – an afternoon Spring release tasting – on May 9th. The eight member wineries of the Association will be pouring alongside many food producers, hosts and artisans of the area. If you visit the new website in time you can even help choose the logo for the new Association (you will also find ticket info there).

On the horizon is a media event in Vancouver as well as a second local event in late summer to showcase the summer/fall releases. The goal of the Similkameen Wineries Association is to get people to visit and experience not just the wines but also the fantastic food and the various agri-tourism spots. Most importantly, it’s here to remind us of how close the region is to the rest of the Okanagan.

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A word of advice. Be careful… if you look more into this region, you may well want to move here.

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Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

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Something interesting has happened in the last few years in the wine world – something both good and worrying. Wine regions that were once written off as ‘bulk’ wine areas have shown that a changing attitude to grape growing and wine making can achieve recognition and respect, catapulting new varietal names and regions onto the world scene.

This is good news, as we need new regions and new wines to emerge. Different approaches to yields, respect for vineyards and modern wine making has lifted some practically deserted vineyards to superstar status. The classics are getting so out of control in terms of pricing that it is essential for other areas to take their place in producing affordable wine. The bad news is that some of these regions think they can become 1st growth Bordeaux overnight.

Diversity in wine is great. It avoids the international wine list reading Merlot, Merlot, and Merlot or some other dull outcome. Wine students may well disagree as they burn another textbook on Spain, Italy or Chile because the country has changed so rapidly that the information has become quickly outdated. The question is this: how long does a region have to establish itself before it can charge the big bucks?

A scan through the BC LDB website lists some interesting stories. Varieties such as Nero d’Avola (mostly from Sicily in Italy) went from unknown, disrespected and unwanted to having listings here in BC for over $50 a bottle, all in the matter of 2 to 3 years. Wine regions like Jumilla (Spain) a few years ago represented remarkable value. Now the top Jumilla in BC will leave a $180 hole in your pocket. Yikes! I remember selling Jumilla as something new and exciting in the early 2000′s and the quality at $15-20 was outstanding. Yet to go from there to $180 in a mere 5 to 6 years seems a little far-fetched. At least there is still very good $15-20 versions as well.

Priorat (with the love of Robert Parker), Toro, and Bierzo in Spain have all shown recent fame and a rapidly inclining pricing curve. The Douro in Portugal is becoming known for producing some stunning table wines but the prices are exceeding rapidly to match any improvements in quality. Even the good old bulk wine south of Portugal, Alentejo, is squeezing in a Syrah at over $60 in the BC market.

For the most part, Italy, France and Germany see only the classics in the top price points. The same goes for established new world regions with cult wines such as the United States and Australia. It is generally the same wines that are long established at the top of the pricing tree, with the exception of a few of Parker’s recent mistress wines.

Other upstarts could include Chile, which tested the world scene with $130 Carmenere, and Argentina with $150+ Malbec. BC could also have the finger pointed with wines approaching $100. On the other hand, New Zealand – for all its quality – has its most expensive wine in BC at a very reasonable $70. It just doesn’t make sense.

It is certainly not that these wine regions can’t produce great wine, but rather that they are entering the realm where drinkers can no longer afford to consume the stuff. Furthermore, only the collectors and very wealthy ever get to see where these regions are heading and how their wine styles are developing. They should slow down, build a market, build a reputation and grow slowly into those super-premium price points. Not all great wines have to be over-the-top, extracted red beasts. Wine prices have increased ridiculously beyond the rate of inflation for the better wines meaning that fewer and fewer of us will have a chance to cellar these wines (that really do deserve to be matured) so as to open and drink them in the future.

What impact will this have on future wine consumers? In past decades, wine lovers have been able to actually afford to drink, buy and cellar very good and classic wines. Now, the best bottles are less and less accessible. The bloody laws of supply and demand ensure that limited supply is seeing these wines spiral out of control, price-wise, leaving many of us further and further away from being able to afford them.

Eventually, I worry that the classic wine regions will become simply something to be bought and sold, traded like precious metals. In fact, it is already happening. I worry that consumers will give up caring about great Bordeaux and Burgundy because they will never have a chance to taste it. I worry that the waning interest amongst consumers will mean that the market for interesting wines will deteriorate and wines will become more and more boring.

There is something to be said for both opportunism and, if the market will bare it, selling a small quantity at high prices. Yet it is a slippery slope. With future ‘classic’ regions (and I strongly believe new regions will develop into these roles) rushing too rapidly to the triple figure price points, the chance for wine lovers to discover, invest and later enjoy these wines is lost, as is the chance for a region to develop its own style. Losing diversity and dividing the wine world too distinctly between the rich and poor would be a true tragedy that would be very difficult to recover from. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.

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Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

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Mother Nature routinely throws us something extraordinary to ponder, discuss, pontificate over and, in the best cases, to digest. There are flavours from her cupboard that science simply cannot reproduce, imitate or ever have a hope of surpassing. A few spring to mind – saffron, vanilla, cinnamon, certain herbs and of course, truffles…(there are certainly more so please comment on whatever else you can add).

I will freely admit I am smitten by truffles – the mystery, intrigue, suspicion, subtly delicious flavour and devious way in which they are traded around the world. Anyone who has tried the gnarly beast and who is not averse to tastes of the earth will know that there is nothing to replace this fantastic and rare gift.

It is a fact that we cannot afford to regularly purchase and eat the tubers themselves as they cost up to $1700 per kg, but there are many great options to get the flavour without the bankruptcy. My personal favourite is truffle oil. Even here there are a huge range of options. Some thimble sized bottles will run $15-20. Others, usually olive oils flavoured with truffles can be much more affordable with $15-20 getting you 375-500ml. To me, this is where the action is. They can almost taste as strong as pure oils yet for a much lower price (we get ours at Valoroso Foods in Kelowna). A free pour over the risotto or into the sauce just before serving can create that magical scent in the room and the strangely profound feeling in the body, all without breaking the bank.

The very best use, though, must be popcorn, truffled popcorn. Pop the corns, toss in some oil, put on the DVD, and open the bubbly. Decadence has surely been achieved. Truffle oil is at its best added just prior to serving. The volatile aromas disappear quickly and are at their strongest when the oil hits the heated rice, pasta, sauce or whatever you have come up with.

We tend to think of truffles as something European, yet there is a growing effort to replicate the truffle magic around the world. Australia, New Zealand, parts of the USA and various regions in Europe have been successful in inoculating trees and propagating truffles. Now BC is getting in on the game. It just so happens that parts of our southern BC climate may well be suitable to this fungal gold. There is, apparently, even a Truffle Association of BC (TABC).

Efforts are underway but the wait will be long. A typical time frame is 8-10 years from planting the inoculated oak or hazelnut before the bounty may start to appear. It is the highly prized Black Perigord Truffle that is the goal. Trial plots are underway in Duncan, Abbotsford, and Oyama. The best website for the low down (and details as to how to get your own tree!) is www.trufficulture.ca.

So plant your tree, anticipate another culinary gem added to the bounty of our province. In the meantime, pour the oil, get the taste, and prepare yourself.

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Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

David and Cynthia Enns like to say that they wake up every morning with the goal of not living up to their winery’s name “Laughing Stock”. Things must have been running too smoothly for too long because they have decided to put their reputations on the line once again.

Their latest brave/foolish adventure is linking the price of their soon to be released Portfolio 2007 to the much-maligned TSX. If you purchase Portfolio futures at $35 per bottle (the early bird special price versus the usual $39 on release) you enter the TSX lottery.

For every 500 points the TSX drops by the time the wine is released in September 2009, Laughing Stock will give you back $1 per bottle or donate it to charity (not the banking sector) – their own little vine-ancial stimulus package.

I happened to be at the winery a couple of days ago and tasted some barrel samples of the 2007 and it is showing the usual high quality that Portfolio has come to represent. The futures go on sale Feb 17th and with this deal, there is little to lose. If the markets do continue to decline, you may well need a drink.

Ed. note: That’s Rhys and Cynthia in the photo at the 2008 Naramata Unfiltered Sommelier Bootcamp. I think they might be trying to yell at the vines or something. I remember that being a particularly inebriating day…

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Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.

Mission Hill Family Estate has announced that chef Michael Allemeier (interview) will be departing the winery this summer on August 1st. He will be replaced as Winery Chef by Matt Batey, who is promoted from the position of Terrace Chef to lead all of the winery’s culinary programs.

I have been lucky enough to experience Allemeier’s cooking on many occassions at the winery and it is fair to say that he has been a significant part of advancing the standard of food in the Okanagan Valley. From lavish wine dinners to cooking classes, he has helped to add a dash of class to the local culinary scene. One of the greatest contributions Allemeier made to Okanagan food was his passion and stubbornness to seek out and use only the best local ingredients. This helped to put a focus on some of the amazing bounty that the Okanagan and Similkameen Valley produce.

Allemeier will be moving his family back to Calgary where he will be an instructor at the SAIT Polytechnic School of Hospitality, specifically in their Professional Cooking program. While we will miss his flare at the stove, I have no doubt that Batey will continue on from where Michael left off. He has an impressive resume listing stints at the Fairmont’s Empress Hotel in Victoria, Catch in Calgary, La Belle Auberge and Bacchus Restaurant in Vancouver, so experience is a test he doesn’t need to take.

I’m sure Allemeier will churn out many great chefs as a teacher and mentor to ensure that we in the West eat well for generations to come.

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Rhys Pender is a wine educator, freelance wine writer, wine judge and consultant to the industry. Visit his company Wine Plus+ online at www.wineplus.ca.