Prospect Winery's Okanagan Blog

Valentine's Romantic Getaway to Victoria Contest!

 
Meandering through the flowers of Butchart Gardens, a nighttime carriage ride around the lights of the inner harbour, morning strolls along Willows beach.. there are so many romantic ways to spend a weekend in Victoria, BC!  Now we're teaming up with Rogers Chocolate to offer one lucky couple an unforgettable romantic trip to the "Garden City."

For chocolate lovers out there, this a chance to have your very own Willy Wonka moment!!  Not only do you have a chance to win a weekend getaway to Victoria, but an all access tour of Rogers Chocolates factory and a year's worth of free chocolate!! 

Click HERE to enter to win.  

We're celebrating our big give-way prize from today until Valentines day on our Facebook page!  Come and join us as we will be giving away a box of Icewine truffles and $10 gift certificates to Artisan Wine Shop everyday!

 

Photos from BCWAS Prospect Tasting!

 
A huge thanks to BCWAS  and members for throwing a fantastic tasting evening at the Hyatt Hotel last night. The room was packed filled with wine aficionados thirsty for knowledge on Prospect Wines and the intimate details of wine making in the Okanagan Valley. Our winemaker Wade Stark led the eager participants through the tasting, speaking and taking questions for over 2 hours!  Here we've included a few photos of the wine tasting mats, crowd and Wade!

 
 
 
 

Wash Away The January Blues with Taste BC At The Hyatt

 
For Liberty Merchant Company, one of Vancouver's awesome chain of independent wine stores,the holiday cheer doesn’t end with the year and neither does the giving.

Liberty is once again recruiting British Columbia’s finest food and beverage purveyors for Taste BC: a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital-Oak Tree Clinic which specializes in providing care and services to those with HIV/AIDS. Prospect Winery is proud and excited to be take part in this event, pour a sampling of our wines!

The 17th annual celebration of local food and drink takes place January 18, 2011 (4:30-7:30 p.m.) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Guests will taste, sip and experience BC’s finest wine, beer and spirits accompanied by tasty fare from our best local restaurants. Along with excellent food and drink, attractions include live music, door prizes, and a silent auction that rivals any other. Silent auction items include luxury items, local experience packages, destination packages and delicious products made by British Columbia’s own.

Tickets can be purchased at all Liberty Wine Merchant Locations for $49.99 each.

The BC Wine Appreciation Society Present: A Prospect Winery Portfolio Tasting With Wade Stark

 
Prospect Winery is lucky enough to land in the spotlight on Thursday, January 20th for The BC Wine Appreciation Society's latest portofolio tasting series! 

Hosted at the gorgeous Listel Hotel Vancouver, our very own winemaker Wade Stark will be on hand to walk event participants through a wide selection of Prospect Wines, speaking to his state of the art wine making processes.  You're guaranteed to taste some delicious wines, learn something new about Okanagan Valley winemaking and mingle with other local wine enthusiasts!

Designated the "Best Way to Cut the B.S. about BC Wines" by the Georgia Straight, The BC Wine Appreciation Society mandate is to provide a platform for BC wine lovers to discover, discuss, experience and enjoy all things BC Wine.  To find out more or become a member, find them at BCWAS.com

Wines provided for the tasting will include:

2007 Haynes Barn Merlot-Cabernet

2008 Fat's Johnson Pinot Noir

2007 Red Willow Shiraz

2008 Census Count Chardonnay (oaked)

2009 Townsend Jack Chardonnay (unoaked)

2009 Birch Canoe Pinot Blanc

2009 Ogopogo's Lair Pinot Grigio

2009 Larch Tree Riesling

2009 Council's Punch Bowl Sauvignon Blanc

Key details:

Date:   Thursday, January 20, 2011

Time:   7:30pm - 9:30pm

Place:  Listel Hotel, Robson Street

Price:   $30 Members, $45 Guests

 

Randy Quaid enjoys Rock Wren when on the Run!

 
 
Wow!  Thanks Randy Quaid.  Even though you're hiding out at the Tigh-Na-Mara resort, you still found time for some Prospect Wine!  And not only that, you made sure it was in your latest Vanity Fair spread!!

Pretty amazing stuff. Check out the full feature HERE.

What a lovely Christmas treat from one of our favorite Christmas characters.. Cousin Eddie!

 

 

 

Christmas Countdown! Having Fun with Holiday Music and Wine Pairings

We're on the home stretch!  Only THREE DAYS till Christmas. As we make the last dash and final preparations for our holiday celebrations with family and friends, we thought we'd have some fun with our Christmas music and wine pairings.  Here are some suggestions for great tunes and the wines they make us think of.

1.  Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas

 

Wine Pairing - Ogopogo's Lair Pinot Grigio

Mariah added a new spin to the christmas classics, introducing a modern upbeat song all of her own. This song makes me want to dance and sing, it really gets the party started.  That's why the perfect pairing is the light and fresh Ogopogo's Lair Pinot Grigio!  Both the song and wine keep things light hearted and fun, getting the evening rolling!

 

2. Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth

 

Wine Pairing - Haynes Barn Merlot Cabernet

A Merlot Cabernet blend might not catch you as off guard as the blend of Bowie and Crobsy, but they do work just as well together!  Two distinct characters, one more mellow, one know for it's bright boldness, when brought together they create something unexpected and new! Wait... are we talking about the wine varietals or the singers?

 

3. Paul McCartney - Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

 

Wine Pairing - Townsend Jack Unoaked Chardonnay

Two things that go really well with Turkey! This fun ditty by Sir Paul is a great companion to the joys conversation and laughter that surrounds a festive Christmas dinner table. Of course, the other great companion for turkey dinner is Unoaked Chardonnay! The lighter treatment from the lack of Oak helps compliment the heavy dinner and also stands up well with the onions and big flavours of your stuffing and other side dishes.  And then of course.. we could always make a comparison between the very popular "favorite" chardonnay and many people's "favorite" Beatle.  Sounds like a great dinner conversation starter!!

Happy Holiday's everyone!

Give your party a Punch Bowl!

 
 
The brand new issue of Tidings Magazine is here!  The awesome Canadian food and wine magazine is chalk full of great tips for holiday entertaining for their December issue. When reading through, we were pleased as "Punch" to find our Council's Punch Bowl Sauvignon Blanc getting some featured placement in their monthly reivews.

Check out all they're holiday tips, including great receipies and drink ideas over at TidingsMag.com

 

Prospect Tasting at Sip Wines This Weekend!

 

So what's the plan for the weekend?  Maybe a little holiday shopping!  Maybe in Richmond!  Am I getting warm?

Well if you are venturing to "Island City"to grab some meatballs at Ikea, then you should add in a stop at Sip Wines!  Richmond's only VQA wine shop is having a special Prospect Wines pouring event this Saturday, Dec 12 between 3-5pm.  Taste through, find your favorites and take advantage of some fantastic prices to help ease the holiday entertaining budget :)

The wines being poured are:

Prospect Merlot-Cabernet 2007, $13.99

Prospect Pinot Blanc 2008, $11.99

Prospect Riesling 2009, $12.99

Prospect Rose 2009, $10.99

Prospect Sauvignon Blanc 2009

 

Sip Wines - 11660 Steveston Highway #1030, Richmond BC.

 

 

Early Christmas Tickets Winner!

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Early Christmas Giveaway contest! With all this snow British Columbia, it's hasn't been hard to get into the spirit of the season!

Congrats to Bonnie who took home a pair of tickets to the Arts Club Theatre's "The Patron Saint of Stanly Park."

Be sure to stop by again soon (or Facebook or Twitter link to us) as we have lots more giveaways on the horizon!  Do you like amazing weekend getaways? I've said too much already!

 

2010 Icewine Harvest Begins Early!!

 
Traditionally Icewine harvests take place in the dead of night. Light by the glow of the moon (and perhaps a few mega watt bulbs) brave picking teams free themselves from their comfortable beds to capture the grapes at their optimal time. Why so late? Are the pickers just gluttons for punishment, looking to push an already extremely arduous task to it's very limit?   Well maybe, but the real reason is that the late night temperatures are when the grapes are at their best for picking. They need to be cold, at least -8 degrees Celsius, but the colder the better.  The colder the grapes, the higher the concentration of juice, creating sweet and flavourful wines.

But this year, we're capping off a truly bizarre growing season. This marks one of the shortest turn around between wine harvest and Icewine harvest at just a few short weeks! And not only is the 2010 Icewine harvest one of the earliest on record (the earliest coming in 2003) but it was so cold, the harvest happened in the light of day! So with the temperature starting out around -17 Celsius in Naramata and reaching a balmy -13 in the afternoon, our brave troops headed out to do battle with the elements.

Photos from winemaker Wade Stark have been flowing in from the fields all afternoon and we couldn't wait to share.

Riesling grapes ready to be picked:

 

Wade Stark's first full pail of Riesling:

 

Added to the growing bucket..

 

Wade braving the elements and bringing in the fruit:

 
 

Later that night back at the winery, a freshly filled bucket of Vidal grapes will stay outside overnight, no need for refrigeration!