Okanagan – The Sipster's Wine Podcast

John Schreiner’s Memoirs Part 1

If you think you know something about BC Wine but you don’t know who John Schreiner is, then you still have a lot to learn. Wine in BC (and Canada) has not always been as good as it is now. At least a generation of wine drinkers (or maybe two) now does not remember when Canadian wine was the butt of jokes and probably shouldn’t have been consumed by humans before 1994. John saw the potential and began writing about it in the 1970s, publishing his first book about BC wine in 1984. As he says, he was a friend of BC wine when BC wine had no friends.

I first read one of John’s books more than 20 years ago, met him for the first time soon after that, and he’s been an inspiration and a mentor to me for well over a decade. John and I can talk about wine a lot and we both seem to lose track of time. Our affinity for the wines, the industry, and the personalities of the people in that industry seems to drive both of us. It’s always such a joy to get to chat with John.

He’s got a new book of memoirs out now called “Goodgrog: A Life in Wine and Journalism”. It is filled with stories of his vast experiences from growing up in small town Saskatchewan to travelling the world as a journalist. This provides the “terroir” from which Canada’s most prolific wine writer emerges as the author of 19 books about wine in BC and Canada. It’s a truly fascinating read to learn about someone who is more often out of the spotlight than in it. He knows so much about the wine industry in BC but that information only flows one way. Who is this guy? This book answers all of those questions.

It was a beautiful spring day on the back deck at his home in North Vancouver. We began the chat over a beautiful glass of Mirabel Chardonnay and chatting a little about one of his few non-wine books.

Read John Schreiner’s Wine Blog.

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Email your answers to this week’s Big Question, your comments or questions, or your special wine experiences to me at sipsterswinepodcast@gmail.com!

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Episode 27 – It’s Here!

It’s here!

What’s here? The Sipster’s Pocket Guide to 50 Must-Try BC Wines, Volume 2 is now out!

Buy it at Mosaic Books in Kelowna!

Buy it at Munro Books in Victoria!

You can buy it here! You can buy it there!

You can buy it everywhere!

You can also buy it directly from me by sending me an email. Let me know how many you’d like, if you’d like them signed and personalized, and where they are shipping to and we will work something out using e-transfer. Also, if you are in the Okanagan, I can also arrange to personally hand you a copy somewhere. (Now, THAT is customer service!)

Oh, and there is also wine touring information on this podcast too.
The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide by John Schreiner and Luke Whittall
Uncork BC (not a paid partnership or affiliate link – I’m not smart enough for that yet I guess…)

Listen to this week’s podcast here

Episode 26 with DJ Lady of the Mist

DJ Lady of the Mist, aka my friend and occasional musical partner Misty Rose. I’ve known Misty for about 7 or 8 years now and together we form the guitar and flute duet called Pairing Notes. Sadly, it took a long time for us to come up with that name. (For some reason, she didn’t like Flutar, which was one of my suggestions – don’t know why. Weird.) Anyways, Misty and I talk about all kinds of cool things including the disturbing lack of night life in the Okanagan and what wineries can do to help bring it back. She absolutely dazzled the crowd at a winery event last summer and got a lot of people talking because along with spinning tracks, she plays ridiculous flute riffs over top which makes for an amazing performance that you really have to see for yourself.

Catch Misty’s stream on Twitch.

Listen to this week’s podcast here

Episode 25 with Blair Gillingham

Blair Gillingham is the winemaker now at Howling Bluff Estate Winery in Naramata but for has been in the wine business since he was a teenager. There aren’t a lot of people in their early 40s who can say that they’ve experience well more than 20 vintages, which he’s done in many countries around the world, which he’ll be talking about. Blair is super down to earth about wine and winemaking. He was a hard-core listener to my old podcast, Wine Country BC back in the day – even remembering things about them that I’d forgotten about. He brought along a couple of tank samples to try as well, which was really cool. Enjoy my chat with Howling Bluff winemaker Blair Gillingham. Cheers!

Listen to this week’s podcast here

Episode 23 with Jennifer and Kent Molgat

Jennifer and Kent Molgat from The View Winery and Vineyard and Ward’s Cider in Kelowna are on the podcast this week! If you have a copy of The Sipster’s Pocket Guide to 50 Must-Try BC Wines, volume 1 – turn to page 108 (reminds me of “Helm to 108!” – if you know what movie that is from, leave a comment below) where you will find the View’s Pinotage Reserve featured there – an amazing wine that they have been growing and making there since they started. It’s kind of a Cinderella wine in that it is underappreciated and nobody really understands just how beautiful it is. AND IT IS! I’ve had it through several vintages over the years and good vintage or bad vintage, it’s always a great wine, which is why I featured it in Volume 1.

I’ve met Jennifer many times over the years but Kent only on the odd occasion. He is a professional broadcaster and so I hope I was able to up my game above being a hack podcaster in his presence. I think I did ok. Thank goodness for editing. We had a great time and probably could have chatted for a lot longer. Hopefully, they will come back again soon.

Listen to this week’s podcast here.

Episode 21 Getting Uncorked with Kayla Bordignon

If Kayla Bordignon’s enthusiasm for BC wine was contagious, we would quickly have another pandemic on our hands. (Too soon?) The fact is that her love of BC wine is overflowing and it is not hard to get caught up in it when speaking with her. Kayla’s website Uncork BC and the seriously epic journey that awaits people who purchase the 2023 edition of her BC Wine Passport are the results of her passion and enthusiasm for wine in British Columbia. Officially, she is the first return guest on this podcast, having appeared in Episode 17 at Winterfest, and hopefully she will want to come back again soon. Enjoy!

Thank you for listening!

Episode 19 What is a Wine Tour?

This week’s episode is filled with stuff! All of the burning questions and all things about wine.

What is a “wine tour” exactly?
What is with all of those empty bottles in my kitchen?
What does it mean to be a Sipster?

Burning questions, all of them, I know. Sit back with a glass of something interesting and enjoy!

Email your answers to this week’s Big Question, your comments or questions, or your special wine experiences to me at sipsterswinepodcast@gmail.com!

Find us online at Sipsterswinepodcast.ca.

Support this podcast by becoming a subscriber!

Thanks for listening!

Listen to this week’s podcast here.

Episode 18 with Calli Bailey

It’s my reunion with one of my earliest wine friends, Calli Bailey. A frequent guest on my old podcast, Calli and I have seen each other infrequently in the past 6 years. This podcast is more than just reminiscing though – in the years since she and I first worked together selling wine at a wine store in Penticton 13 years ago, Calli has become a highly trained winemaker and wine professional and it was a thrill to share a glass with her again. She really knows how to communicate about wine without getting bogged down in the details, which I think you’ll be able to hear on this podcast.

I also let something slip in this podcast that I was planning on announcing properly at a later date but sometimes that’s just how things roll. You’ll have to listen closely but the wine that Calli and I are tasting is a hint.

Email your answers to this week’s Big Question, your comments or questions, or your special wine experiences to me at sipsterswinepodcast@gmail.com!
Find us online at Sipsterswinepodcast.ca.
Thanks for listening!

Listen to this week’s podcast here.

Episode 17 Winterfest at the District Wine Village

There are a lot of people in this episode! It was a beautiful day at the District Wine Village in Oliver as the Okanagan Wine Festival Society launched a new event – Winterfest. Thank you to Kimberley Hundertmark for inviting me to to this great event.

In this episode, you will hear from:

Heather Courtney from General Manager of O’Rourke Peak Cellars and Chair of the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society
Barbara Hall at Upper Case Winery
Suk and Neetu from Eau Vivre (pictured above)
Michal Mosny from Winemakers Cut
Daphne Scromeda from JoiRyde Winery
Kayla Bourdignon from UncorkBC and the creator of the annual BC Wine Passport
We’ll also check in on Nk’Mip Cellars and a new winery at the Wine Village – Foolish Wines.

Singer Mandy Cole also makes an appearance from the stage at the centre of the village.

There were so many wineries I couldn’t get too or that didn’t have time for interviews because they were so busy. Also, unfortunately the audio from Valley Commons was unusable due to technical difficulties. I will return for more soon.

Listen to this week’s podcast here.

Episode 16 – Flashback to Oyster Fest

This week’s episode is a flashback to an event that happened almost 10 years ago! At the time, the Oyster Festival in Osoyoos was the unofficial start to the summer wine season and it was always a ton of fun. Join me for this time capsule flashback (courtesy of my old podcast, Wine Country BC) to one of the Okanagan’s great food and wine events.

Email your answers to this week’s Big Question, your comments or questions, or your special wine experiences to me at sipsterswinepodcast@gmail.com!

Listen to this week’s podcast here.

(Photo by Amber Andreucci)