Well it’s that time of year, once again the Okanagan Wine Festival will be upon us, a wonderful time to experience the wines of the Okanagan, one of the world best wine growing areas. With over 100 wineries there certainly will be something to please every wine lovers fantasy.
From winery tours and tasting to wine pairing dinners in the best (and some of the worse) restaurants throughout the Okanagan you will never be able to get enough of the great VQA wines made here. (VQA Vintners Quality Alliance).
Put very simply, the VQA designation on the Wines of British Columbia is a guarantee the wine you’re purchasing has been subjected to rigorous quality control measures. Introduced in 1990, the VQA is an “Appellation of Origin” system that guarantees authenticity of origin and stipulates minimum quality standards for Canadian wines.
The VQA defines and mandates standards for wine production and certification. With the VQA system, Canada joined other leading wine-producing countries in developing a body of regulations and standards for its wines.
Now as you go forth and experience the wines just a few pointers to keep in mind.
For food pairing with the wines, the rules are simple and easy to follow.
A) Drink what you like. Why on earth would anyone drink something that they do not enjoy or like. Would you eat something you don’t like? Of course not so don’t drink it either, which brings us to point
B), when pairing food with wine consider the weight. (No not yours) the foods, light dishes= light wines, rich dishes= rich wines, spicy dishes= spicy wines. It’s real simple, and really is the best way to enjoy the wine and dine experience.
C) Step outside your boundaries, sure you’ll want to stay away from what you don’t enjoy, but you won’t know if you don’t try. Live a little, go where no taste bud has gone before, if you try it you may find you’ll like.
And finally to enjoy wine be sure to serve it at it’s ideal temperature. Like any food product you want to enjoy it at the temperature it is best served at. Hot soup taste terrible if served cold, cold salad unappetizing when served hot. Wine too hot tastes off and wine to cold loses it aroma and thus flavour.
Go forth then and enjoy.
Chef K, formally known as Ron Kalenuik, is a world renowned chef of over 30 years. Ron has produced 18 international cookbooks which are unfortunately now out of print. Currently living in Niagara Falls Ontario, Chef K is a consultant to several restaurants, small hotels and B&B's, while he continues to cater special events. Stay tuned for updates as they happen!
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