by Julie Powell | Jun 24, 2018 | Uncategorised
Warmer temperatures have sent the vines into overdrive these last few weeks and while it is too early to say definitively, so far, things are looking great for the 2018 vintage. In addition to the mowing, spraying and vine-tucking, we have had a number of events to...
by Julie Powell | May 1, 2018 | News
With the arrival of spring, activity has shifted from pruning and repairs in the vineyard to the winery, where we bottled and released our 2017 Bacchus, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc with their new labels. We’re very happy with the new look and the quality of the...
by Julie Powell | Mar 24, 2018 | News
While things have slowed down for us in many respects these last couple of months, there is still lots going on in the vineyard. We have spent much of the last quarter pruning our vines and doing other maintenance tasks. We were fortunate to get some tutoring on the...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
You have to [taste] it for yourself”. This month we released the 2014 Matrix with our new label and branding. 2014 was a hotter year than 2013, resulting in a rich blend of ripe fruit complemented by six months in a French oak re-coopered barrel. This wine is...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
November passed in a blur composed primarily of winemaking activities and Christmas markets where we were selling our Plaid wine. The Plaid labels in red and green lent themselves well to the Christmas themes at Kris Kringle in Nanaimo and Winterfest in Qualicum...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
Our first harvest was a definite learning curve but all in all, it went very well. We weren’t altogether sure what to expect but we had a lot of help from our experienced picking crew and “swampers”, the folks who went around and collected the bins full of grapes and...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
As we approached the fall harvest, we put up the nets around our vineyard to keep out the birds who would eat us into poverty if they were given the chance. The process of putting up nets and closing any gaps or holes takes several days and is quite strenuous,...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
At the end of August, Zac and I had a chance to join downtown Victoria restaurants and for the third annual Get FED Summer Party in the Fort Common in downtown Victoria. FED’s mission is to create a district in downtown Victoria that is a destination for...
by Zac Brown | Dec 17, 2017 | News
When we took over Alderlea we had a fair amount of red wine in tanks, three years of Matrix and a vintage of Merlot. We were able to taste the wines and tweak the blends a bit. We determined that they would benefit from a bit more oak, as largely neutral oak had...
by Julie Powell | Dec 17, 2017 | News
This month, we launched our Plaid wines under our Motovino label at the farmers’ markets in Nanaimo and Parksville. Our aim was to produce approachable, food-friendly blends that could be sipped on a patio or paired with your favourite summer dishes. Plaid is...
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