Pacific Northwest Wine Country: Vancouver Island’s Cool-Climate Wines

In recent years, the Vancouver Island GI* has risen as a player in the British Columbia wine scene with a community of family grape growers and winemakers dedicated to sustainable organic farming and winemaking practices. Currently, this GI contains 321 planted acres with 22 licensed grape wineries. Its cooler maritime climate produces fresh, crisp wines such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Ortega (a German hybrid varietal) and a range of sparkling wines. These wines pair spectacularly with freshly caught local seafood, especially salmon, halibut, spot prawns, oysters, Dungeness crab, and clam chowder.

Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery (Courtney, BC)

2023 Foch Rosé

Produced from the colored flesh of the Maréchal Foch grape varietal, an interspecific hybrid French wine grape known as teinturier, this grape produces a dark rosé. A warmer growing season in 2023 led to a particularly full-bodied wine with ripe and lively huckleberry, black cherry, and raspberry aromas.

40 Knots Winery (Comox, BC)

2022 White Pinot Noir

While 2022 started with unusually cool temperatures and higher-than-average precipitation, the warm summer and early fall allowed for high brix (sugar content) without disease. This led to a dry, full-bodied wine with just a touch of sweetness. Hints of poached pear, citrus, and peaches tease the palate, accompanied by notes of white flowers, wet stone, and sweet nectarine.

Unsworth Vineyards (Mill Bay, BC)

2022 Pinot Noir Rosé

This Cowichan Valley vineyard possesses a mild Mediterranean-like microclimate with a warmer year-round average temperature than the rest of Canada. Its warm weather resulted in a dry and fruit-forward full-bodied rosé. The 2022 vintage contains aromas of cranberries and wild strawberries that reveal rich but refreshing flavors of red apple, Rainer cherries, and Rhubarb.

Blue Grouse Estate Winery (Duncan, BC)

2022 Ortega

Ortega grapes are a cross between Müller-Thurgau and Siegerrebehas grapes, developed in Germany in 1948 and designed to resist disease and thrive in marginal climates. Ortega was one of the first grapes planted on Vancouver Island, brought there in the late 1980s as part of the Duncan Project. The project’s experimental planting was intended to see which if any, wine grapes would thrive in the island’s unique climate. Since its initial planting, Ortega has emerged as one of this island’s flagship grapes, with each winemaker offering a unique twist on this grape. Blue Grouse’s 2022 Ortega possesses aromatic notes of grapefruit and fruit medley, which, when combined with the island’s minimality, produce a surprisingly complex white wine given its easy-sipping nature.

Church & State Wines Brentwood Bay (Victoria, BC)

2020 Sparkling Rosé of Pinot Noir (Gris de Noir)

Produces using the traditional méthode champenoise, this light, effervescent, and refreshing wine glistens with a pale salmon hue. Aromas of rose petals and fresh strawberries greet the nose, while ripe peach and orange flavors lead to a creamy and balanced mouthfeel with a long finish.

For more information about this emerging wine region, visit Wines of British Columbia.

*GI: Geographic Indicator – Similar to AVA, a GI is a legally defined term indicating the geographical area from which a wine originates.

PHOTO ALBUM (Images by the author, Becky Garrison)