Hester Creek Winery in Oliver

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Yesterday I was invited up to Hester Creek Winery in Oliver (at the Southern tip of the Okanagan) to tour their facilities, meet their winemaker, and learn more about their vineyards. While I am very familiar with the brand (and they have also been generous sponsors of the last two Twestival events I have organized) I had still never been to the Hester Creek estate.

Taking off for Hester Creek

Flying over Oliver Flying over Oliver

Oliver Airport

Hester Creek Estate Winery

We spent the day touring the villas (that are currently B&B style), meeting the friendly staff like Robin and LeeAnn Openshaw, exploring the property with General Manager Mark Sheridan, and doing tastings with winemaker Robert Summers.

Hester Creek Estate Winery Hester Creek Estate Winery

Hester Creek Estate Winery

Our group (which consisted of food and travel writers from Vancouver) tasted a variety of Hester Creek’s yet-to-be-released offerings as well as some of their classics.

Hester Creek Estate Winery

Hester Creek Estate Winery

Hester Creek Estate Winery Hester Creek Estate Winery

After the tastings, we enjoyed lunch courtesy of visiting Chef Ned Bell who will soon be at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

Hester Creek Estate Winery - Visiting Chef Ned Bell

Hester Creek Estate Winery
Ambrosia Apple, Parsnip, and Celeriac Soup (with sharp cheddar toast and honey).
Paired with 2010 Character White

The soup was fresh, fruity, smooth and creamy, and the crunchy apples garnish with crusted toast added a delightful contrast in textures. Chef Bell created the soup’s stock from the chicken that was our tender and juicy second course and more apples were used in our sweet and salty dessert.

Hester Creek Estate Winery
Maple Hill Farms Chicken with Golden Quinoa
Paired with 2009 Character Red
Hester Creek Estate Winery
Classic Tart Tatin (granny smith apples, salted caramel)
Paired with 2009 Late Harvest Pinot Blanc

Hester Creek’s new restaurant will feature meals prepared with their wines in mind with locally-sourced ingredients from Oliver and the Okanagan. Their demo kitchen in the winery will continue to host a cooking series with top-notch guest chefs from around the country. I took a few photos of the restaurant’s construction and look forward to returning in the summer to take some “after” shots, perhaps while enjoying some of their mediterranean-style pizza on the patio overlooking the vineyard while sipping on a Character White.

Hester Creek Estate Winery

I have been going to the Okanagan every year for the last 30 years and have spent quite a bit of time in Osoyoos over the last ten years. Wine tours in the region include hopping in the car with a designated driver and heading up the Golden Mile for tours and tastings before returning home to your hotel, campsite, or (in our case) my aunt’s condo. I didn’t previously know that Hester Creek had villas just up the hill from their winery and that they will soon be opening their own restaurant. Before now, they have sent their guests over to Burrowing Owl for dinner but they can now be their own ‘one stop shop’ for a getaway in the vineyards.

Hester Creek Estate Winery

I was most impressed by the people of Hester Creek and their passion for two things: the visitor experience and above all, the quality of the wine. It’s clear that they are all about the grapes, the vines, sustainable practices, and producing a quality product.

Landing at YVR

Returning home just a few hours later, I got to ride in the co-pilot seat of the airplane. It was a whirlwind tour but at a relaxed pace, leaving me feeling very excited about visiting the South Okanagan in the coming months.

Follow @HesterCreek on Twitter for updates and check them out at the Vancouver International Playhouse Wine Festival later this month.

On This Day in History: Green Timbers Forest

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Volunteers planted over 120 trees in Surrey’s Green Timbers March 15th, 1930. According to VancouverHistory, this was BC’s first “forest plantation” and now this 400 hectare park is an urban refuge:

Green Timbers Urban Forest in Surrey is unique: it consists mainly of trees planted from seedlings in the first attempt at reforestation in British Columbia. It sits on a square mile of forest astride the Fraser Highway.

GreenTimbers_SurreyArchives
1914 Green Timbers – Pacific Highway – Surrey Archives

Stand by that highway and look east, and you’re directly facing Mount Baker. This highway was originally the Yale Wagon Road to the interior, built by the Royal Engineers in 1875. In 1923 it was renamed the Pacific Highway when Surrey was linked by road to Blaine in Washington State.

Green Timbers Forest, Surrey, BC

Nowadays, it is the largest park in Surrey and has a network of trails, a lake, and a series of ecology tours and events hosted by the Green Timbers Heritage Society.

Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver: Seminars

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

The world’s most influential mixology conference, Tales of the Cocktail, arrived in Vancouver for three days of events, seminars and – of course – cocktails. 

Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver

It speaks volumes to the Vancouver bartending and cocktail scene that they should host such an event as this is the first time Tales of the Cocktail has been hosted outside of New Orleans. “We’re known for our hospitality, natural beauty, restaurants, chefs, wine, and environment, and now you can add ‘great cocktails’ to form a complete package,” Jay Jones, Consulting and Founding member of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association, told me in an interview earlier this year.

This morning I attended two seminars: “The Science of Cocktails: New Techniques Behind the Bar” with Dave Arnold, followed by “The History and Importance of Ice in Cocktails” with Charlotte Voisey and Jon Santer.  Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Vancouver Icons: Angel of Victory

Comments 7 by Rebecca Bollwitt

As a part of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s ‘Places that Matter‘ committee, I get my fix of local history at every meeting. I was recently looking through some of the sites already nominated for designation and found the Angel of Victory.

Walking Tour of Gastown

Installed in 1921, it is one of the city’s most prominent statues, located along Cordova St, right in front of Waterfront Station [Google Map]. The bronze depiction is of an angel carrying a World War I soldier up to heaven.

_MG_8680
Photo credit: donnaidh_sidhe on Flickr

According to the City, this is one of three identical statues (the others in Montreal and Winnipeg) commissioned by the CPR to honour their workers who made the ultimate sacrifice by going to war. The angel originally held a full wreath in her upraised hand and after WW II, the dates of that war were also added to the plaque.

Risen the way to heaven
Photo credit: Kurrs, kandyjaxx, on Flickr
urban angel
Photo credit: kandyjaxx on Flickr

The Angel of Victory has inspired me to start a new series called Vancouver Icons. I will be featuring classic Vancouver locations and monuments, offering a bit of history, and sharing a collection of photos that I find on Flickr. The series will be updated at least once every week.

BarCamp Vancouver Photowalk
Photo credit: kk+ on Flickr

Nominations are still open for ‘Places that Matter‘ to you in Vancouver until March 15th. Criteria can be found on the online nomination form.

Vancouver 2010 Paralympics Anniversary

Comments 3 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, an amazing sporting event that was a very sweet ending to largest global event in our city’s history.

Paralympic Torch Relay

It all started out with a bang at the opening ceremony. I remember how lively it was – bright colours, talented dancers, paralympians, and one giant party under the marshmallow dome of BC Place. It was the perfect way to usher in a tremendous showing for Canadian athletes at the Paralympics who would come away with 18 medals, 5 of which were gold won by 2011 BC Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Lauren Woolstencroft.

To celebrate the 2010 Paralympics, there will be an event at Jack Poole Plaza tomorrow, March 12, 2011 from 10:00am – 11:30am. Para-alpine skiers Lauren Woolstencroft, Josh Dueck, Karolina Wisniewska, Lindsay Debou (guide) and wheelchair curlers Darryl Neighbour, Ina Forrest, Jim Armstrong and Sonja Gaudet will be in attendance.

Bronze Medal Sledge Hockey
Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

The Province of BC is also designating days in honor of paralympians who won medals. Josh Dueck and Lindsay Debou Day (March 13), Lauren Woolstencroft and Karolina Wisniewska Day (March 15), Ina Forrest, Jim Armstrong, Sonja Gaudet and Darryl Neighbour Day (March 20), and an Olympic and Paralympic Blue Jacket Volunteers Day (March 21).

The Canadian Paralympic Committee is currently preparing for the London 2012 Games. “I think London will bring a different perspective,” said Assistant Chef de Mission Elisabeth Walker-Young when I spoke with her a few months ago. “The one thing that’s really unique to the London Games is that’s where the Paralympic games all began, and I think they’ll use that as a catalyst.”