The 2023 Epicuro Nero d’Avola is a fruit-forward Sicilian red made from one of the island’s signature indigenous grapes, offering ripe cherry and plum flavours with hints of spice and herbs. Made in stainless steel, it’s medium-bodied, softly tannic and fresh, with a relatively moderate 12.5% alcohol. This wine is food friendly, has lots of fruit, is easy drinking and is under $20 (including tax)!
This time we blind taste a 2019 Gaba Do Xil Tinto made with Mencía - a red grape that is tasty but not as powerful as a lot of Spanish reds. This food friendly, relaxed Spanish wine is not super bold but very nice to drink with a snack or meal!
There are plenty of wineries in the Okanagan, but every now and then you come across one that feels a little different. Waldhof Family Estate Winery is one of those.
The Waldhof story goes back much further than the winery itself. The vineyard property on Lakeshore Road in Kelowna was first planted to grapes almost 100 years ago making it one of the older vineyard sites in the Okanagan. Leo and Barb came to Kelowna from Switzerland in 1984 and eventually bought the property. For many years they concentrated on growing grapes and selling them to other wineries before deciding to make wine themselves.
St. Hubertus opened in 1992 (in fact, I bought a couple big buckets of grapes, twigs, and juice from there in the late 90s to make wine in my basement) and had a good run as a winery until Leo's brother sold the winery (but not the vines) to Anthony von Mandl's (owner of Mission Hill) wine portfolio in 2024
Leo and children, Reto and Michelle, established Waldhof Family Estate Winery in 2024, continuing a family connection to both farming and winemaking that has its roots in Switzerland.
That Swiss connection is more than just part of the family history. It shows up in the vineyard, too. Waldhof grows some varieties that are familiar in the Okanagan, including Pinot Noir, Riesling and Pinot Blanc, but there are also some less common names on the list: Chasselas, Gamay Noir, Pinot Meunier and Maréchal Foch. More recently, they've added varieties such as Räuschling, Heida and Lemberger.
It's an interesting collection of grapes, and one that makes Waldhof worth paying attention to. Rather than simply following the usual Okanagan formula, the family seems quite happy to experiment and see what works on their site.
Waldhof is still a relatively small, family-run operation, and that is part of its appeal. The wines are made from grapes grown right there on the property, and there is a sense that this is a family continuing to figure out what their land can do rather than trying to fit it into a predetermined Okanagan mould.
I recently tasted several of the Waldhof wines, and I was particularly interested to see how these somewhat less-common varieties translate into the glass. Here are my impressions.
2025 Chasselas ($22) - This wine is almost bone dry at 0.6 g/L of sugar. It tastes delicious - but thank goodness it's only 10.7% alcohol as it goes down extremely easy! Slightly floral, there were tastes of green apple, a bit of citrus and some stone fruit as well as some minerality and acidity. This was enjoyable to drink on their lovely patio but would also pair with spicy or Asian food.
2025 Riesling ($23) - This wine is technically off dry at 6 g/L of sugar but it really tastes like a dry Riesling. I detected a very faint hint of petrol on the nose and on the palate. There was definitely lemon, lime, and green apple in this wine as well as some flintiness and strong acidity. I think you could put this one away for a year and it would develop nicely.
2024 Marêchal Foch ($25) - Foch is not my favourite grape - it is a hybrid between Goldriesling and an American grape. That said, this was one of the better Foch wines that I have tasted - flavours of dark fruits and bitter chocolate, some acidity and tannins, and definitely some earthiness.
2025 Pinot Noir - We were fortunate enough to try two wines that had just - and I mean in the last few days - been bottled. The first was the Pinot - there was some herbaceousness and earthiness, but I didn't find it overpowering and there was certainly some fruit on the wine. This one will have to wait until Christmas to fully appreciate.
2025 Gamay Noir - I love Gamay Noir and I'm very excited about this one. It, too, has just been bottled but I could taste the fruit on it as well as the ... potential! There was some red fruit on the palate with good acidity, low tannins, and a bit of spice. This will also have to wait until Christmas - and I can't wait!
What I find particularly interesting about Waldhof is that it doesn't seem to be trying to be just another Okanagan winery. There is a lot of history here, but Reto and Michelle are clearly looking forward rather than simply preserving the past. The combination of old vines, organic farming and some decidedly less-common grape varieties makes this a winery worth watching. The Chasselas and Gamay Noir Rosé were my standouts from the wines that are currently available, while the newly bottled Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir have me particularly curious about what comes next. I may have to wait until Christmas to find out—but fortunately, I have three bottles of the Gamay tucked away for the occasion!
Today we're drinking an Albariño — but there's an interesting twist. This 2024 Raimat Albariño doesn't come from the cool, Atlantic-influenced coastal vineyards of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, where we usually expect to find this grape. Instead, it comes from Costers del Segre, in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain.
That makes this wine an interesting experiment in what happens when the same grape is grown in a very different environment. Galicia's Albariño vineyards are strongly influenced by the Atlantic: the climate is relatively cool, humid and maritime, and the grape produces wines that are typically crisp, aromatic and marked by bright acidity, often with citrus, green apple, peach and sometimes a distinctive saline or mineral character.
Costers del Segre is almost the opposite. The vineyards around Raimat are hot, dry and distinctly continental, with hot summers, cold winters and relatively little rainfall. Raimat's vineyards sit on the Lleida plain, where the combination of sunshine, low humidity and large differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures can give the grapes plenty of time to ripen while helping preserve acidity.
And Raimat is no ordinary winery. The estate is one of the best-known names in Costers del Segre and has a long history of experimenting with varieties and sustainable viticulture. Its vineyards are located on a vast estate surrounded by the dry landscape of inland Catalonia — a far cry from the lush, green hills of Galicia.
So what happens when you take Albariño out of its traditional Atlantic home and put it somewhere considerably hotter and drier?
That's what we're tasting for today. Rather than assuming this will taste like a classic Galician Albariño, we're interested in seeing how the grape and the place interact. The 2024 vintage should give us plenty of the fresh, aromatic character we associate with Albariño, but the warmer continental climate can also bring riper fruit and a somewhat different texture and balance.
In other words, this isn't just a bottle of Albariño. It's a chance to taste how much of a wine's personality comes from the grape itself — and how much comes from where that grape is grown.
This time we blind taste an Australian Viognier - a 2023 Yalumba Y Series VIognier - fruity, silky, creamy and inexpensive. Is it worth it? Watch the video!
This Cono Sur Bicicleta Viognier is a nice "drink now" wine at a fantastic price. But is it tasty? Check out the video!
This time we taste a Coté Mas Aurore Rosé from Languedoc, Southern France. This wine comes in a big 1 litre bottle, has a beautiful dawn sky colour and is priced very competitively - but is it good? Watch and find out!
This time we taste a 2024 Blue Grouse Rosé from the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. "Blue Grouse is one of Vancouver Island's pioneering wineries, known for sustainably farmed vineyards in the Cowichan Valley and wines that emphasize freshness, elegance, and cool-climate character.”" Let's see if that wine holds up to the legend!
This time we taste a 2024 Amalaya Torrontés Riesling Blend from Salta, in the north of Argentina. This white blend is mostly Torrontés which is an aromatic grape, somewhat like Gewürztraminer, with a bit of Riesling to add some nice structure.
After checking out the video, why not book a private wine tour this summer in the comfort of your own vehicle - click here!
This time we try a very food friendly wine - this 2022 Castello di Gambiano Chianti Classico Reserva has all the necessary requirements for a food friendly wine - but how does it taste? Watch the video to find out! Then book a wine tour in the Okanagan to try food friendly wines from BC!
Five years later - I tasted this wine in 2021 and it was a solid wine. This time, I am tasting the same wine but a different vintage - did my previous positive review still hold? Watch the video and find out as we try a 2024 Barone de Valforte Abruzzo Pecorino.
This time we try a Provence Rosé - beautiful light pink wine from the South of France. This 2024 Miraval Studio is a very good wine with a great price but is also famous as being partially owned by Brad Pitt! This wine is a tasty patio pounder but really sings when having a snack, a charcuterie, salad or sushi. After watching this video, why not find out what kinds or rosé the Okanagan has to offer by booking a wine tour this summer using this link: https://www.wineandthensommwinetours.com/contact-us
After you've watched the vide, why not book a tour this summer to taste Okanagan Sauvignon Blanc!
This time we try a French Pinot Noir - but not from Burgundy. This 2023 Bouchard Aîné et Fils is priced at only $20 and just might punch above its class! After checking out the video, why not book a tour this summer to taste some delicious Pinot Noir in the Okanagan?
The 2023 Epicuro Nero d’Avola is a fruit-forward Sicilian red made from one of the island’s signature indigenous grapes, offering ripe che...
