The Sipster's Wine Podcast

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It's a Sipster gathering around a small basement table with one of my oldest friends Paul Henbury. Paul has been in the hospitality industry and worked at wineries in the Okanagan Valley so he knows his way around a wine tasting. When he mentioned his favour way to taste whisky in a discussion a few weeks back, I knew it would be pe...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Finally, it's my turn to stump the gang with a slightly obscure wine to most people (but not if you've read a Sipster's book or listened to a podcast recently...). This one has twists and turns, mayhem and excitement, thrills and spills...

Ok, no spills. No wine was harmed in the making of this podcast. 

Welcome to the Sipst...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Blind tasting can be a lot of fun but it can get competitive. The best players are the ones that know what information to give at all times, even in the small talk leading up to a tasting. Sipsters are less competitive but still like the challenge of a blind tasting for the fun of it. Karen's reveal shows that's she's not ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Ok, mostly me. but this was a fun one for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that this situation will be part of wine tasting in BC for years going forward. Is that a good thing? We'll see. 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find us online at sipsters.ca. 

Support the sho...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week’s podcast features a chat with Dr. Don Livermore. Though you are unlikely to know who he is, it is entirely likely that you have had products that he has overseen in his nearly 30 years at the Hiram-Walker distillery and the brand in question today - J.P. Wiser's, which is Canada’s longest running brand of whisky. Wiser&ap...

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Blind tastings are a fun way to hone your skills. In this episode, I have assembled a team of amazing tasters to help solve the mystery wine. Will anyone get it right? Is that the point? Find out as we taste through a wine that Blair shared with us. 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podcast. Find ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

What does it really mean to buy local? Has that changed for us Canadians with all of the political things happening in the US? Is it a stretch to call a Mexican wine local? 

Jess and I delve into this topic over two 'local' wines that aren't from BC. 

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

In her never-ending quest to provide amazing experiences for her tour guests, Farm to Glass Wine Tour owner Jessie Hopwood re-reads Valleys of Wine, the only comprehensive history of BC's wine industry. In this special podcasts, she interviews the author and finds out how much he remembers with an intense quiz. 

Welcome to the S...

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Ever wondered about wine competitions? Where do wines get their gold and silver awards? What do they mean?? Jess and I tackle this controversial topic. 

But wait, there's more! The wine word of the day - or is it week - is Punt. Do you prefer a bottle with out or without? Do you know what it is? We'll tell you. 

Welcome to the Si...

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We're back! Jess joins me from her flex space (aka the Podcast Closet) for this quick chat about the possibility of adding video to the Sipster's Podcast. What do you think? Is it worth it? Are we really that awesome looking? Send us an email or a comment somewhere and let us know. 

We also dive into our wine word of the week - ...

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This episode is a chat with Jillian Hillier, better known online as @faretheewellbychefjill. Chef Jill has a lot to say about eating healthy and all of those dietary restrictions that everybody seems to have these days. I met her last November at the Crushable Club Wine Studio in Toronto, run by wine maven (and previous podcast guest Lau...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week’s podcast is a revisit with Jennifer Carleton. We recorded her previous podcast last spring over a video call when we were both in the Okanagan Valley. She invited me to visit her amazing wine room at her home in Peterborough, Ontario at some point if I was ever there and, last November, I was! She travels regularly between BC ...

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I get to speak with Joanne Pratt and Craig MacMillan, the owners of Stonehouse Vineyard in Lochiel, Ontario. Unless you’ve read either of my two Sipsters Pocket Guides to 50 Must-Try Ontario Wines, there is little chance that you could have even heard of Stonehouse before. 

The winery is in a converted barn and the whole property is perch...

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This week’s guest is Anne Du Bois who own Savon Du Bois in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario. I’ve always wanted to do an episode like this because it is not directly about wine but rather, about aromas almost exclusively. Anne Du Bois is an aromatherapist and perfumer who extracts her own scents and essential elements from botanical...

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This is going to be controversial. After a bad couple of winters, some BC wineries have imported grapes outside of BC to make wine. Some BC wineries have refused to do that. Will they be labelled the same? Are they going to cost less? In this podcast, Jess and I discuss what we think should happen to these wines. 

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It's more about Nova Scotia this week! Jess and I taste through a couple more wines from her trip, including wines from L'Acadie and Luckett vineyards. We discuss our Tidal Bay experiences and offer suggestions for donair pairings. It's an east coast feast.

Find Jess at Farm to Glass Wine Tours.

Find me ...

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Can grapes be grown in a greenhouse? Apparently yes. I get to taste a couple wines in this episode with Marc Desaulnier and Annabelle Harper, winemaker and assistant winemaker respectively at Vins Zyromski in Rivière-Rouge, Quebec. https://vinszyromski.com/  

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podca...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Jess is back! In this episode, we talk about the value of wines in Nova Scotia, why disagreeing makes for a better podcast, and if there really is a difference between Adirondak and Muskoka chairs. We also recap our summer and some of the most amazing wines that we tasted recently.

Wines featured in this podcast:
Beausoleil...

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Whatever innovations have happened in the BC wine industry in the past 30 years, Sandra Oldfield has been a part of it. The first wine club in British Columbia - The Crush Club at Tinhorn Creek - happened on her watch. In a world of industry followers, she is a leader. I've been trying to get her to record a podcast with me for year...