Greater Victoria wine connoisseurs explored over 380 wines from 113 different wineries across 18 countries at the Victoria International Wine Festival on Oct. 3 and 4.
Among the wineries at the festival were a handful from southern Vancouver Island, a region that is thriving despite recent challenges to the industry caused by climate change.
“Our pinot noirs are exceptional and getting better and better, and it's partly due to climate change,” said Genevieve Charbonneau from Blue Grouse, a winery in the Cowichan Valley, an area which she says is “up and coming”.
“Other regions are becoming so drastically affected in a bad way, but for Cowichan Valley wine, it's actually been a beneficial thing,” she adds. “I think in the future we'll see a lot of interest and a lot more wine and vineyards going in there [Cowichan Valley]."
In agreement about the rise of southern Vancouver Island wines was Elissa Harvey from Pender Island winery, Sea Star.
“We really focus on grapes that we can grow here … a lot of Germanic cooler climate grapes,” said Harvey. “We grow some pinot noir and they grow really well here.”
According to Blue Grouse’s Charbonneau, what makes Vancouver Island wine stand out from the crowd is its aromatic and crisp qualities, with a “nice minerality”.
“There's nothing I like better than talking about wine,” she says. “So, to be with a lot of other people [at the festival] who are also enthusiastic about wine is pretty fun. You generally get a higher level of knowledge, so you can kind of geek out on it a little bit."
More than 1,600 wine enthusiasts enjoyed the festivities across the two days.
