Looking for that perfect wine for your Holiday plans?  Canada’s youngest  Master of Wine Rhys Pender runs down a great list of wines with a two part interview.



James Nevison brings his latest edition of Had a Glass 2015. The best  selling wine reference book in BC. All under $20.00



And Ellen Walker Mathews gives us all the info on The Winter Wine Events this weekend and next in The Okanagan.





THE SHOW

Rhys Pender – Master of Wine and co-creator at Little Farm Wines Similkameen (TwoParter)



 







A passionate educator, wine lover, judge, writer, and grape grower/farmer, Rhys has worked in the wine industry since he was a teenager, back in Australia. His interest in food and wine really peaked by travelling through Europe and then a summer spent immersed in food, wine and language in the South of France with his wife, winemaker Alishan Driediger.



After following his wife-to-be back to Canada, Rhys pursued his food and wine passion by completing a Professional Culinary Diploma and working in a top Vancouver restaurant. At the same time he took his first wine course, something that gave him an insatiable appetite for learning about wine. Rhys and Alishan moved to the Okanagan in 1999 to pursue the food and wine culture. Rhys spent time working in the vineyard, the cellar, wine shops and catering events before moving back to Vancouver for a two-year stint to manage a specialty retail wine store. Back in the Okanagan in 2003 Rhys and Alishan started a catering company and Okanagan Grocery Artisan Breads, and Rhys started his Wine Plus+ business doing wine education, consulting, writing and judging. Rhys then took on the the grueling Master of Wine program of study all while running Okanagan Grocery and Wine Plus+ and with two baby daughters and one sleep deprived mother-baker in the house. Yes, they thought he was crazy.



This culminated in Rhys becoming Canada’s youngest Master of Wine (the wine world’s highest level of achievement) in 2010, one of only 300 in the world. Through his studies, Rhys knew every reason why they shouldn’t jump into the vineyard and winemaking dream but couldn’t help doing it anyway. Instead he used his training to design and plant the 4 acre Mulberry Tree Vineyard at the property Rhys and Alishan purchased in Cawston in 2008.



Besides the wines below which you can also find on Wine Align website , Rhys will also touch on his involvement in the BC Wine Appellation Task Group



http://littlefarmwinery.ca/  



http://www.wineplus.ca/    



http://www.winealign.com/



  







#

WINE





1

Ch. De la Gravelle 2013 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Muscadet, Loire, France ($15.79, LDB 411066)





2

L'Ormarine Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France ($14.79, LDB 124834)





3

Chapoutier 2013 Bila-Haut Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France ($15.79, LDB 40790)





4

Laughing Stock  2014 Amphora Viognier Roussanne Okanagan, BC ($24, 500ml, Winery)





5

McWilliam's 2013 Chardonnay Appellation Series Tumbarumba, NSW, Australia ($20.99, LDB 526988)





6

Poplar Grove 2014 Pinot Gris Okanagan, BC ($17.29, LDB 676650)





7

Louis Jadot 2013 Beaujolais-Villages Combe Aux Jacques Beaujolais, France ($19.29, LDB 469924)





8

Cedar Creek  2012 Platinum Block 4 Pinot Noir Okanagan Valley, BC ($53.99 , Winery 746016)





9

Zind-Humbrecht 2013 Muscat Alsace, France ($29.99, LDB 615583)





10

Laughing Stock 2013 Syrah Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada ($38, Winery)





11

Le Vieux Pin 2013 Cuvée Violette Syrah Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada ($29.90, Winery)





12

Raffault 2013  Chinon, Loire, France ($19.29, LDB 75440)





13

Losada 2011 Bierzo, Spain ($22.99, LDB 651471)  





14

Tantalus 2013 Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, BC ($29.90, Winery 114884)





15

Vincent Raimbault 2013 Vouvray Bel-Air Sec Vouvray, Loire, France ($20.99, LDB 127019) 







 



 

James Nevison – Had a Glass 2016.  Great wines under $20.00

 







 



The Globe and Mail bestseller,