Last weekend we spent a day exploring and touring some of south Langley’s wineries and of course eating.
Wine lovers can be in second heaven, a place where you can sip to your hearts’ content at well-regarded and award-winning wineries and yet easy to get to. South Langley is just 45 minutes from Vancouver, BC and less than 10 minutes from the US border.
Rainfall in this region is 30 per cent less than in Vancouver, which creates an excellent micro-climate for Langley’s lush vineyards. On this day it was beautifully sunny and in fact by mid afternoon peaked out to 37.5C. Quite rare, but it reinforced why we were headed to a shade of tasting rooms.
Our first stop was for bunch at Chaberton Estate Winery (1064 – 216 St), which is the Fraser Valley’s oldest and biggest winery, at its on-site Bacchus Bistro. In 2013 Zagat rated the Bacchus Bistro ‘Excellent’ and it serves authentic French Bistro cuisines prepared with local ingredients and West Coast flair. It’s a great place to enjoy the seasonal patio, which overlooks the vineyard, and enjoy fine dining, some BC wines and seasonal cuisine.
We selected the stuffed crêpes – with ham, Swiss cheese and mornay sauce – served with mixed greens and paired it with their Reserve Riesling. It was a sweet Riesling with layered flavours of lime and apple and tropical fruit on the finish.
After our brunch we headed to their tasting room where we enjoyed tasting a number of varietal wines from their selection of BC VQA red and white wines made from grapes grown locally in their Fraser Valley vineyard and selected vineyards from the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys.
Our second stop of the day was to an old favorite, Township 7 Vineyards & Winery (21152 16th Ave), which was named after this historic community of south Langley, its original name in the late 1800s was “Township 7.”
The terroir at the south Langley 5 acre vineyard is said to be similar to the Champagne region in France, which allows them to produce outstanding method traditional sparkling wine and dry, Provence style Rosé wines from the Langley vineyards.
I’m a sucker for their red wines especially their Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a rich, dark wine with a palate of Bing cherry, plum and licorice. On the nose you’ll get notes of cherry pie and hints of tobacco. Another favorite is their Merlot, which has blueberry and cherry fruit and some notes of earthy leather and tobacco and a little cedar. Just yummy.
If you are a white wine fan like Verna, you wouldn’t be disappointed. Their un-oaked Chardonnay is classic. You can pick up aromas of apple and pear and some citrus. The palate is dry with pineapple and citrus flavors and a crisp, refreshing finish. For the summer and time on the deck, you can’t beat their Sauvignon Blanc, which is crisp with tropical notes. On the nose, you pick up passion fruit, gooseberry and citrus. The palate displays Peach fruit and Lemon and Lime citrus. Really quite exceptional.
Our last stop of the day is with another local favorite of ours Vista D’oro Farms & Winery (346 – 208th Street), which in addition to producing some great wines has created a seasonal line of Artisanal Preserves. These preserves are really great served on a cheese board or on toast; or you can use them as a crepe filling.
One of my hidden agendas is a taste of their magnificent fortified walnut wine. You have to really try it, it has quite the taste experience with cigar box and leather, there’s some cherry, all carried in a Bordeaux-type blend of Okanagan merlot, cabernet franc and marachel foch that has a very long finish and just hangs on the palate. Beautiful.
