Rustico Winery

The Vancouver Province's WINEGUY flirts with Farmer's Daughter

2010-03-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

James Nevison on aromatic wines

BY JAMES NEVISON, THE PROVINCE MARCH 18, 2010

Cracking open a bottle of aromatic white is like spring cleaning with wine. The whiff of generous aromas will make your palate do a double-take, reinvigorating the senses and chasing away the grey sky blues. What is an aromatic wine? It's one that jumps out of the glass with nary a feint swirl of the wrist to arouse the smelling faculties and put a smile across the lips -- before the first sip. In short, they're fun wines to both smell and drink, and as we await the first long weekend of 2010, now is the time to get a nose full.

Rustico Farm & Cellars 2008 "Farmer's Daughter" Dry Gewurztraminer, B.C. (about $22 at select private wine stores)

Gewurztraminer is like Riesling in technicolor, dialing up the aromatics to tropical and floral extremes. For this alone, Gewurztraminer is a great wine for budding aficionados to cut their palates on; it's one of the most expressive, identifiable grapes out there that is simply enjoyable to swirl and sip.

One of B.C.'s newest wineries (albeit one using older vineyards) Golden Mile Bench's Rustico Farms and Cellars has recently released their first vintage of Gewurz. A dry rendition dubbed "Farmer's Daughter," it's a super floral, lush textured quencher that bursts out of the glass with lychee, rose petals, and canned fruit cocktail aromas before ending with equal parts spice and bitter heat. Bottom Line B+ "Bring on the curry."

Farmer's Daughter (the real one) Joins Rustico

2010-03-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Vancouver Island? If you're a restaurant owner or welcoming customers to your wine store on the island it'll be your pleasure to meet the "real" Farmer's Daughter who can tell you all about our Rustico Farm & Cellars' Farmer's Daughter DRY Gewurztraminer. And of course she can take you through the rest of our portfolio too.

Jacqueline Kellam grew up on her parents' vineyard right next door to our Rustico property on 123rd St., (off Road 16 & Hwy 97) At her father's knee she learned all about the grape-growing business from ideal site selection, clearing and prepping the raw land, selection of appropriate healthy vine stock, planting, growing, irrigation, plant care, pruning, picking at harvest: the works! And all this across the lane we share with her parents today. When you visit us at Rustico you'll drive right by her house.

While attending university she worked in the wine industry, organizing special wine-tasting showings and events; calling on customers and in support roles with the sales force. She then managed that famous wine store in the Granville Island Market, greeting hundreds of locals and out-of-town guests, recommending selections that might pair well with the goodies of the marketplace...

As a talented Blogger, Jacqueline will take her visitors through her experiences as she ventures forth on Vancouver Island, introducing Rustico to everyone she meets.

Meet her and enjoy following at:

http://aglassofwinewithjacqueline.blogspot.com/

HERE WE GROW AGAIN... RUSTICO PAIRS UP WITH PERFECT PAIR

2010-02-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Every time I made sales calls over the past weeks, just following our 5-wine portfolio tastings and after the new customer paperwork was signed off, I posed the same question:

"Can you think of someone that might be able to help us develop Rustico Farm & Cellars to where we should be in the marketplace?

• Someone we'd have a blast working with who'd quickly embrace our special attitude and see us through the, here-we-grow-again stages?

• Someone who agrees that 'business gotta be fun'* and so passionate that enjoying it for 27 -hour days, 9- day weeks and 54- week years is the only way to go?

• Someone who wouldn't mind driving 5 hours to the winery with their dog panting in the back seat and their sample case in the front?

• Someone who starts earlier than the competition, crams more calls into a longer day than the other guys?

We started putting a list together. After all out there in let's-get-in-for-a-tasting-land there are many wonderful folks lugging award-winning labels back and forth but times are tough, even scarier; the little wine brokerage firms down-sizing their one-person shows, and the bigger firms, skinny last season are getting even skinnier. And here we were just starting out in the crappiest economy imaginable.

But we connected with the perfect pair to pair with: helping us along on the Lower Mainland and beyond, is Ron Bergstrom, Founder of AnaRona Wines Importers of Fine Chilean Wines.

Ron started his company knocking doors, both in Chile and in BC and is today recognized as one of the most trustworthy and reliable sources for wines Chilean. Working along with Rustico Farm & Cellars means he can now answer that age-old question..."these Chilean wines are terrific Ron and we'll be ordering some BUT do you know of a BC winery that might fit our menu needs as well?" Now Ron can say, "YUP... Rustico".

Pairing with Ron is Chris Giroux AIWS the International Wine Festival's 2008 Winner of the Puddifoot Sommelier Challenge, and International Sommelier Guild member and Wine Education & Spirit Trust (W.S.E.T.) Level Three Diploma holder.

All of us at Rustico Farm & Cellars are delighted to welcome their talents and look forward to many hours of training in the Tasting Saloon in Oliver!

Ron Bergstrom 778•885•4442

Chris Giroux 778•994•1360

*"Business gotta be fun!!!"

is a favorite saying of former boss Jim Pattison

one of Canada's most successful billionaire entrepreneurs.

RUSTICO'S RICH HERITAGE

2010-02-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Rustico Farm & Cellars is the location of a British Columbia, Canada heritage building. Originally a bunkhouse for 18 miners at the Sally Silver Mine above Beaverdell, British Columbia, it is believed the structure was constructed in the late 1800's as part of that mining company's infrastructure.

John Tokias, a Hungarian immigrant to Canada, who worked as a locomotive driver near the village of Beaverdell discovered the building and gained permission to dismantle it and relocate it the Oliver, B.C. area, some 3 1/2 hours distant. Although he planned to contract the moving of the massive logs, local companies refused his request as the journey entailed moving the structure down a mountainside by truck and it was determined that the tight switchbacks on the mountain roads were too dangerous.

As Mr. Tokias was unable to move the massive logs in this traditional manner, he designed a small trailer, extended this trailer behind an old Volkswagen truck, and personally loaded and hauled the logs 2 or 3 at a time to the valley, then along the roads to a homestead site between the towns of Osoyoos BC (on the Washington/US border) and Oliver BC, a ranching, mining, agricultural town to the north.

With his wife and two children he reconstructed the former mining bunkhouse on a mountainside overlooking the Oliver Valley facing southeast to Osoyoos Lake and the U.S. As the cedar roof of the original structure was in such disrepair that it could not be moved, John Tokias cut sod strips from the adjacent mountainside and created a complete sod-roof covering for his building. On this roof he placed numerous wild animal bones, antlers, skulls etc. Not only was this his unique creative expression but they served to help the sod pieces to knit together to form a very practical roofing solution. The roof attracted a wide variety of birdlife, some species rare to the South Okanagan BC area. Today the sod roof also displays a number of cacti and flowering desert plants and its insulation abilities allow the log structure to remain cool in the heat of the desert summer and with a minimal amount of heat generated from recycled wood pellets, comfortable in the freezing temperatures of winter.

Mr. Tokias, known locally as being somewhat eccentric, became a well-known wood carver, showing his works both in the community and afield. He collected all manner of mining artifacts and utilized many of his findings to establish, for his family's purposes, a small vineyard where he planted Chancellor grapes (French hybrid) .

Over the years, while continuing to work as a locomotive driver nearby, he planted the remaining 10 acres with other grape varieties, the harvests sold to neighboring wineries that were beginning to develop in the Oliver/Osoyoos corridor. Following John Tokias' death his family continued to farm the land but eventually the property was sold.

The new owner further developed the vineyards and then constructed a small building to house a boutique winery operation. The winery was never operational and the property was resold.

The hand-hewn log, sod-roofed former mining bunkhouse, is called a, "rustico", an Italian word for an immigrant's rough countryside lodging, and has provided the name for Rustico Farm & Cellars.

The current owners have revitalized the vineyards and have begun to plant Cabernet Franc to replace the nearly 50 year-old Chancellor vines. Bruce Fuller, Founder and Proprietor of Rustico Farm & Cellars a passionate collector of Canadian and American "old-west" artifacts has showcased a collection on the property. The sampling room located in the winery behind western-style false-fronts is aptly called a "Tasting Saloon" and displays much of his ongoing collection and is a welcome site for visitors looking to travel back in the area's ranching, mining and agricultural history.

RUSTICO WINES & WHERE TO FIND THEM... Secrets Revealed!

2010-02-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, we've kept it a big secret... where can you can find Rustico Farm & Cellars wines you ask? So far here's a list from the Vancouver area....

Wine Stores

Firefly Fine Wines & Ales (Cambie & 12thj)

Liberty Wine Merchants (West 10th, Granville Island, Park & Tilford Centre, Robson St.)

Yaletown Brewing's Liquor Store (Yaletown)

WhatCom Wine Store (Abbotsford)

Restaurants/Bars/Pubs

La Regalade French Bistro (West Van)

Crave on Marine (West Van)

Red Lion Bar & Grill (West Van)

FishWorks (Lonsdale & 1st N.Van)

Casual Gourmet (Park & Tilford Centre)

Rusty Gull Pub (1st Ave N.Van)

Jules French Bistro (Abbott St. Gastown)

Amarcord Ristorante (Hamilton St. Yaletown)

Bridges (Granville Isl)

O'Doul's (Listel Hotel Robson)

Hollyburn Country Club (W.Van)

North Shore Winter Club (N. Van)

River Rock Casino Resort (Richmond)

Rumour Mill (Mesa Hotel Oliver)

Firehall (Oliver)

Mother Lode Merlot... reviewed by Kathleen Rake

2010-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

2007 Rustico Farm & Cellars Motherlode Merlot

Note to self: Do not start writing about wine while the steaks are on the barbeque.

I recently received a bottle ofRustico Farm & Cellars Motherlode Merlot (~$25) as a sample and tonight I opened it to sip along side our grilled steak, baked potato, and salad.

This 2007 was much closer to garnet than ruby in colour and I could see right through it, much like I can a Pinot Noir. That surprised me. I'm used to Merlot with colour and intensity a good deal darker.

On the nose its perfume struck me right away: violets, plum, sweet spice, smoke, and black olives.

On the palate it was juicy and bright with soft tannins and flavours of ripe black cherries, red plums, and a little bit of sage and a finish that wasn't long, but certainly lingered. Thankfully, the flavours weren't overwhelmed by the whopping 14.8% ABV.

This is a wine I could easily serve to guests or take along to a friend's for dinner. But I wouldn't necessarily save it for a special occasion. It's a drink-me-now kind of wine.

And why the note to self above? Well, my distraction (in the form of writing) meant our steaks ended up over cooked and under flavoured.

Salut!

We wanna say HOWDY!!! to our Olympic guests to BC

2010-02-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

We share the incredible excitement of welcoming thousands and thousands and thousands of international guests to our beautiful province of British Columbia when we host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

We're opening our doors and our hearts to you all and hope most sincerely that this visit to cheer on your own country's athletes will just be the first of many trips to our special place in the world.

Rustico Farm & Cellars is a small, boutique-size country winery located in the interior of B.C., approximately a 5-hour drive through some of the most spectacular mountains in the world. Once through the mountains you'll find yourself in an amazing desert climate, much drier than the coast, usually enjoying a lot more sunshine, and with richly planted valleys and hillsides of vineyards to explore. See our location MAP on the website www.rusticowinery.com for easy directions.

We're located in the beautiful South Okanagan Valley, just above Washington State (in fact our Rustico Winery is about 18 kms. from the US Border crossing)

With numerous award-winning wineries within sight of our Tasting Saloon and shaded pergola picnic area, a trip in our direction will be a wonderful addition to your BC adventure.

We're looking forward to greeting you and will be OPEN during the first two weeks of March.

Meanwhile... Enjoy Vancouver and Whistler's hospitality, meet lots of new friends... and cheer your teams to victory!

Bruce Fuller

Proprietor

Rustico Farm & Cellars

Canada's Most Romantic Winery ©

Mike Nierychlo with Proprietor Bruce Fuller

2010-01-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

Enjoyed a rainy Vancouver Saturday with Mike Nierychlo in his drafty Langley garage, home of his media empire.

Had a chance to introduce Rustico Farm & Cellars and what the buzz is all about. With over 2000 Twitter Followers keeping an eye on us, we thought a video thing might be a great way for folks to get into the spirit of our old-time winery. Take a peek.

http://bit.ly/bUWA3B

Wizard Winemaker joins Rustico Cellars

2009-12-31T19:05:00.000-08:00

Daniel Lagnaz one of the industry's most awarded winemakers who mentored many of today's Okanagan stars has joined the Rustico team in a senior advisory capacity.

Born in Switzerland, Mr. Lagnaz grew up working on his family’s estate winery participating from an early age in virtually every operational area: the vineyards, pruning, harvesting, crush, bottling, cellaring.

He apprenticed for three years with Schenk SA, one of Switzerland’s major premium wineries, gaining a vast amount of international experience in their wineries and vineyards in France, Algeria, Germany, Italy and Spain. During his tenure with Schenk, Daniel established a pilot winemaking laboratory managing research and development projects related to quality assurance for brands exported to the American markets.

Returning to university in Switzerland he obtained a Masters of Oenology and later the Certificate IngenieurTeckniker H.T.L. in the production of fruit juices, wines and distilled products.

He then relocated to Lindemans in Australia in the capacity of “Vintage Winemaker” working in their extensive winery and crushing facilities and later blending and finishing wines for bottling at their Sydney plant.

In 1982 Mr. Lagnaz joined the then fledgling Mission Hill organization as their Chief Winemaker and General Manager (in those early days when the winery had a dirt floor) and through more than 22 years was responsible for putting Mission Hill on the international map.

Over that time he won in excess of 400 awards nationally and internationally for the wines he created and has been called the “Wizard Winemaker” by his peers for his outstanding Gewurztraminer, Chasselas, and Botrytis Affected Optima

In addition to producing award-winning wines, Mr. Lagnaz was responsible for the creation of a variety of refreshment beverages for the Mark Anthony Group connected to Mission Hill. His success in that area is reflected in the quality products available from Okanagan Cider, California Cooler, and the spirit-based, Sting.

His skill in product development led to the introduction of a number of new flavors which have gained sizable market appeal in Canada and the U.S. The creation and development of the now famous, “Mike’s Hard Lemonade" undoubtedly the most notable brand its category in the marketplace, may be attributed to Daniel.

Daniel will be working closely with Proprietor Bruce Fuller to further build upon Rustico's launch portfolio and develop additional products through the months ahead.

Guest Book Comments... what they're saying about Rustico

2009-12-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

We opened our Tasting Saloon in late September ’09, looking forward to welcoming guests who were touring the South Okanagan during Fall Harvest and Crush season. While most folks were in the valley to join in the festivities of Oliver’s Festival of the Grape and visit our award-winning neighboring wineries… we were delighted that so many wine lovers sought us out and turned west off Highway 97 on Rd. 16 to see what Rustico Farm & Cellars was all about.

We’ve copied their gracious comments from our guest book so you could share some “first impressions” of our wonderful place on the Golden Mile Bench.

“Just fantastic – soulful” R&J Naramata

“Just like home! Full of memories!!” PP Oliver

“Great memories… Love it” BB Oliver

“Lovely meeting you both. Your dream will work… Excellent job… Great wine” DW

“Very homey place. Great meeting you!” L&W S

“Very nice!” S&U J

“Yup. Nice wine!!!” P&S B Vancouver

“So good we came back for more!!” R&L G Lloydminster

“Yahoo!” A&M R plus S&J M Calgary

“Great Place! Thanks! DB Vancouver

“Fantastic/Great wine/Great fun” GJ Vancouver

“Great place, great wine”
LB Vernon

“Love it, Lots of fun, great wine” JH Vancouver

“Congratulations on achieving your vision & dream!” A&C R Oliver

“Wonderful hosts!” S&L P Calgary

“Very unique place!” TK Red Deer

“I love it here!” SS Blackfolds England

“Best of good fortune in your future years!” MM

“To a wonderful future!” BK Red Deer

“Awesome, love your style.” BW Calgary

“You are a wonderful couple. Love your humor” CM

“Awesome. Just totally awesome! Live, Love, Laugh” PW

“Lots of fun… wonderful people and visit.”

KH Red Deer

“A wonderful change, great wine!” AT Oliver

“Awesome!” G&D B Hope

“Great! Thanks!” LP Powell River

“Loved you, loved your dog!!!”

J&W P West Kelowna

“You came recommended! We are going to recommend you too!

Great security!” B&D F Lloydminster

“Waiting for the Zin!” JB S Regina

“Excellent – good stories!” AB H Calgary & Osoyoos

“Pleasant visit… we will return” M&S D Peachland

“Lovely wine with great stories.” C&B L England

“What a wonderful winery! Lots of success!” SC&BM

“Great wine & stories.” R&L N

“Great stories.” R&P R Crowsnest Pass

“Thank you for sharing excellent stories + awesome wine!” B&P S

“Marvelloso!” Z&R S Vancouver

“Great wine!” D&S R Mission

“Great Pinot Noir! Se pasaron!!” DB&TS

“Love the stories! Great wine!” A&P Kamloops

“Great décor and hospitality” J&C G

“Wonderful visit – stories. Enjoyable tasting & hospitality” SB&JP West Vancouver & Osoyoos

“Congratulations! Wonderful place. Great stories.” B&T S North Vancouver

“What a unique place – love the pioneer stories & wine” U&B B North Vancouver

Chicken In Her Nest (with a glass of Farmer's Daughter)

2009-12-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

This is going to be an interesting series of blogs. Everyone's got recipes and so do I. For some 60 years (since I was 7 and in Cub Scouts) I've been puttering about in any kitchen that would let me in. First main course meal was a breakfast treat in the Scouting handbook. Think it was called Chicken-In-Her-Nest. It was easy to make, great fun and went down well.

It's so simple and quick to get together that it makes for a wonderful surprise breakfast-in-bed treat if you can slip out from under the covers while your partner continues to snooze along without you. In mere minutes you can slip back into the room with a tray that's sure to deliver a number of interesting side benefits...

Fill a chilled crockery jug with cold Farmer's Daughter Dry Gewurztraminer and set close by with a juice-glass size tumbler. Sip liberally as the spirit moves you.

If memory serves me well... take a slice of bread and butter it. Put it on a plate and take a regular size glass tumbler and press the rim into the bread turning the glass either clockwise or counterclockwise if you're a lefty. Pull back and pop out the little circle of bread. Save this for frying.

Take a sip of Farmer's Daughter.

Put the bread, buttered side down, into a hot frying pan. Break an egg into the hole and fry gently. If you want you can fry the little circle of bread alongside it (turn over enough to crisply brown on both sides) and then perhaps use it for a lid on top of the yolk. when you're finished frying.

Take a sip of Farmer's Daughter.

When egg is fried to your liking take out, plate (and get your mom to verify what you've just completed in a note to your Cub Scout leader). I got my cooking badge and so can you.

Garnish with a couple of thin slices of sweet blood orange alternating with chunkier slices of ripe tomatoes. Although I didn't do this in Cub Scouts the look of that "Chicken In Her Nest" with a little well-placed decoration will definitely get you some points in the sack. And then you've got a little of Farmer's Daughter Dry Gewurztraminer working its magic too.

OK so this is the first set of cooking instructions I ever followed... and probably was the last. Although I've accumulated a good stack of garage-sale cookbooks, most are for inspiration and the pictures. But I won't be getting rid of them. The kids can have 'em after I croak.

Over the next number of blogs I'll be happily sharing some interesting thoughts about what's cooking in/on the little apartment range, and of course when up at the winery, in the much bigger kitchen at the Rustico farmhouse.

Hope you enjoy our rustic-style messing about in the kitchen and feel free to send along whatever thoughts you might have.

Cheers... and enjoy our Rustico Farm & Cellars wines (Farmer's Daughter Dry Gewurztraminer, Isabella's Poke Pinot Gris, Doc's Buggy Pinot Noir, Last Chance Zinfandel/Merlot/Chancellor/Blaufrankisch blend and Mother Lode Merlot

The Vancouver Sun sez....

2009-12-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Scenery and wonderful wines battle it out for trip highlights

A writer touring the South Okanagan in the late summer (09) visited 5 wineries... here's what she said about Rustico...

"The Winery: Rustico Farm Cellars and Estate Winery - www.rusticowinery.com

As we negotiated the roadway to Rustico, I was dazzled by the fact that this is clearly the land of dreamy visions. Nestled on 10 acres of mature vineyard, overlooking the Oliver Valley, Rustico hadn't even officially opened its doors when we arrived. We were given a "sneak peak" by proprietor Bruce Fuller and girlfriend, a Sophia Loren-like Chilean ex-pat.

We parked our home on wheels in front of Rustico's magical main house, a 1895 log house complete with sod roof. We enjoyed Rustico's extraordinary story and sampled some of their yet-to-be released wines without worrying about a long cab ride to a distant hotel.

When we arrived at Rustico I really thought that the experience would be the setting, and to be sure the vistas, vineyards and buildings are almost beyond description. Then I sampled the wines, served icy cold from a jug on the deck overlooking the valley, and thought that I may have found heaven.

Rustico truly may be Canada's most romantic winery because of the proprietors. Look for the first six of the Rustico wines very soon.

Novice Pick: Pinot Grigio (called "Isabella's Poke")"

Rustico Farm & Cellars... Canada's Most Romantic Winery!!!

2009-12-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

Since we opened late this summer our guests have raved about the beauty and romance of our boutique farm winery between Oliver and Osoyoos on the famed Golden Mile Bench.

Tucked into a hillside and overlooking the Oliver valley's hundred of acres of vineyards the setting is without equal. Our reclaimed, hand-hewn log building replete with sod roof, once a bunkhouse at the Sally Silver Mine some 3 1/2 hrs. distant and relocated to the Rustico Farm & Cellars acreage is an amazing heritage structure to visit.

Although just a practical housing solution to the original settler on the property, the home is a living example of "green environmental practices" and each season welcomes a selection of flowering plants, hundreds and hundreds of birds.

Heated with a state-of-the-art pellet furnace, its massive logs retain heat... cozy, cozy in the winters.... and shady-cool in the heat of our desert summers.

A very romantic setting to be sure... and as our visitors say, "Canada's Most Romantic Winery"

www.rusticowinery.com

French Wine Terminology

2009-12-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

French Wine Terminology

Last blog we looked at Italian terminology, this time it's French albeit a brief version.

The Quebec Liquor Board published this for use of customers visiting wineries in the Province of Quebec.

A Basic Guide To French Wine Terminology

Although English is widely spoken at many Quebec Wineries, the majority of wineries operate in French and cater to a French clientele. Understanding a few key French Wine Terms will make your visit to any Quebec Winery more enjoyable.

appellation

growing region

assemblage

blend

cépage

vine

dégustation

tasting

domaine

wine estate

mousseux-euse

sparkling (as in Champagne)

terroir

earth

vendange

grape harvest

vendange tardive

late harvest

vignoble

winery

vin

wine

vin blanc

white wine

vin rouge

red wine

vin de glace

ice wine

vinification

the process of making wine

Italians have a wonderful way of describing all things wine.

2009-12-14T23:07:00.000-08:00

Italian Wine Terminology

Over a number of Blogs we'll share some of the information we've researched for your wine enjoyment experience....

Knowing what the words on a wine label mean will help you make smarter purchases at the wine store.

Abboccato: Slightly sweet

Amabile: Semi-sweet

Annata: Vintage year

Bianco: White

Brut: Dry sparkling wine

Classico: Wines produced in the best zone of a production area

Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or DOC: Denomination of Controlled Origin

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, or DOCG: Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin

Dolce: Sweet

Fattoria: Farm or estate

Frizzante: Lightly sparkling

Identificazione Geografica Tipica, or IGT: Typical Geographic Identification

Liquoroso: High-alcohol wine, often fortified

Metodo Classico: Sparkling wines produced using the champenoise method

Novello: New wine marketed shortly after the harvest

Passito: Wine made from dried, or raisined, grapes; often, but by no means always, sweet

Produttore: Producer

Riserva: Reserve wine, aged for the duration of time specified by law

Rosato: Rosé

Rosso: Red

Rustico: Rustic vineyard worker's farmhouse

Secco: Dry

Spumante: Sparkling

Tenuta: Farm or estate

Vendemmia: Harvest

Vino da Tavola, or VdT: Table Wine

ALL RUSTICO FARM & CELLARS WINES NOW "CERTIFIED ROMANTIC"

2009-12-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

Although only open since Sept. 28/09 we're pleased to announce that our wines:

Farmer's Daughter DRY Gewurztraminer, Isabella's Poke Pinot Gris, Doc's Buggy Pinot Noir, Last Chance Zin/Merlot/Chancellor/Blaufrankisch blend and Mother Lode Merlot are now fully "Certified Romantic".

While we believe that all wines are somewhat romantic this is the first time to our knowledge that a winery's full portfolio has earned this important designation.

VIP Grand Opening

2009-12-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hello to all,

We’re in the process putting together a special VIP Grand Opening at our new Rustico Farm & Cellars estate winery in the South Okanagan. We’re planning the event to coincide with the early May 2010 Spring Wine Festival event.

Would love to have you join with us for a number of wonderful surprises (still in the works).

Please let me know if you would like to join in an be part of this historical event.

And you might wish to check us out at our NEW and REVISED website www.rusticowinery.com or on Twitter.

You’ll notice on our website we’ve just released our new portfolio of wines. Order directly from me and we can organize all the details.

Wildlife watching and picking for icewine

2009-12-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Highways up from the coast clear all the way, but icy through Manning Park to Princeton. Light traffic so smooth sailing. Spotted a massive moose crossing highway. No antlers but looked too big to be a cow. In Similkameen valley saw a black bear beside the road heading down to the river. Almost every trip we see wildlife. A note on the highway cam (BC road condition site) that a lot of animals were on the highway between Hedley and Keremeos but didn't spot any. Usually we get a glimpse of Mountain Goats grazing on that section.

Off to get pics of our team picking frozen grapes for icewine. Gotta hurry as it'll warm up soon as the sun is very strong. -5C on the scale outside the living room window.

Check out our NEW and IMPROVED website.... www.rusticowinery.com

Picking up Katie

2009-12-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Off to the dogsitter's in a few minutes... Katie, Rustico's Head of Security, has been staying with friends for the past month just hanging out with their Lab. Pretty much just eating and ---- and sleeping the hours away... with a couple of daily runs in the neighborhood to stretch the legs.

A lovable five year old Golden Retriever, she's become a constant companion at the winery, enthusiastically greeting everyone who comes up the lane (unless another canine... then she gets pretty defensive about the turf).

Travelling with her in the crew seat of the pickup is a breeze. Most of the time she's snoring the miles away, sometimes she's gazing at the mountain scenery and the rest of the time she's poking her nose through the safety barrier looking for a snack or head rub. Periodically we take a break stop, then she's back in her spot without any issues.

Don't forget to visit our website.... www.rusticowinery.com and see where she's going today.

We're Twittering, we're Blogging, we're Selling, we're making new wines too

2009-12-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

In the old winemaking days.... harvest the grapes, make the wine, trade with friends and neighbors, keep some in the cellars for guests and family. Simple enough to be sure.

Now we're right into all nature of marketing and selling: through our "Tasting Saloon" at the winery in Oliver (the trade calls it "farmgate"), through sales to the best restaurants (licensees), independent wine stores and retail outlets, and to friends who learn about us and become welcome customers at the winery... and so it goes on. We're Twittering, we're Blogging...we're Selling... and we're making a whole new batch of wine for cellaring for next time around.

When I learned about the location/winery etc. back in 2007 until our opening day in late Sept. 09 it's been a wonderfully fulfilling grind. At my age when everyone is kicking back down south somewhere in the winter and back and forth to here in the Spring, Summer and Fall, I've become a bonifide winery, "Proprietor" and tucked away at the old farmstead with Katie, our Head of Security, Rusty (do you think we named our "muted- calico cat" rescued from the Penticton SPCA after the name of the winery?) getting organized for the Spring, dashing to Vancouver for tastings...

delighted to share those tasting notes next time 'round

Welcome to our Blog...

2009-12-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

For months we've been promising our friends, customers, suppliers and staff that we'd have a Blog for them to follow as we unrolled our plans for Canada's most romantic winery...

Well here we go. Today is our rollout so watch for more.

thx for visiting.

For great information check out our website www.rusticowinery.com