Garagiste North

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That Adds up to a Whole Lot of Fun!

 

This year Sperling Vineyards will once again be the site for a gathering of the Garagistes.  Many of our favourites are returning, but with the growth of the wine industry we are excited to see new small wineries popping up.  The likes of Lightning Rock, Scorched Earth and Burnt Timer all seem to have a theme!  Added to this year's event will be a wine pairing of Sperling Vineyards and cheese, music by Glendale Avenue,  food truck serviice from CrAsian, a cool booth by Taste Advisor and a pop up wine store by Fairview Cellars so you can take the wine you've purchased home with you.

This event gives you an insight into the passion, commitment, craziness and excellence that is the hallmark of a small producer.  We love that for many this is their first time showing off their wines to the public. Others have been with us for awhile, carefully crafting their wines and growing their business and reputation. Others have graduated, we'll miss vinAmite this year and Kraze Legz, both who've been with us from the beginning but are on ot bigger and better things.

We wish all of our wineries big and small the very best for 2019 as we make our mark on the BC and international wine scene.

Spring 2017 - It is Coming, Right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a very, very, VERY long winter in BC wine country, the Garagistes are happy to see the snow almost completely melted on the vineyards and signs of spring popping up. Though there is little time to rest for those of us in the wine industry, winter does provide a bit of a respite and a chance to plan for the year ahead. So we are now recharged and ready to rock and roll! The Garagiste North Wine Festivals has booked a three-city tour this year to appease our growing fan base and spread the good word about the high quality Garagiste wines being produced in BC. From Vancouver to Parksville to Penticton, each festival will offer a unique lineup of Garagiste wineries and an evolving repertoire of excellent wines to taste.

 

The festivals are again taking place in Vancouver (new venue!) and in Penticton but this year we are jumping the pond to Parksville on Vancouver Island. The Garagiste Guild is super excited about this addition because we love the Island and the Islanders love small lot wines. This also allows easier access for the Island Garagistes to come and pour at the festival allowing our tasting crowd the opportunity to taste a wide range of terroir through the vast collection of wines being offered.

Spring releases include a variety of beautiful Rosés this year – and we love a great pink.

This year, we are thrilled to again offer an on-site wine store. This amazing amendment to the BC wine laws last year really enhanced our festival experience. We launched the concept last fall at our Penticton festival and it was a huge hit. Festival goers are able to taste the wines and then purchase their favorites before leaving the event. 

We have had the opportunity to taste some of the early bottlings and the consensus is spectacular. The 2017 vintage is going to be amazing. We are also launching our Garagiste North Wine Club so do sign up and take advantage of great deals and special offerings to be shipped to your door.

 

See you soon at the coolest wine festival ever!

Springtime in Wine Country

Spring in wine country means vine time, and 2016 has blessed us with an early spring with great, mild weather allowing the wineries to get their vines tended to early. Many of our Garagistes are actually vignerons – the French term for a winemaker who is also the farmer. These wonderful winemakers are totally in tune with their vines, which we believe makes for better wines. Grape vines are plants and everyone knows that talking to plants makes them grow. “Hello little grape vine, you are soooo beautiful. I just know you are going to make the best Pinot Noir this region has ever seen!!”

So after pruning the vines, the Garagistes will be getting ready to bottle the juice that has been happily waiting in tank or barrel in the cellar, growing more delicious by the day. Those spring releases will be ready to take to Vancouver for the April 17th event and winemakers are super excited about the 2015 vintage! Some Garagistes will be bringing their wine in tank or pouring from a keg because they haven’t bottled yet – such a super cool tasting experience for wine lovers.

You are in for a TREAT! All of that crazy weather last year has resulted in amazing wines – thanks Mother Nature.

The Garagiste Vancouver Wine Festival tickets are selling well and the media are excited to have these talented winemakers back in town to taste their wares.

Tim Pawsey, celebrated journalist on the west coast, recently wrote about the festival saying “Garagiste North has to be one of the more intriguing wine festivals on the calendar”!  We love to be intriguing and remember that the London Financial Times voted Garagiste North Wine Festival as one of the Top 5 Wine Festivals in the World in 2015. Click HERE to read Tim Pawsey’s entire article.

 

Here is a list of a few of the recent Garagiste wine award wins! High Fives!

 

Syncromesh –

            Taste BC

            BEST OF SHOW  & GOLD - Four Shadows Riesling 2014

Anarchist Mountain Vineyard –

            Taste BC

            GOLD – Chardonnay 2013  

            BRONZE – Pinot Noir 2013

            SILVER – WineAlign Chardonnay 2013

Maverick Estate Winery –

            Taste BC

            SILVER- Pinot Noir 2013

Tightrope Winery –

            2016 Cascadia Wine Competition!!

            BEST OF CLASS- GOLD - 2015 Riesling

            DOUBLE GOLD - 2015 Tip-Toe, 2015 Rosé, 2014 Pinot Noir

            GOLD - 2014 Viognier, 2014 Syrah

            SILVER - 2014 Riesling, 2015 Pinot Gris

 

Black Market Wine Company –

            Winefest People’s Choice Awards

            Best White Over $20 & Runner Up Best Red Over $30

 

 

Remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We will keep you posted as to the exciting adventures of the Garagistes and news on upcoming events!

Mark your calendar for September 18th. The Garagistes will be back on Okanagan soil pouring at the Okanagan Garagiste Festival! Tickets are on sale now and we encourage you to buy early.

 

Vive Les Garagistes!!

 

 

 

The Latest from the Garagistes!

The Hottest Year in Over a Century

This has been the craziest year yet in Okanagan/Garagiste wine country. Our garagistes have been kept hopping all summer with record early ripening and harvests beginning in early AUGUST – the first harvest in the Okanagan was at Garagiste Bella Wines. Some say this will be the vintage of the century and others, like Wendy Rose from Bella further comment that “we will definitely be talking about this vintage for a century!” 

Garagistes are revving up for the 3rd wine festival happening this Sunday, September 27th in Kelowna at the Laurel Packinghouse. Ticket sales have ramped up since the incredible exposure in the London Financial Times Magazine who named the Garagiste North Festival as one of the Top Five Festivals in the World! This news draws international eyes to our unique concept festival as well as onto our passionate Garagiste winemakers.  Here's the article below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for further news and details on harrowing winemaker heart-stopping moments on this dramatic season: As the Barrel Turns. We will also be announcing the 2016 Garagiste wines that are sure to get palates wagging.

Cheers!

So Much Fun--Let's Do it Again!

They came, the drank, they tasted and they left.  And if you missed it, check out these great articles to give you a feel for the event:  We're doing it again in Kelowna, September 27th, come join the party!

My Van City : The Small Guys Shine

by Sam Hauck

Who are the ‘small guys’ of the BC wine world? They are several small, wineries, both physical and virtual, which are very specialized and thus produce what’s called ‘small lots’ or under 2000 cases of wine per year. These small artisan producers are modeled on the ‘garagiste’ winemakers of France, who gained attention producing impressive wines in their garages.

Some have been around for a while, while others only have a few vintages under their belts. With the help of Terry Meyer Stone and Jennifer Schell, twenty wineries came together last year under the banner ‘Garagiste North’ to have a venue to showcase their wines and gain public recognition. Their first wine festival was held last September in Okanagan Falls and it was a great success; one of the best I’ve attended. It was a beautiful day and the venue, food and entertainment were all top notch. The very best part, though, were the wines. So you can imagine how excited people were when they decided to bring this event to Vancouver last month...(read more)

Terry David Mulligan:  Tasting Room Radio

What is a garagiste? (gar-ah-jeest).  It started out in France (of course) where it was a derogatory phrase for those avante garde and crazy mavericks making wine in their garage and outside the highly regulated system. Gradually and grudgingly came the acknowledgement that something really interesting was happening with these small case lot artisan wines, and a movement was born.

Anarchist. River Stone. SEVEN DIRECTIONS. NAGGING DOUBT. CoRCeleTTes. Roche. SynCHROmesh. Kraze Legz/Skaha  ROCHE. Niche.

Couldn’t fit everyone in but we are committed to bringing you all these stories over the course of the year.

They are all driven, passionate winemakers who qualify by producing under 2000 cases a year and use only BC Fruit.

Small they may be but these wineries have an effect on the future of BC wines.

They take the time and commitment to grow different varietals, use experimental methods and take chances in the cellar that few others would or could. When you find one you like it’s best to buy and hold because all productions are... (read more and listen to the interviews)

 

 

Watch Out....Three Days to Go!

Only Six Days to Vancouver's Event!

Our thanks for the wonderful support and enthusism of the Vancouver Media....here's a few postings.

Vancouver Sun:  http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Garagiste+North/11103219/story.htm

Garagiste North

  
VANCOUVER SUN JUNE 5, 2015 

Garagiste wines are as eclectic as the artisans.
Photograph by: Handout , Files

B.C.’s smallest wineries are hitting are the road. The first of its kind in Canada, Garagiste North (The Small Guys Wine Festival) celebrates the artisan winemaker creating commercially produced small case-lot wines under 2,000 cases. The wines are as eclectic as the artisans. The new and old, the cult and the boutique, the virtual and custom crush, will all be in one spot Saturday, June 27, at Wise Hall in Vancouver from 2-4 p.m. Your $49 ticket includes wines, food truck schnacks by Roaming Dragon and cool music by Chicken Like Birds. http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/garagiste-north-small-guys-wine-festival-vancouver-tickets-15958590574?aff=es2

Westender:  
On June 27, come out to Wise Hall on Main Street for Garagiste North: The Small Guys Wine Festival. Taste the small-batch wines (under 2,000 cases annually) from more than 20 local winemakers at this annual event. Tickets $49. GaragisteNorth.com - See more at: http://www.westender.com/eat-drink/fresh-sheet/hawksworth-young-chef-finalists-announced-garagiste-north-brings-winemakers-to-the-wise-1.1970660#sthash.5vhMkuqZ.dpuf
http://www.westender.com/eat-drink/fresh-sheet/hawksworth-young-chef-finalists-announced-garagiste-north-brings-winemakers-to-the-wise-1.1970660

 

 

Chicken-Like Birds to play at Small Guys Wine Fest in Vancouver

A cool festival just got cooler....

Chicken-Like Birds has agreed to join us for the afternoon in Vancouver and share a little of their Ragtime Country Blues sound.. Sip, swirl, visit and listen.  It's going to be fun at the Wise Hall just off Commercial.

Tickets are limited, so get yours before you think you need to get yours.  If you know what we mean.

2016 Small Guys Wine Festivals

 

The Small Guys Festival is rockin’ it out with the Garagistes!

You’ve heard of the little gems, the boutique wineries, the cult followings and the maverick winemakers, but they are often hard to find or to get to. Now we showcase the small case lot artisan wines commercially produced–all gathered in one spot. What’s a garagiste (GAR-aH-jeest )? — It’s a label coined in France to indicate those who stepped outside the lines and broke the rules, taking risks and making small case lots or micro cuvees in their ‘garage’. We think you’ll agree that some interesting things are happening at the front edge of winemaking with these passionate winemakers and growers.

2016 brings you several events to sample these hard to find wines:

 

Vancouver April 17th :  The Small Guys Festival comes to Wise Hall and showcases the artisan winemakers of BC.  Tickets are $49 and available here on eventbrite.  Delicious small bites from Chicha, fun music with Chicken Like Birds.

Pentiction September 18th:  The Small Guys Festival will be at -where else for some garagistes - Canadian Tire outdoor Garden Centre.  Gregors Gourment provides food truck service.  Tickets are $49 and available here on eventbrite.

These events are organized by Garagiste North. It was born out of many conversations with small producers who are faced with the difficult realites of getting their wines to the public, and wine lovers who are always looking for those interesting and unique producers but often have difficulty finding them. It seemed like a perfect solution, and a great way to spend an afternoon or evening.