the WINE GUY

The name is straightforward enough, a creek bordering the vineyards is called Hester after an Okanagan Valley pioneer’s daughter — a fitting story for a pioneering Okanagan winery.

This year Hester Creek celebrates the 50th anniversary of their estate vineyards, no small feat for what is, in a global context, really still a nascent wine industry. Even more astounding is that for all these 50 years Hester Creek has been growing quality vitis vinifera — pretty much an unheard of proposition pre-NAFTA.

Credit the vision of Joe Busnardo, the immigrant who first planted the property with cuttings of grape varieties he grew up with in northern Italy. Today, the blocks of Pinot Blanc, Trebbiano, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc continue to prosper, forming the backbone of Hester Creek’s 95-acre estate.

THE SWIRL: Saturday Night Wine Challenge

Aldergrove’s Blackwood Lane Winery (25180 8th Avenue) has launched a series of Saturday Night Wine Challenges. For each challenge, participants will taste one of Blackwood Lane’s wines against other bottles of the same variety. Last Saturday it was Cabernet Franc, and in weeks to come the spotlight will be on Chardonnay (March 31) and red Bordeaux (April 7). The tastings run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and tickets are $20 (with the full price applied to any wine purchases made the same night) but exclusively for members of the winery’s Sommelier Wine Club. For complete details call (604) 856-5787 or head to blackwoodlane.ca.