BCITRA Travel

Fraser Valley wine Tour

March 2007

Article by Chris & Alan Barnard

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On a beautiful spring day, a group of 16 went on the BCITRA wine tour of four wineries in the Fraser Valley. Our first stop was the River's Bend winery in Surrey where it had been arranged that we meet. We had a warm welcome there as we did at all four wineries.

I think we were all surprised at the size of the samples at River's Bend - they were much larger than normal - where we tried a number of both red and white wines including a really nice sherry type wine.

The next three visits were all at wineries in Langley starting with Glenugie where I was very impressed with the décor which reflected the Scots heritage of the founders. We were given an interesting talk on the beginnings of the winery and again sampled some very nice wines.

Then on to Township 7 winery which was not really fully open for the season and only had a small selection until later in the spring and summer. However our hostess there gave us a very interesting and humourous talk on the origin of the project and how they retained connections with grape producers and a winery in the Okanagan.

Our final visit was to Domaine De Chaberton Estates winery the oldest one in the Fraser Valley established by European emigrants. We were taken on an extensive tour where the whole process of producing wine was explained. Then on to taste a large selection of wines before heading for lunch in their Bacchus Bistro where their very accomplished French Chef produces some lovely tasty dishes.

B.C. can certainly be proud of its ever improving wines that are now considered among the best in the world. We could not have had better weather for the jaunt and we all enjoyed the weather, the company, and of course the wine. Thanks go to Murray Sharp for arranging the tour.