Okanagan Valley wines and cheese, simply golden www.thatchannel.com/thewineladies TV for details.

To view the entire TV show episode, “Beautiful British Columbia and It’s Wines” and to subscribe to the podcast for previous episodes. Click here. www.thatchannel.com/thewineladies Heading over to the west coast of Canada this week, the host of this years’ Winter Olympics, B.C., we had the opportunity to explore the wonderful wines of B.C. many of which have collected THEIR own fair share of bronze, silver and gold! Also deserving of a place on the podium, one of life’s greatest culinary pleasures, the golden marriage of wine and cheese was also discovered and savored. Mark Moffatt sommelier and founder of Dine N’ Vines www.dinenvines.com led us through a wine exploration of the distinguished, award winning wines of Mission Hill Family Estate www.missionhillwinery.com while Gurth Pretty www.cheeseofcanada.ca , author, professional chef and cheese connoisseur brought a selection of delectable cheese to accompany the wine. It simply was a marriage of the golden kind deserving of a gold ring! Beautiful British Columbia and It’s Wines! The Wine Ladies TV! “The Okanagan Valley wine growing region in B.C. is a vast one”, explained Mark Moffatt,” from top to bottom with 1 degree of latitude and many micro climates from Canada’s only desert Osoyoos in the southernmost corner of B.C. to the lush and green Kelowna.” With 5 major DVA’s ( Designated Viticultural Areas), the Okanagan Valley, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Fraser Valley and the Similkameen Valley the province boasts about 175 wineries and a large selection of varietals including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer in the white and Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon being the most prolific for the red. Mission Hill Family Estate Wines has vineyards along the Okanagan Valley from Osoyoos in the south, going north to Naramata and Summerland all the way to Kelowna where grapes are grown in the spring and summer and skiing takes place at Big White Ski Resort in the winter. “With vineyards all along the valley, Mission Hill Family Estate takes the best from each parcel of land, if perhaps too cold in Kelowna, they can crop things back and take grapes for Oliver or Osoyoos to make some of the very finest wines from B.C.”, explained Mark Moffatt. With about 1700 cheeses being made in Canada, how Gurth managed to select just 5 to bring with him that day, we are not sure. His all “Canadian Cheese Team” that day was a spectacular choice from across Canada including two cheeses from B.C., including the Alpindon, a slight hazelnut flavour organic raw cow’s milk cheese and Nostrala a mild flavour cheese similar to an Italian Fontina. From central Canada, Guernsey Curds Riopelle de l’Isle a triple cream brie-like cheese from Quebec and from the east coast, New Brunswick, the Geai Bleu a raw milk blue cheese. Although each of these cheeses are very distinctive and reflect the place where they are made, Canada does not have an AOC type status system. In Europe where certain areas such as France and Spain for example have designated status for cheese production such as Roquefort, France where Roquefort cheese comes from and Manchego cheese which comes from La Mancha, Spain, etc. “Although no official designation in Canada at the moment,” stated Gurth,” there is some talk and perhaps in the not too distant future we might start to see a move to a similar system here in Canada.” For everything and anything to know about cheese pick up a copy of Gurth’s several books including The Definitive Guide to Canadian Artisanal & Fine Cheese and co-author of The Definitive Canadian Wine & Cheese Cookbook. If you want to create the perfect cheese platter follow Canada’s Cheese Guru’s tips. Enjoy! 1. Create platters with different themes (ie. regional, provincial, national, specific types of milk such as raw, pasteurized or organic). 2. Choose three to five cheese. 3. Select different varieties – soft ( ie. Comfort Cream or Camembert) – semi-soft (ie. Niagara Gold or OKA) – firm (ie. a heritage cheddar from a co-op, gouda or Cape Vessey) – hard (ie. Montasio or Parmigiano-Reggiano) – blue (ie. Bleu bénédictin or Geai bleu) 4. Plan for each guest to consume a minimum of 15g (1/2 oz) of each cheese. Have more so you have left-overs. 5. Have a different knife to cut each cheese on the cheese board. “Who cut the brie with the blue cheese knife?” 6. Place signs to identify the cheese. 7. Offer dried fruit, sliced baguette or plain crackers to help cleanse your guests’ palate For a complete podcast of the show go to www.thatchannel.com/thewineladies Wines we tasted on the show and the cheese pairings 1.Prospect Winery Larch Tree Hill Riesling 2007 Gurth’s cheese pairing recommendation: Riopelle de l’Isle from Quebec LCBO # 145136 Price: $13.95 2. Mission Hill S.L.C. Chardonnay S.L.C. Chardonnay2006 Gurth’s cheese pairing recommendation: Alpindon from B.C. VINTAGES 144170 Price: $24.95 3. Mission Hill Family Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 Gurth’s cheese pairing recommendation: Alpindon from B.C. VINTAGES 553321 Price:$22.95 4.Mission Hill Family Estate Compendium 2006 Gurth’s cheese pairing recommendation: Geai Bleu from New Bruswick. To purchase:www.missionhillontario.com/index.cfm Price: $ 40.00