by Nicole MacKay | Jul 31, 2025 | Wine
In a dusty corner of Naramata Bench, 1 Mill Road winemaker Ben Bryant stumbled upon a mystery that perfectly encapsulates Okanagan Chardonnay’s evolution. While scrambling for replacement fruit after his planned vineyard was compromised by disease, he discovered...
by Nicole MacKay | Jun 20, 2025 | Wine
As I sit to write this, it’s been exactly one year since I stood at the highest point of the vineyard on Gorgona Island. The remote, wind-brushed outpost off Italy’s Tuscan coast required a couple of flights, a bus to Livorno, and finally, a boat out to...
by Nicole MacKay | May 10, 2025 | Wine
You don’t expect a Chardonnay from Napa Valley to end up in a cocktail shaker. But that’s exactly where Frank Family Vineyards’ Carneros Chardonnay is headed, and surprisingly, it works. Wine cocktails have been flying under the radar for years,...
by Nicole MacKay | Apr 27, 2025 | Wine
Some places in the wine world feel like myth until you stand on them. Hermitage Hill, perched nobly above the Rhône River, is one of them. During a press trip for Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône in March 2025, I was fortunate to scratch it from my bucket list. Even in...
by Nicole MacKay | Feb 27, 2025 | Travel
It’s probably been a decade since my husband and I celebrated Valentine’s Day. The contrived, pressure-filled holiday isn’t for us. Not to mention, we’re often still financially recovering from Christmas. But this year, we found a member deal...
