The Sipster's Wine Podcast

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

In her never-ending quest to provide amazing experiences for her tour guests, Farm to Glass Wine Tour owner Jessie Hopwood re-reads Valleys of Wine, the only comprehensive history of BC's wine industry. In this special podcasts, she interviews the author and finds out how much he remembers with an intense quiz. 

Welcome to the S...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Ever wondered about wine competitions? Where do wines get their gold and silver awards? What do they mean?? Jess and I tackle this controversial topic. 

But wait, there's more! The wine word of the day - or is it week - is Punt. Do you prefer a bottle with out or without? Do you know what it is? We'll tell you. 

Welcome to the Si...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

We're back! Jess joins me from her flex space (aka the Podcast Closet) for this quick chat about the possibility of adding video to the Sipster's Podcast. What do you think? Is it worth it? Are we really that awesome looking? Send us an email or a comment somewhere and let us know. 

We also dive into our wine word of the week - ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This episode is a chat with Jillian Hillier, better known online as @faretheewellbychefjill. Chef Jill has a lot to say about eating healthy and all of those dietary restrictions that everybody seems to have these days. I met her last November at the Crushable Club Wine Studio in Toronto, run by wine maven (and previous podcast guest Lau...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week’s podcast is a revisit with Jennifer Carleton. We recorded her previous podcast last spring over a video call when we were both in the Okanagan Valley. She invited me to visit her amazing wine room at her home in Peterborough, Ontario at some point if I was ever there and, last November, I was! She travels regularly between BC ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

I get to speak with Joanne Pratt and Craig MacMillan, the owners of Stonehouse Vineyard in Lochiel, Ontario. Unless you’ve read either of my two Sipsters Pocket Guides to 50 Must-Try Ontario Wines, there is little chance that you could have even heard of Stonehouse before. 

The winery is in a converted barn and the whole property is perch...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week’s guest is Anne Du Bois who own Savon Du Bois in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario. I’ve always wanted to do an episode like this because it is not directly about wine but rather, about aromas almost exclusively. Anne Du Bois is an aromatherapist and perfumer who extracts her own scents and essential elements from botanical...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This is going to be controversial. After a bad couple of winters, some BC wineries have imported grapes outside of BC to make wine. Some BC wineries have refused to do that. Will they be labelled the same? Are they going to cost less? In this podcast, Jess and I discuss what we think should happen to these wines. 

Welcome to the Sipsters ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

It's more about Nova Scotia this week! Jess and I taste through a couple more wines from her trip, including wines from L'Acadie and Luckett vineyards. We discuss our Tidal Bay experiences and offer suggestions for donair pairings. It's an east coast feast.

Find Jess at Farm to Glass Wine Tours.

Find me ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Can grapes be grown in a greenhouse? Apparently yes. I get to taste a couple wines in this episode with Marc Desaulnier and Annabelle Harper, winemaker and assistant winemaker respectively at Vins Zyromski in Rivière-Rouge, Quebec. https://vinszyromski.com/  

Welcome to the Sipsters Podcast!

Thank you for listening to the Sipster's Podca...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Jess is back! In this episode, we talk about the value of wines in Nova Scotia, why disagreeing makes for a better podcast, and if there really is a difference between Adirondak and Muskoka chairs. We also recap our summer and some of the most amazing wines that we tasted recently.

Wines featured in this podcast:
Beausoleil...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Whatever innovations have happened in the BC wine industry in the past 30 years, Sandra Oldfield has been a part of it. The first wine club in British Columbia - The Crush Club at Tinhorn Creek - happened on her watch. In a world of industry followers, she is a leader. I've been trying to get her to record a podcast with me for year...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Tim Watts, co-owner of Kettle Valley Winery in Naramata, was an early mentor in my wine career. I worked at several wineries in production and I worked at Kettle Valley in 2008. Tim and Bob Ferguson were hands-on owners, working at every aspect of their business themselves, which meant that when I worked there, I got to try out all kinds...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This is one of those super-sized podcasts with a lot of info in a great conversation with Shay Code, owner and winemaker at his winery Code Wines in Okanagan Falls, BC. Perched at the base of Peach Cliff above the town, Code Wines occupies an extraordinarily unique vineyard site. Shay tells about how he got into wine and what led him to ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Jennifer Carleton joins me on the podcast this week. She has a unique perspective on Canadian wine because she travels regularly between Ontario and BC and hears all about what each provinces says about the other's wines. Jenn is extremely well-spoken and enthusiastic about wine. Find her online at her website Jenn's Wine Crush...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

In a bid to learn more about each other, Jess and I get into the serious questions about wine and life.

Now, you can have your chance! Ask us anything! You must have questions about wine in Canada and now you can ask us! Or tell us about your most amazing wine experiences. We will read them on a future podcast and answer or dis...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Tonia McArthur rejoins me for a great conversation, this time in the Sipster's studio instead of at a noisy coffee shop. We talk about her recent appearance in the new Sipster's Pocket Guide to 50 More Must-Try BC Wines Volume 3 while I blind her on a mysterious sparkling wine.  Find Tonia online on her website and learn about ...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

Christopher Mark from Vintality Tech Inc. joins me on the podcast this week. We talk about all things vineyards in this one, which is a hot topic among more than just wine enthusiasts these days. Everyone seems to have heard that BC's interior has had it bad over the past few years. Chris is literally at ground zero for around the O...

Text us your wine questions, craziest wine experiences, or if you just have a comment for us. .

This week on the podcast, Jessie Hopwood returns for a visit to catch up and talk about the state of BC’s wine industry after a crazy winter. We'll catch up with why there haven't been any podcasts lately, how to get into the wine industry, and why you should never ferment raspberry wine in a condo unless you have home insuranc...