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BC Living - B.C. Wine 101: Festive Edition

"With so much delicious B.C. wine out there, and new wineries springing up almost every day, it’s hard to know where to start drinking… until now

Welcome to the festive edition of B.C. wine 101! Here you’ll find everything you need to fill your glass throughout the holiday season. For the first time, we blind tasted dozens of wines with a crack team of industry professionals to bring you the ultimate, crowd-pleasing picks of bubbles, red and white turkey wines, and delicious dessert wines. All that plus expert advice, a winemaker interview and some fun gift suggestions (spoiler: it’s wine).

Have a fantastic time over the holidays, and don’t forget to treat your designated driver!

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2. Wine clubs: the gift that keeps on giving

Did you know that many of B.C.s most celebrated wines sell out each year before most of us even get the chance to taste them? You can’t find them in wine stores and often they sell out at the cellar door before summer wine touring even starts. But there’s an easy way to make sure you get to try these special wines—join a wine club! Far more flexible than you think (nope, you won’t be locked into an endless contract!), offering deals, free tastings and tours, member benefits galore and access to exclusive wines no one else can buy, here are my picks which, hint hint, make perfect holiday gifts.

Moon Curser Vineyards ‘Highly Suspicious’ club offers total flexibility with which wines you receive. You need to commit to two cases a year (24 bottles). In return, you get free shipping, 15 percent off all wines in excess of your 24 bottles, exclusive tours and tastings, priority access to limited releases (such as their Tannat 2014), library releases and winery events."

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The Georgia Straight - Fruit shines in B.C.'s Petit Verdots

"I got my hands on a couple British Columbian wines recently, two bottles that weren’t exactly common pours.

We often get the opportunity to compare and contrast local Pinot Noirs, Merlots, Rieslings, and so on, but the two wines in front of me were single-varietal Petit Verdots—definitely outliers when it comes to what we’re used to on the home front.

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First up, we have Moon Curser Petit Verdot 2016 ($30.99, online). Proprietors Chris and Beata Tolley are no strangers to homing in on obscure varieties, as glances toward their Arneis, Tempranillo, Dolcetto, and Tannat attest. The fruit for this wine comes from Osoyoos, in the deep south of the Okanagan Valley, where the sandy loam and granite soils are dotted with wild sagebrush and cacti, culminating in a rugged setting for a concentrated, rich, wintery wine.

Aging in French oak, 25 percent of it new, frames mulberries, blueberries, and deep, balsamic flavours, all rich and jammy but tethered to tannins that give great texture and an acid component, bringing a liveliness to the wine. It’s big, and you can feel the purpleness of it seeping into your teeth at the first sip, yet it still glides across the palate, not sinking in too deep."

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Winter in Wine Country at Moon Curser Vineyards

November 23rd to 25th, 2018 - Winery Open daily 10am-5pm

​10% OFF ALL WINE & RETAIL ITEMS Thursday Nov. 22 – Sunday Nov. 25!!
Vertical Library Wine offers
All tasting fees donated to Osoyoos Gift Cupboard (also accepting donations of items for Osoyoos Gift Cupboard such as toiletries, scarves, gloves, toques, warm socks, stationary, etc.)
Christmas music, decor, holiday cheer and treats
Free gift wrapping with wine purchase
Gold pan gift baskets available

Follow Osoyoos Gift Cupboard on Facebook here

Castanet.net - Wines for All Hallow's Eve

"Check just about anything from Moon Curser in Osoyoos, for the labels that are both whimsical, and a tad odd. Afraid of the Dark, a gold medal winner at several competitions, is a Rhone-inspired blend of Viognier, Roussanne, and Marsanne.

And fellow award winner Dead of the Night is a bold blend of Syrah and Tannat. The labels feature owls hovering over animal heads on human bodies."

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CKNW Lynda Steele Show - What spooky wines and spirits....

"Tomorrow is Halloween!  What spooky wines and spirits… tee hee... are out there to serve at a Halloween party or just a night in watching scary movies?  Our next guest has curated a list of spooky wines that have bold flavour profiles and scary stories to match.

Guest: Lynn Coulthard - Wine and Spirit Buyer for JAK's Beer Wine & Spirits"

Moon Curser wines were discussed.

Waters & Wine - 2016 Dead of Night and 2016 Border Vines reviews

"MOON CURSER VINEYARDS 2016 DEAD OF NIGHT

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

An unusual blend of equal parts Syrah and Tannat from vineyards on the Osoyoos East Bench ensures Dead of Night always offers a unique profile. I’m a big fan of this wine, consistently putting it forward as part of the Canadian team for the Six Nations Wine Challenge. It's also largely seen as Moon Curser's flagship wine. The two varieties are harvested, fermented and aged separately before the blend is assembled. Thirty percent new oak is used to add complexity and tame the tannins (especially of the Tannat), with a large percentage of neutral barrels also employed. Dry, refreshing and complex, this nicely structured and flavourful red is robust yet refined. 380 cases. (91/100)"

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"MOON CURSER VINEYARDS 2016 BORDER VINES

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

The newly released Border Vines is a blend of 44 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 24 percent Cabernet Franc, 20 percent Malbec, seven percent Petit Verdot and five percent Carménère. (Fun fact: Moon Curser doesn’t grow Merlot.) All of the grapes were grown on the Osoyoos East Bench and blended to taste by co-founder and winemaker Chris Tolley. Last year’s blend contained three varieties; the 2016 version blossomed to include five Bordeaux varieties. Border Vines is always a bigger, bolder red born of the sun-soaked Osoyoos vineyards, but there’s brightness and balance that adds greatly to the appeal. 1,412 cases. (88/100)"

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Sip Northwest Magazine - Okanagan Valley

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"Finally, to get a take on what could be the future of popular Okanagan grape varieties, the folks at Moon Curser Vineyards play with rare-around-these-parts varieties like Arneis, Dolcetto, Carménère and Tannat, along with tip-top takes on Syrah, Malbec and more."

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Food Network - How to Spend 48 Hours in the Heart of the Okanagan Valley

"A winery on the smaller side, Moon Curser earns a reputation with its unusual varietals and quirky story. The name of the family-owned winery pays homage to smugglers trying to cross the U.S. border near Osoyoos. The moon was something worth cursing when conducting illegal pursuits. Try some of their more unique offerings, like the Tannat, or sip on others based on their names, such as Afraid of the Dark or Dead of Night."

Canadian Living - Travel Guide: Oliver Osoyoos, The Wine Capital of Canada

"It’s like an oasis. The sky is cloudless and azure, and the sun somehow seems bigger and brighter than I’ve ever seen it. The air smells so sweet you can almost taste it, and though it’s warm—even hot—out, the atmosphere feels fresh and crisp and the heat is not at all intrusive. Undulating hills are dotted with orchards and vineyards in shades of green from moss to forest, picturesque mountains comprise a beautiful backdrop and there are wineries everywhere. This is the Wine Capital of Canada, after all.

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Moon Curser Vineyards

Named for the gold-rush prospectors who would curse the moon when it was too bright as they smuggled the precious metal across the nearby Canada–U.S. border under the cover of night, Moon Curser is owned and run by renegades who grow adventurous grape varieties—including Tannat and Tempranillo—that are atypical of this area. mooncurser.com" 

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Gismondi on Wine - Top 10: Unique Grapes in BC

"Merlot and pinot gris are the most planted red and white grapes in BC.

This is followed quickly thereafter by chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, gewürztraminer and riesling. Sound familiar? Chances are, if you drink BC wine, these grapes would be in the mix. Time to mix it up; more than 80 different wine grapes are planted in our province. BC's relative youth and adventuresome spirit work in our (drinkers') favour, with wineries able to plant and experiment with new-to-here grapes. Stag's Hollow, Moon Curser, Terravista Vineyards are amongst those leaders who have pioneered with commercial bottlings of arneis, dolcetto, verdejo, carmenère, grenache and others."

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