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Mudslide Buries Vineyards in Western Canada

June 18, 2010 by rthsbay20015

The Okanagan Valley has been called a Canadian Garden of Eden.  Wedged between two mighty mountain ranges, the valley is dominated by glacial lakes and sprawling vineyards and orchards.   Balmy summer temperatures have drawn growing numbers of wine tourists in recent years, and Okanagan wineries have garnered recognition from Conde Nast and other authorities as among the best in North America.  A freak mudslide devastated a corner of the Okanagan last week, after a ruptured dam spilled tons of water and debris onto prime farmland.  I reported on the disaster for Wine Spectator.

Mudslide Buries Okanagan Vineyards

Debris buries 40 acres of vines in British Columbia; dam failed

Remy Scalza
Posted: June 18, 2010

A dam failure triggered a massive mudslide in western Canada’s Okanagan wine country this past week, burying approximately 40 acres of vineyards and orchards under soil, rocks and debris, in some spots up to 25 feet deep. The slide destroyed five homes and blocked the region’s main highway. Although no one was injured, property damages are estimated to be in the millions of dollars, and affected vintners and residents are now asking if the disaster could have been averted.

“My Chardonnay is under five feet of mud. You can’t even see the top of the plants,” said Rasoul Salehi, executive director of Enotecca Winery and Resorts, which manages the LaStella and Le Vieux Pin wineries. Enotecca’s vineyard in the Okanagan’s acclaimed Golden Mile grapegrowing zone was among the worst hit. The mud destroyed 3 acres of Moscato Bianco and Chardonnay vines, including some of the oldest vines in the valley, as well as winemaking equipment, vehicles and an outbuilding.

Click here to read the full article on Wine Spectator.

Filed Under: Food & Wine, Published Articles Tagged With: mudslide, okanagan, wine

Olympic Winos: Great grapes at Vancouver 2010

February 24, 2010 by rthsbay20015

Vancouver’s Winter Games have an official credit card, cola and cold medicine, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s an official wine gracing Olympic tables.  Last week, I had a chance to cover the Olympic wine scene for Wine Spectator.  Among the highlights: discovering North America’s first Aboriginal-owned winery, tasting with Napa Valley wine royalty Margrit Mondavi and sampling the Olympics’ own brand of bubbly.   The reporting was included in a special Olympic Unfiltered column on WineSpectator.com.

Olympic Champion Lindsey Vonn says, ‘Cheese!’

WineSpectator.com

Inside the big Indian longhouse erected in the heart of downtown Vancouver, a bit of Olympic history is taking place. Vancouver 2010 marks the first Olympic Games ever in which an Aboriginal community—Canada’s First Nations peoples—has participated as an official host. Guests at the Chief’s House, as the quirky, postmodern Aboriginal Pavilion is known, enjoy traditional Inuit throat singing, buffalo burgers and wines from North America’s first native-owned winery . . . .

Click here for the full article on the Wine Spectator site.

Filed Under: 2010 Olympics, Food & Wine, Published Articles, Vancouver Tagged With: 2010 Olympics, Esprit, Margrit Mondavi, NK'Mip, Remy Scalza, Vancouver, wine, Wine Spectator

About Me

I'm a journalist and photographer whose work appears in the Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler and other international publications.  … [Read more ...]

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About Remy Scalza

Remy Scalza is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Vancouver, Canada. His stories and photos appear in The New York Times, Washington Post, Canadian Geographic and other outlets. Read More…

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