Whole Foods has always had a tremendous wine selection in the U.S., with inventory from Australia to Austria, but for the first time, Canadian wines from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley will also be available to Pacific Northwest consumers in Washington and Oregon.
Historically, British Columbia wines have been consumer locally due to their limited supply (many wineries bottle only in the hundreds of cases) but with increased grape farming and production, change is around the corner and new destinations are welcome, making this great news for the wine industry just a stone’s throw across the border from Washington State.
The following British Columbia will be sold at all Whole Foods store locations in Washington and Oregon:
• Black Hills Estate Winery 2012 Nota Bene
• Burrowing Owl Estate Winery 2011 Cabernet Franc
• Meyer Family Vineyards 2012 Chardonnay
• Nk’Mip Cellars 2012 Merlot
• Quails’ Gate Estate Winery 2012 Pinot Noir
• St. Hubertus Estate Winery 2013 Pinot Blanc
• Tantalus Vineyards 2013 Riesling
• Tinhorn Creek Vineyards 2013 Pinot Gris
Black Hills Estate Winery is almost legendary in BC and Nota Bene, its flagship wine, which is difficult enough to get locally in BC, should be a treat for wine buyers in the U.S. Tantalus’s Rieslings have received great praise from notable wine critics, including very high marks from Jancis Robinson. The rest of the lineup is also solid and varied, making for interesting discoveries to the quality of winemaking in the OKanagan Valley.
