Our friends Sue and Leo came to visit for a few days from California. We took them to some of our favorite spots (Hatley Castle, Butchart Gardens, the Inner Harbour) and we also spent a day wine tasting in the Cowichan Valley. We began the day with a stop at the Duncan Farmers Market to pick up a few things for a picnic and for dinner later in the evening, including a fresh berry pie.
We began our wine tasting at Enrico Winery near Mill Bay. We tasted some of their wines, bought a bottle of rose to enjoy with lunch, and then adjourned to their picnic area for our feast. Just as we were finishing our tasting a group of rowdy young women arrived, all with flowers in their hair. The proprietor told us they were a “stagette” party, which we would call a bachelorette party in the States. One of the interesting things about visiting Canada is encountering these little Canadian twists to the language. For example, a parking garage is a parkade, a term I have never heard used in the U.S. A garbage disposal is a garburator.
We then checked out a couple of more wineries, Cherry Point and Unsworth. The wines were not great by California standards but it is impressive that they can produce decent wines at all in their northern climate. The people at the wineries told us that there has been a lot of effort put into developing hybrid varieties that produce well in their region.