Winery Spotlight #2- Salt Spring Island

Story:
Salt Spring Island winery is the second and last winery that we visited on Salt Spring Island, because there are only two. They are right next to each other, so visiting both is an easy enterprise.
We were treated to the wines by the owners' daughter, which was a bonus point, because she could not only educate us on what the wines were about, but fleshed out a little back story for us. They were seated with their dog on their sweet ass patio listening to live music and eating cheese while sampling their wine stocks. Their daughter informed us they were doctors from Vancouver who decided to retire into a winery. Its a somewhat common story that successful people retire and open wineries. The difference here is that they are still very young and happened to buy their winery in paradise aka salt spring island. Their daughter was, luckily for them, interested in wine and the winery and was really educational and helpful. They also have wicked little local food items paired up with each of their wines so you get ideas of the flavours that go together for pairing.

The wines:
We tried a couple of wines here, though I forgot to write them down and there are a few that standout in memory. We definitely tried the Millotage, which is a blend of all salt spring grown 'leon millot' and 'marechal foch', two varietals I had never heard of before, and am now decently acquainted with. We also tried their Pinot Gris, which is the same varietal as Pinot Grigio for you who are wondering, just a different language.(French vs. Italian) It was nice and crisp and reminiscent of seafood. Though we tried some others, those are the only two traditional wines that I can remember. We also tried their blackberry port, which they are quasi-famous for locally. Its a really nice dessert wine, and I can imagine using it to garnish chocolate cake of something of the sort.

Overall:
The property is beautiful, and the live music/picnic area is a genius stroke for a winery. Relaxed patio sipping, local cheeses, breads and spreads are all available. The owners' daughter was helpful about wine and the island in general, and got pretty enthusiastic about surfing, which was cool. I would definitely return to hang out on the patio and relax.