Fabulous! Cute little shop with a drive-up coffee bar. Actually the best coffee I’ve had in a while. Espresso was fresh and tasty. I got a sugar-free hazelnut latte. The products they use are top quality so no nasty chemically tasting sugar-free syrup. This coffee was seriously heavenly. It is a little pricy but its worth every penny! A must try.
Where to begin ………..WBC13 was inspiring, humbling, exhausting, fun, informative to
name only a few adjectives that I could put down. To be around so many enthusiastic and talented people with like interests was both inspiring and humbling. While motivating to put more energy and time into the product it can be demoralizing to know there are so many other people out there writing about the same thing but with much more knowledge and real artistic talent. The 
content of the conference was tailored to a tee, our only complaint was feeling like we were going non-stop the entire day with no room to explore the region on our own but it’s hard to complain when you are learning about and drinking incredible wine all day and being educated on how to improve something you are passionate about. From speed tasting (see prior posts) to learning how to judge wine, workshops on CEO (didn’t even know the acronym before the conf) and a trip to the Similkameen valley, WBC13 had it all. WBC14 will be in Santa Barbara and we are already making our reservations.
A few final thoughts about Pinticton, the BC wine region and Canada in general. Take all of this with a grain of salt as it is being written by an american hack with no business or psychology training. The people of Canada are some of the most friendly, warm people we have encountered in our travels. They are also very humble. They all seemed very well informed and stay abreast on the 
happenings in the lower 48. In a way it’s almost like a younger brother, one with more going for them then they realize, who still admires their older brother whose best days are behind them. The BC wine region has everything you need in an appellation to produce great wine including sun, many different micro 
climates and good soil. Pictures do not do the scenery justice, somewhere you truly have to go to fully appreciate. The wine makers of this area are as hard working, talented and creative as any you will find anywhere. We found some really really good wine here and within 5 years or so and a little fine tuning I am willing to bet they will stand up to just about any area around the world. Unfortunately what I think will hold them back from the recognition they deserve is that they are not arrogant or greedy enough (an unfortunate requirement in the global vino industry) to stand up and say to the world “hey, look at us, we make some dam good wine”. Until they do they will remain a “secret spot” and a destination for those of us in the know.
Find(s) of the weekend:
Gone Crackers– based in Surrey, BC, some of the best flavored and textured crackers anywhere
Painted Rock Winery– our favorite BC winery
Artesana Winery– A Uruguay winery with an incredible Tannat and Tannat/Merlot blend, and available in the US
Brax and I took a quick trip to Paso Robles on our way to stay at a cute little motel in Cambria I found thru Living Social. We had a wine pick up at Kukkula so of course we had to do some tasting, never a disappointment. Kevin gave us some suggestions for a couple other wineries to check out. From there we went to my other boyfriend(Troya’s BF too),Terry Hoage. Evan was pouring so he filled us in on some of the new stuff we hadn’t tasted the last time, one wine being the rose which was lovely. Needless to say we belong to another wine club. Caliza was our next stop, one of the recommendations from Kevin. Pam was great there, very informative and friendly and turned out she was from Cambria so she had some good suggestions. Caliza’s wines were very good, they had a very nice rose called Pink, very crisp, fruity but not sweet. They also had a very good Primitivo, we bought a bottle of both. Our next stop was Epoch, another of Kevin’s suggestions. Again good wines and very friendly staff, the girls was very friendly and helpful. Epoch had a nice rose too, if you haven’t noticed I am a big fan of the rose. It’s a great summer wine! They also had a GSM that was good but I think a smidge on the pricey side at $65 a bottle. The Estate Blend was also very good and not outrageously priced at $40 a bottle.
After we left Epoch we headed to Cambria. I had never been to Cambria but have several friend’s that have stayed and really loved it so I was really looking forward to it.
We made our way to Cambria and found the Cambria Shores Inn. If you like to travel with your dogs this is a great place to stay. We brought both of our dogs and when we arrived they had a welcome basket for the them. The room was very nice, nothing fancy but neat and clean. They put a sheet over the bed so your dogs can get on the bed. There was a fireplace, small fridge and coffee pot…necessities. The shower had the large overhead shower head that was pretty awesome. The motel is located across the street from the beach so a great view. The grounds have several grass areas with chairs to relax, drink some wine and enjoy the view. Unfortunately no dogs are allowed on that beach but a few miles down at San Simeon State Beach is dog friendly. Our dogs had a blast!!
We went to the Sea Chest for dinner, they only served seafood. Lots of fresh fish choices but I ordered the shrimp scampi with pasta and Brax had the shrimp and scallop scampi with pasta. Both were very good, huge portions. We had some very yummy escargot as an appetizer too.
The next morning there was a picnic basket hanging outside our door. It had fresh fruit, OJ, yogurt, little packaged pastries, and a bagel. I really enjoyed this motel, I’d definitely come back. I think with the Living Social deal it was $129/night so I’m not sure what it normally is.
We went to breakfast at Redwood Café which was delish!!! On our way out of Cambria we went to taste at Harmony Winery. A friend of ours belongs there so we wanted to try it out. They had a Pinot Gris that was very nice as well as a rose otherwise I wasn’t impressed. Of course on our way out of Paso we had to stop at Kenneth Volk because I’m on a quest for more Blaufrankish which of course they won’t have til maybe the fall. Needless to say we found a couple others we really liked like the Mouvedre, Touriga and Syrah. By the time we headed home my liver was thanking me. Until next time…..happy eating, drinking and travels!!!
No post yesterday, the last two days have been a whirl-wind. Non-stop yesterday with discussions on the state of wine blogging, workshops on using google + and wine tasting from south Africa, lunch hosted by the wine association of Ontario, speed tasting of BC white wines, an excursion to the Similkameen region with tours, tasting and then dinner in a wine cave, then an evening party at a resort rooftop overlooking a lake at sunset. Early morning today, breakfast in association with the local farmers market, then right into learning how to be a wine judge. Then another lunch, this time with wines of Uruguay, more to come on that, follow by workshops on SEO, content and “drink them before they are famous”. Another session of speed tasting (see the previous posts), then an open house with wines from Greece. Liver is into the pelvic area but otherwise we are doing well. This is really the first time we have been able to spend in the room relaxing, watching another beautiful sunset over the lake while listening to a bar band right beneath our window. It has been an incredible two days, we are on information and networking overload, but invaluable. Just wish we had a little more time to enjoy eachother and where we are. Final thoughts on the WBC13 and Penticton to come.