Vancouver Island A wine lover's guide

Lying just off British Columbia's west coast, this Pacific-facing island may not be Canada's best-known wine tourism draw, but it offers a bounty of hidden gems. And vying for the accolade of Canada's warmest place, it's the perfect destination for a winter getaway

- NICOLE MACKAY

Only a 90-minute ferry ride from Vancouver in Canada’s western province of British Columbia (BC), or a 50-minute seaplane journey from Seattle in the US, a lush isle beckons with artisanal wineries and a unique climate. It’s Vancouver Island, a relatively unknown wine appellation, but a charming and convenient destination for enthusiasts.

While Vancouver Island stretches 460km north to south, most winemaking happens in a small area along its southeast coast – the Cowichan Valley, the island’s only GI sub-appellation, which surrounds the city of Duncan and extends between Mill Bay northwest up to Cowichan lake (see maps, p66). Most wineries are on the east coast, off the Saanich Inlet.

A short drive from Victoria – the island’s hub city and BC’s provincial capital – the Cowichan Valley is a breeze to navigate. The short distance between wineries – at most 20 minutes’ drive apart – allows for leisurely exploration.

‘Winemaking’ on the island dates back 100 years, first using loganberries (a blackberryraspberry cross) to create fruit wines. The focus turned to grapes in the 1980s with the Duncan Project, a government-led test site initiative. Over seven years, more than 100 grape varieties were trialled before the government withdrew funding. Today, a vibrant community of winemakers produce a diverse array of grapes that reflect the island’s individual microclimates.

WARM WELCOME