ice wine

You are currently browsing articles tagged ice wine.

LuLu Island Winery ice wine

Fruit wines, LuLu Island Winery

The fruit wines at LuLu Winery in Richmond. Photos by David Lansing

It’s Sunday. “Let’s go drink some wine,” Laura says.

Fine by me.

Her friend, Polly, is pouring today out at LuLu Island Winery. Perfect.

You know how web sites load particular terms into their sites to attract more attention from Google? Well, if you Google LuLu Island Winery, you’ll see that 8 out of the top 10 search terms have something to do with ice wine. You’ve got Canada ice wine and best ice wine and Vancouver ice wine—well, you get the picture. LuLu is obviously known for their ice wine.

Frankly, I’m not a big sweet wine guy. But you know who is? Asians! They love the stuff. And John Chang, who first visited Vancouver from Taiwan twenty years ago, knows that. That’s why he started a winery in 2001 that specialized in fruit wines—blueberry, cranberry, and raspberry wine—and later ice wine. Now LuLu Island is Canada’s largest exporter of wine to China.

Tasting room at LuLu Island Winery in Richmond.

Polly pours me some red at LuLu Island Winery. Photo by David Lansing.

You know who loves ice wine besides the Chinese? Laura! So while Polly was pouring me a mineraly Pinot Gris and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and a spicy Viognier, Laura was standing in the corner pouting.

“Is it time for the ice wine?” she whined.

Not yet, I told her. I still hadn’t tasted the reds.

Laura pretended to be looking at a Chinese Olympic athlete’s uniform on display while Polly opened a Cabernet Franc. “What do you think of that?”

“I think I like it,” I said, finishing off the taste. “But I’m not sure.” Polly poured me a bit more while Laura pretended not to notice.

When I finished sampling the Meritage, which was really quite delicious, Polly announced quite loudly that it was time for the ice wine. Laura hurried over.

“Maybe we should try the fruit wines first,” I said.

“Really?” said Laura. “Fruit wines?”

I started to tell her a story about drinking Boone’s Farm wines in college and why I thought the Green Apple was superior to Wild Raspberry or Strawberry Hill.

“Fine,” she said in a huff. “Try the damn fruit wines.”

Which I did. When I’d finished with LuLu’s Cranberry wine, Polly started bringing out the ice wines. She had several bottles.

“Oh, not for me,” I said, walking away from the tasting bar. “I think I’ve had enough.”

Just before I got to the door, I turned around. “Just kidding,” I told Laura. She acted like I wasn’t even there. “I’ll drink his and mine,” she told Polly. And she did.

Tags: , , ,