How to Host a Vegan Wedding Reception in Style

How to Host a Vegan Wedding Reception in Style

There's a lot to consider when planning a wedding, but for those who are planning a vegan celebration, it can be particularly stressful to make sure the big day fits in with their lifestyle. Here are three steps to help you get started in hosting a vegan wedding reception in style.

1. Choose a Vegan-Friendly Venue

It's important that your wedding venue respects your desire for a completely vegan wedding so that they can tailor their services and produce accordingly. For example, you might ask that they avoid serving beverages that contain animal products or using decorations that contain things like feathers and leather. You may also want to hire an outside caterer rather than using their in-house catering services if the venue is inexperienced in producing vegan food.

When visiting venues, be upfront about your needs to see how receptive they are in creating a vegan environment. You might also consider the wider impact of a venue on animal welfare. For example, a rural venue that has acres of land surrounding it might use this to farm animals or host hunts. Be sure to ask questions about how the entire venue is used and not just the parts that you'll be using for your wedding. This will give you peace of mind that your wedding isn't contributing to animal cruelty.

2. Prep Bridal Boutiques and Tailors Before Visiting

Silk, which is harvested from silkworms, is a common material found in wedding dresses. It's often included in satin, chiffon and tulle, so it's not enough to simply avoid pure silk when searching for a wedding dress. When it comes to suits and tuxedos, wool and cashmere are common non-vegan materials to avoid. It's also fairly common for luxury ties, suits and shirts to contain silk. There's leather to avoid when buying shoes and purses, and it's important to avoid jewellery that contains real pearls or feathers.

Luckily, there are plenty of vegan materials to choose from that offer just as much style and luxury as their non-vegan counterparts. It's useful to seek out bridal boutiques and tailors that either specialise in vegan clothing or have a dedicated line of vegan garments. Make sure you inform businesses about your vegan requirements before you visit so that they have time to prepare garments and materials that are suitable for you.

3. Encourage Guests to Taste New Dishes with a Vegan Buffet

A difficulty many vegan wedding planners come up against is reluctance from guests to eat vegan dishes. Unfortunately, many people believe that vegan food is bland and boring, or that they'll come up against new flavours and textures that they won't enjoy. Vegan dishes can be just as delicious and satisfying as dishes that contain meat and dairy, and once you introduce people to good quality vegan food, they soon realise these stereotypes are wrong.

A great way to overcome cynicism from non-vegan wedding guests is to have buffet-style dining. Guests can pick and choose the dishes that look most appealing to them, and they have an opportunity to sample lots of different foods at once. You won't have to worry about guests going hungry when there's plenty of variety on offer to suit all tastes. Plus, you can showcase the deliciousness of vegan food and change some attitudes about veganism along the way.

Buffets are also a good way to reduce food waste. 15% of wedding guests only eat one or two of their three courses when sitting down to a traditional wedding breakfast. With a buffet, people can tailor servings to their appetites more easily.

Celebrate in Style with An Ethical Reception

While planning your wedding reception might be a little trickier as a vegan, the extra work will pay off as you enjoy your special day safe in the knowledge that your celebration is as ethical as possible.

Grape Vine and Fruit Tree Pruning

Grape Vine and Fruit Tree Pruning

The ideal time for Grape Vine and Fruit Tree Pruning is when they are dormant, to give them their best chance at. producing for you.   What you do this winter will affect your fruit yield for the next two years.

At 40 Knots, we listen to our customers.  Our service goes beyond serving a glass of wine.  We are proponents for traditional responsible farming, and nothing gets us more excited than chatting with a fellow farmer.  Whether you own a backyard or many acres, we love to help.  Farming is our passion.  Caring for the environment and leaving it better than what we found it, is in our blood.

A few years ago, we started delivering free workshops to those in our community.  With a Viticulturist and Aborist on staff, you are in great hands.  I think we have a total of about 120 years of experience in our small Crew.  Our workshop leaves you feeling confident.  And we leave feeling great about our contribution to farming on Vancouver Island.  We love hearing from those that attended about their great harvest and increase in yields and quality of fruit.

If you missed our annual workshop, here are a few Cole’s notes:

Fact:  No fruit grows on old wood.  If you want more fruit, you need to prune.

Fact:  A vigorous grapevine can produce 150-200 feet of linear new growth a year.

Fact:  Pruning is best when trees and vines are dormant.  In Vancouver Island, it is usually after Christmas.

Fact:  To prepare for dormancy ensure you supply food and water to protect

Safety Equipment:  Buddy up if you are needing to use a ladder.  Always wear gloves, eye protection, and proper footwear.

Tools:  Use sharp tools and if you notice any disease, use peroxide to disinfect your tools before moving to another branch or vine.  You can actually pass disease if you don’t do this.

Design:  Choose a design, and don’t be scared. Especially with vines.  In some countries, they are considered a weed and they are very resilient.  You can find many designs on the internet.  I would list them all here, but it is a blog after all.

Age:    Young trees should be at least 3 years old before pruning.

Canopy:  Consider that you will need sunlight and protection, and this is where canopy management comes in.  You will be a good balance of vegetative growth to ripen the crop yet sufficient fruitful buds to provide adequate yield.

Suckers and Dead Wood:  Always remove suckers and deadwood.  If there is only one thing you do for your trees and vines, this is the one.

Meet Andy on Youtube as he explains apple tree pruning:

Sign up to 40 Knots newsletter HERE so you are the first person to hear about any community workshops.

Sign up to be a 40 Knots Farmer during our harvest HERE.

Carbon Emissions and Net-Zero

Carbon Emissions and Net-Zero

This is a big, big topic.  And we are not experts.  But we do know, that we have choices.  2020 has taught us many things.  We consume less, we buy what we need, and we buy Local first.  When purchasing, we consider the carbon footprint of the goods.  (What is the impact on those plastic forks shipped here from a factory in China?)

What does it mean to be Net-Zero?  There is a lot of information out there.  We chose to be a Gold Certified member of Green Step Tourism for their guidance and because of their very tough certification process, which assists us to be continuously diligent.  We are not experts, but we like what we have experienced since becoming members in 2016.  

And we continue to research and learn.  I came across this blog.  Sadly, I don't see Canada mentioned. 

World Resources Institute

And then I found a calculator!  Right or wrong, I used this one.  I was super happy to see how low my carbon (paw) footprint was but was shocked to see how high our country's carbon footprint was.

Carbon Footprint Calculator for homes

If 2020 showed us anything, it showed how we could use less and use smarter.  

And so in 2021, I commit to doing my part.

I Declare a Climate Emergency

40 Knots Winery has signed up to Tourism Declares, an initiative that supports tourism businesses, organizations, and individuals in declaring a climate emergency and taking purposeful action to reduce their carbon emissions as per the advice from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030. 

Like all signatories, we have committed to the following five actions:

1. Develop a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ within the next 12 months, which sets out our intentions to reduce carbon emissions over the next decade.

2. Share an initial public declaration of our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’, and update on progress each year.

3. Accept current IPCC advice stating the need to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030 in order to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming. We’ll ensure our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ represents actions designed to achieve this as a minimum, through delivering transparent, measurable, and increasing reductions in the total carbon emissions per customer arising from our operations and the travel services sold by us. 

4. Encourage our suppliers and partners to make the same declaration; sharing best practice amongst peers; and actively participate in the Tourism Declares community

5. Advocate for change. We recognize the need for system change across the industry to accelerate a just transition towards carbon-free tourism.

The Crew at 40 Knots Winery

Are you a Tourism Business?  Join us HERE

#RootedInCool

#RootedInCool

Here at our 40 Knots Vineyard, located on the 49th parallel, we are #rootedincool.  Our climate is similar to the Northern part of France and many of the German wine regions.  The varieties proven over centuries in these areas thrive in our terroir. 

With food trends moving towards more white meats, fish, vegan and vegetarian, our Estate wines naturally pair well.  With wine trends moving towards lower alcohol, lower residual sugar, and higher acidity, our Estate wines are increasingly popular.   Cool climate grape varietals are wonderfully suited to our location here in the Comox Valley.  Pinot Gris with crisp bright green apple notes, Chablis style Chardonnay with soft hay and pineapple on the palate.  White Seas, a local favorite, offers balance with juicy aromatics and mouth-watering acidity. 

If you are looking for those bold reds, big tannins, high alcohol that cut through fat in a steak like no other wines, then we do have those too, under our Stall Speed brand.  These grapes come from "warm climate" areas such as Naramata Bench and the Black Sage Bench in British Columbia.  

Balance

Balance is a term used quite frequently in the wine world.  At 40 Knots, we are able to achieve perfect balance without intervention in the cellar.  Each fall, each row of vines of each variety is carefully checked daily for pH and Brix (sugar level).  The day of harvest for each vine is decided by these levels and the weather forecast.  This is not the easiest harvest using this method, however, when the grapes are perfect, intervention is not necessary.  This is where our #rootedincool climate has a leg up to create the perfectly and naturally balanced wine.

Tannins

Tannins develop naturally as grapes grow in the vineyard. They begin accumulating during fruit set and continue until veraison (when the grapes change color).  Different grape varieties have different levels of tannins.  Tannins, in part, function as grape’s sunscreen—the more light that reaches a grape’s surface, the more tannins the skins produce. Light intensity is a major influence in the development of skin tannins at higher altitudes. Because light intensity is lost as light travels through the atmosphere, the light reaching higher-altitude vineyards is more intense and therefore contributes to conditions that yield more intensely tannic wines.

At 40 Knots, canopy management is important.  We have the ability to influence the type and amount of tannins that develop in our grapes.  It is a balance of providing protection from sunburn, allowing airflow to keep grapes dry, allowing the sun to create tannin, and avoid irrigation so grapes and small and contain more tannin. 

Visit our grapes! 

Want to check out for yourself what stage the tannins are at?  Take a stroll in our interpretive trail and join us in guided tasting/tour:

Or... not feeling that adventurous, taste the tannins in our tasting room.  Our staff will walk you through taste comparisons of tannins.

Looking for a super ripe and juicy wine that is bone dry?  This week we will be releasing our #rootedincool Sieg, just being bottled today.  

In our next blog, we will take a closer look at the naturally occurring acids in wine:  tartaric acid, malic acid, and citric acid.

 

The Swallow's Arrival

The Swallow 

(Stelgidopteryx serripennis)

If you've ever purchased a bottle of 40 Knots wine from our cellar door, you may have noticed the Northern Rough-Winged Swallow that adorns our Estate label.  The swallow is endemic to our area and frequent our vineyard.  Each year we celebrate their arrival because, for us, they are not only our friends but a part of our biodynamic crew.  Swallows will only live in areas that surround biodynamic balance and their presence speak volumes that our clean, green vineyard practices are working.  The swallow is an excellent bug predator.  Unlike other species of birds, they will never harm our grapes.   40 Knots Vineyard is surrounded by farming land and swallows always nest near other farm animals.  Next time you're here, perhaps during a guided or self-guided vineyard tour, keep your eyes peeled for swallow birdhouses built to keep the birds safe and give them a home to return to every year.

Swallows are also songbirds, and in maintaining balance it is believed that sound vibrations are important to vine health.  Italy has been piping opera out into their vines for many years, and the proof shows that vines closer to the music are the healthiest in the vineyard.  At 40 Knots, our version of this is offered not only to our vines but to our guests as well.  If you haven't yet had a chance to partake in one of our vineyard terrace Wine Wednesday events, better book now before reservations fill up!

40 Knots is just a stone’s throw away from the Salish Sea.  Because our land was created by a glacier,  our vines are reaching down through glacier till soil.  The rich salt air flows through our vines keeping them aerated, healthy and strong, and the salt air imbeds our oak providing beautiful aging that cannot be accomplished in dry wine regions.  While walking the interpretive trail or sipping on our vineyard terrace or balcony overlooking the vineyard, you can hear the swallows singing alongside the sea lion’s barking at the arrival of the new day.

Swallows are an important friend of sailors and are believed to be a good omen.  Sailors will often get a swallow tattoo to show off their sailing experience.  According to one legend, one swallow symbolizes successful journeys adding up to 5,000 nautical miles, two swallows symbolize 10,000 nautical miles and so on.  Another legend is that since swallows always return to the same land each year to mate and nest, the swallow will guarantee the sailor returns home safely.  Sailors also believe that if they were to drown, the swallow will carry their soul to heaven. 

40 Knots believes that all of us have the right to love and be loved.  This is showcased with our gold medal winning Soleil Rose  French Traditional style.  The label, "Love is Love", supports the LGBTQ2 community.  We believe that all are equal and we share the responsibility to support this belief.  Even our swallows live with a similar motto.  The female and male swallow not only look almost identical, but they also share in responsibilities of the daily chores and protecting their family.   Once they mate, they mate for life.  This is another quality we give great importance to.  We practice loyalty to our community, our family, our friends, and our environment. 

Awaiting our much-loved swallows, budburst in the near future and the days lasting a little bit longer, you better believe that we're dusting off that patio set!  Come visit us Tuesday through Sunday between the hours of 11 am and 5 pm for a tasting, a glass (or bottle!) and a picnic.

#See you soon in our Vineyard Terrace!

Biodynamic Farming

-Marmalade is a big word

Marmalade is a big word.  So is sustainability, biodynamic and lutte raisonnee to mention a few.  The environmentally friendly wine scene abounds with all kinds of words.  It is not easy to know what the terms mean, and sometimes they are carelessly bandied about by producers, consumers and reviewers alike.  But alas, there are control agencies monitoring compliance with a diversity of rules.   The most talked about is biodynamic, and 40 Knots Vineyard and Estate Winery is excited to be working towards certification.  In fact, we have been since the owners purchased the property in 2014.   And in fact, it was how their grandparents always farmed before there was a name for it.

So what is biodynamic?  Basically, it is quite straightforward... just as marmalade is another word for jam... biodynamic is respect for the environment.  It means using products which are not harmful to humans, flora, and fauna.  It is about a hands-off approach to farming and allowing Mother Nature to do her thing, and for us, to learn how to work in harmony with her.  

At 40 Knots, all of our crew works with Mother Nature in mind.  Each has a deep respect for the vineyard and every task they do. And one doesn't have to go far on Vancouver Island to find like-minded farmers and customers.  In fact, it is well recognized how forward thinking our community is, and their deep care for this land.  It is a big reason why the owners chose this area to farm.  When 40 Knots won the 2018 Comox Chamber Award for Sustainability, it was indeed recognized that we could not have done this without you.  Check out our video below of Layne giving the "Marmalade" speech.   

So what is everyone else doing?  Trends are showing that in France, organic wine producing acreages went up 39% in two years, and as of 2012, 8% of wine growing acreage was biodynamic or organic.  But is it possible, to ever get the land back to how Mother Nature intended?  Some say that it will be for the New World wines such as ours.  However, some say that some European vineyards that copiously used lead and arsenic (arseniate de plomb in French) as an insecticide during the twentieth century are beyond repair.  As is the high lead content in soils in Bordeaux that may be due to lead arsenate.

Great wines are not made in the tank and the barrel. Great wines come from the vineyard.

So, what about all the fluffy, weird burying of horns and following the moon?  It may sound like some sort of witchcraft and some may balk at the idea that moons can have any effect.  Well then, we call upon all you non-believers to take the:

Lunar Challenge

Following a lunar calendar is not only the main direction for biodynamic farming, but it can actually help your wine taste better! Have you ever wondered why one day your favorite bottle of wine can taste glorious whereas other days not so much?  Studies have proven that the moon can affect the way wine tastes.   Following this calendar states that there are root days, fruit days, flower days and leaf days. 

There are lots of references to this on the internet, and at 40 Knot's we all love Wine Folly.  Check out their link to the Wine Lunar Calendar:  https://winefolly.com/update/biodynamic-calendar-fruit-day-wine-tasting/

 

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Fruit Days: The best day for drinking your favorite bottle of 40 Knots wine!

Root Days: Good days for plant development.  Wine flavors not at their best

Flower Days: Good days for tending to your flowers and drinking your floral wines such as Ziggy

Leaf Days: good days to prune back your vine’s, don't break out the expensive bottle of wine...

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We want to hear back from you after you have completed the Lunar Challenge.  Let us know what wines were most affected by the moon, and which wines you think are best left for Root and Leaf days.  Leave a comment below, and I will be excited to learn alongside you as we discover together.

Want to connect with our little slice of Mother Nature’s heaven?  I will be guiding guests through a vineyard tour where you can sip the wine among the vines that created them.  Book for yourself and your loved ones!  Offered throughout the Spring and Summer on selected dates and times.

40 Knots grows and crafts high quality, ethical, clean wines that are distinct to Vancouver Island.

 

  

What Wine are YOU Drinking?

What's in 40 Knots Wine:

This entry is dedicated to learning about what it is that we're drinking when we pick up that delicious glass of vino.  Wondering what is specifically in 40 Knot's wine?  Read on!

What's NOT in 40 Knot wine?  No chemical or unnatural preservatives are used.  No added flavoring is used.  Our wines are vegan and gluten-free.  We achieve our GOLD for our efforts.  And we often have customers come to us, surprised, and say they can drink wine again with no adverse effect.  

Wine-making methods:  First and foremost, there are conventional methods.  Sulfites, eggs, milk, and fish are sometimes found in the conventional process of winemaking.  Although by law these additions must be stated on the label, this is not always the case, so if this is important to you, read the label or ask the winery.  The next level is the certification of organic.  It costs a lot of money to get certified and it doesn't always guarantee that what you're drinking is 100% preservative free or that the methods are good for the environment.  Us at 40 Knots?  Well, we're above organic standards.  The term biodynamic has come up a lot over the last couple of years, and while we're working towards fully achieving this certification, you can always rest assure that what you're drinking out of our 40 Knots Cellar is clean, natural, and rooted in our cool climate to give you fruit forward juicy and elegant wines.

What's found in All Wine:

Now let’s take a look at a broader scope and discuss the components found in all wine all over the world.

The number one ingredient found is actually water.  No, water is not added, this is the natural "water" found in the grape.  Around 75% of wine in fact. Shocking, right? Following this is alcohol, typically ranging anywhere between 8-16%. Doesn’t leave much left. But this is where it gets interesting.  

Traditional wine is always made out of a few strains of winemaking grapes. Vitis-vinifera is the most common type used. So when people say they taste blackberries, cherries, or spices- this doesn’t normally mean that those flavors have been added. Although some producers do sneak flavoring into wine, 40 Knots does not.  Each grape varietal brings out different characteristics, depending on soil and climate. The only other way that different kind of fruits would be used, would be where the producer would state that what they carry is a “fruit wine” or country wine, as they define it in Europe. So rest easy, you are always drinking juices from grapes that have been affected by a fermentation process! 

So moving on, let’s look at what makes up the rest of that 5-10%. 

Acids - this is naturally derived from the grape skins. White wines will typically have more acids than reds. There is also a small amount of amino acid found. Volatile acidity, mostly acetic acid, is what would give the wine its vinegar taste if gone bad. 

Acetaldehyde - this is a volatile compound that is created when a wine starts to slightly oxidize.  It sometimes gives off aromas of yellow apple.  Some winemakers purposely oxidize before bottling if they are looking for a result of these flavors, but mostly only found with very old wines.

Glycerol - this is a sugar alcohol that is not technically sugar and gives wines their sweetness. Sugar is also found when the grapes don’t ferment all the way, leaving the wine with residual sugar, or RS for short. Dry wines will have less, typically 0-8 g/liter, off-dry will typically have 8-15 g/liter, and sweet wines will have 20+g/liter.

Higher Alcohol - these are found in very small amounts and will help aid in the wine's primary aromas.

Minerals - calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. Get your daily dose by drinking some wine!

Esters and Phenols - these are compounds that give off aromas of a wine.  

Sulfites - this is a naturally occurring preservative of all fruit (easily seen as the white on blueberry skins), and something of a conversation piece.  Levels of sulfites range in a wine, but they all have it.  Most have an addition of sulfites to help preserve it, especially if being shipped from other countries, or if it is a big commercial winery, or if the wine is packaged in a lesser stable container like tetra boxes or boxes with spouts.  Even VQA wines are allowed to have large volumes of sulfites added.  People claim that sulfites are what create headaches, this is up for debate.  Some people say its the histamines.  Varying countries have different histamines and the person's reaction might come from certain parts of the world and not others.  If an Australian wine gives you a headache, try Italian.   Easier yet, if you get a headache from wine, perhaps it's simply dehydration!  Best using the one to one method.  One glass of wine, one glass of water etc.

Antioxidants and healing properties?  Just google "is wine good for you", and you will come up with many, many claims that it is.  Articles say that a daily glass of wine can help with brain function, heart function, ovary function, blood clots, stress, and the list goes on.   Hmmmm... is that why it is common to cheer "here's to your health"?!

And so we took this to the road!  Spreading the love most recently at the Hopscotch Festival in Vancouver.  Soleil Rose - Love is Love (supporting the LGBTQ community) was a major hit!

40 Knots grows and crafts high quality, ethical, clean wines that are distinct to Vancouver Island.

The Vintage Transition

 

WINE, WIND AND SEA

Gentle hand-harvesting for our new vintage has been completed by our local harvesters.  Our crew was the best.  They worked long hard days and we sincerely thank them for their dedication, getting our grapes off at the perfect time.

We thank Yasir for his guidance as we work towards biodynamic certification.  Our grapes are very healthy with no disease and our highest yield to date.  They required very little irrigation and little food.  No synthetics were used and the grapes are above organic standards.  Leaves are now falling off the vines in preparation for a 5 month dormancy period.

Into the cellar, the grapes go, and this is where we reap the rewards from biodynamic farming.  The grapes go to work making the wine, with little to no intervention from us.  Fermentation is slowed with temperature control which results in every vintage showcasing fruit forward and natural flavors. 

Whites will continue to ferment anywhere from two weeks to three months, leaving on their lees for a creamy body.  Lees is life, this is where the profile, taste, mouthfeel, and structure come from.  We expect to bottle as early as February, however, each wine will finish on their own time, and it will take a studious eye and palate to know when they finish.  

Reds are fermenting on their skins and pips.  Reds take a shorter period for the first fermentation and ferment at a higher temperature.  Through each vintage, we continue to move our wine from resting on skins and pips, into Amphora and Burgundy oak.  Now we wait while the wine matures, and watch for the second fermentation, known as malolactic fermentation.

“My goal is to have all our wine aging in Amphora”. Layne Craig, owner. Stainless steel aging is airtight and imparts zero flavor. Oak aging imparts just that- oak flavor. Amphora, however, allows that slight oxidation to soften wines and add complexity.  

 REPURPOSE TO VINO-CARE - Vino Therapy Skin Care:  Grape skins and stems, full of anti-oxidants, will be saved for use in our Vinocare skincare line. As we once again receive GOLD in Green Tourism Green Step, an international program, reusing these nutrient-packed bi-products of wine is a no-brainer for reducing our footprint. Partnered with Michelle from Royston Soap works, we have a full line of products that provide anti-aging and gentle skin healing for all skin types.  My personal favorite picks for these upcoming cold winter months:

Halo Blu body scrub: made of granulated sugar- a powerful exfoliator that polishes and cleanses away dead skin cells, leaving the skin super silky smooth and incredibly (seriously) nourished

Ruby Moon facial soap: this natural cream soap is a detoxifier that provides hydration while helping improving skin texture.  It contains lactic acid which has anti-aging components.  This stuff leaves your skin feeling slightly tingly and incredibly refreshed!

Halo Blu body lotion: I totally love the smell of this one. Like the Halo Blu body scrub, its fresh ocean breeze aroma is super pleasant and long-lasting. The lotion is light and doesn’t leave a thick creamy residue on your palms.

Looking for an early Christmas present for your loved one?  Check out our beautiful birchwood cases holding the entire line.  Choose your favorite scent: Kadence Rose or Halo Lily Blu.

Want an evening of Class?  Wine Class?  Looking for something fun to do in these dreary winter months?  Book us for Wine School!  We offer beginner to intermediate and specialty classes such as food pairing and proper wine service.  

Want to Party?  Or just get out of the office?  Stall Speed Lounge rents out for business meetings, Christmas Parties, Birthday parties, and any other reason you may find for a reason to get your crew together.  info@40knotswinery.com

Next Blog:  What is in wine?

 

 

Cool Climate Wines

What are Cool Climate Wines?

 Vancouver Island is considered a cool climate in which 40 Knots   Vineyard & Estate Winery produces cool climate wines. The type   of grapes that we have in our Vineyard are Chardonnay,   Auxxerois, Siegerrebe, Pinot Gris, Gamay Noir and Pinot Noir.  We also crop share 10 acres of Epicure and Petit Millot.  Each type of varietal thrives in our vineyards. The cool climate helps us   to produce wines of finesse, juiciness, and elegance.

  Grapes that are grown in the world’s warmer regions ripen   quickly and make for sweet, big wines that are low in acid and   high in alcohol. Grapes that are grown in cooler regions such as   ours will ripen and accumulate their flavor slowly (think of it as   marinating a juicy meat for quite some time). The wines tend to   be complex and balanced, with higher acidity and more mineral   flavors making them very much food-friendly wines. With the   abundance of fresh locally grown food and seafood here, 40 Knots wines pair beautifully with Vancouver Islands cuisine. 

Though we feel blessed with the effects of our cool climate it can also put us on edge we have to monitor the weather, pH and brix daily so that we can pick the best quality grapes, which may cause us to lose quantity.   The winter frost won't damage them and spring and summer rainfall won't dampen the flavors? Layne has learned to work with the climate to bring you the freshest, tastiest most complex wines. 

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