Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
Low Attitude { SOMMjournal.com } 81 This past March 20–24, a dozen of our most inquisitive sommeliers bravely went where few members of the trade have gone before, exploring the sub-regions and cutting-edge winegrowing of Canada's British Columbia as part of The Somm Journal s SOMM Camp, co-sponsored by the British Columbia Wine Institute (winebc.com). How extreme is British Columbia? Put it this way: Only the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Champagne are as far north. As in the northernmost European climate zones, bodies of water are moderating factors. Okanagan Valley—where over 95% of B.C. wines are grown—is essentially a chain of lakes running 120 miles from north to south. Yet there is little homogeneity about the region. Marie Mertz, chef/owner/sommelier of Todo un Poco in Elk Grove, tells us, "Everything about the Okanagan is extreme—not just terroir and climate, which goes from very cool to unexpectedly hot, but also in respect to the people, whose transformation of their region within the space of a few years has been nothing short of a miracle." Somm Campers feeling Okanagan energy at Osoyoos Lake. OUR BRITISH COLUMBIA SOMM CAMP REVEALS SPECTACULAR WINEGROWING IN WESTERN CANADA CAMP [ ] [ ] High Latitude, Low Attitude story and photos by Randy Caparoso