Stir Pairing: Mother’s Day 2023
The annual Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour meets three B.C. wines
Lynn Mather.
Each week, Stir Pairing suggests locally available food and/or drink to go with a local arts event.
The event
Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour, May 13 and 14 from 10 am to 4 pm at various venues
The drink
Okanagan Crush Pad’s Free Form 2019 Vin Gris; Poplar Grove Winery’s low-alcohol Rosé Nouveau 2022; Sandhill Wines' 2022 Small Lots Sangiovese Rosé
Brigitta Schneiter.
The lowdown
With a gorgeous weekend in store to celebrate Mother’s Day, it’s time for a day trip.
The 2023 edition of the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour is the largest in the event’s history, with more than 100 artists at 31 locations in rural and urban settings. There are also stops at the modern and spacious Albion Community Centre in Maple Ridge, where 10 artists will be working away, and Pitt Meadows’ historic Heritage Hall, where two groups of artists will be on-site.
Deb Carr.
The free family cultural event gives people the chance to meet artists in their own studios, see demos and works in progress, and purchase artworks directly from the people who created them.
Pottery, jewellery, sculpture, textiles, photography, painting, woodwork, furniture, and stained glass are some of the mediums on offer.
Check the website for an interactive map and an introduction to all of the artists so you can plan your self-guided art adventure.
The pairing
Local art and local wine make for a perfect pairing. Here are a few B.C. suggestions for the latter, whether your mom likes something a little out of the ordinary, a pretty-in-pink wine, or a low-alcohol version of a sunshiny rosé.
Okanagan Crush Pad’s Free Form line reflects the Summerland family-run winery’s pursuit of “wines of place”, meaning each vintage is one-of-a-kind. They’re inspired by the winery’s surroundings: low hills and oblong lakes formed by glacial activity thousands of years ago, a rain shadow resulting from two mountain chains;' and a hot, desert-like, dry climate. Made from organic grapes and native yeast, the wines are free of additives and left to find their own course under the eye of winemaker Matt Dumayne, then fermented in concrete tanks or clay amphorae. Look for Vancouver artist Scott Sueme’s labels, each with a small fingerprint pattern to represent the winery’s low-impact farming methods, printed on a type of paper made from stone—no trees or water are used in the production process. The proprietor of Okanagan Crush Pad, Christine Coletta, is widely considered the godmother of B.C. wine, a key player in the industry since 1990. Wines in the Free Form portfolio include Cabernet Franc Rosé, Blanc de Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Riesling. The 2019 Vin Gris is a standout, organic and vegan, made of 100 percent Pinot Noir grapes with savoury, herbal notes that Provence chef Jean-Francis Quaglia and sommelier Josh Carlson pair with frogs’ legs with pomme pureé, garlic, parsley, and espelette pepper.
Sandhill Wines’ 2022 Small Lots Sangiovese Rosé is a delicate, dry Rosato Italian style rosé made from 100-percent hand-harvested Sangiovese grapes. A light coppery pink with a summery fragrance of cherry, peach, and roses, the medium-bodied dry rosé has flavours of delicate red berries and pear. Pair it with a picnic antipasto platter or a bufala mozzarella and tomato salad. What makes this an especially good fit for Mother’s Day is that the winery has a new winemaker: Sydney Valentino has more than 10 years of experience in the field, including roles at Cooper Moon, Peller Family Vineyards, and Wayne Gretzky Okanagan. She majored in chemistry and completing a bachelor of science at UBC; her plan to become a high-school math and science teacher turned into a love for the wine industry after a summer spent working in the tasting room at Calona Winery. When she isn’t making wine, she’s spending time with her two kids.
Penticton’s Poplar Grove Winery has just launched Rosé Nouveau 2022, a new low-alcohol, low-calorie rosé. Low-alcohol wines are only becoming more and more popular due in part to health trends and demographic shifts. This deep-pink pour is eight percent ABV (and has 85 calories per five-ounce glass). It’s made of a blend of hand-picked and estate-sorted Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. Bursting with the scent of peach and strawberry, the bright and well-balanced wine has flavours of watermelon and red fruit. Pair it with grilled seafood and olive-oil-based pasta or salads. Poplar Grove also makes Rosé 2022 (12.5 percent), perfect with a blueberry-adorned summer salad, and the single-vineyard Lakeview Rosé 2022 (12.5 percent), with notes of white cherry, strawberry, and watermelon.
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