Words Richard Hope
A few years back in a London market in the U.K., I encountered a kombucha evangelist who was convinced his fizzy tea could cure a child’s Type 1 diabetes. While I admired his enthusiasm for fermentation, I was a little concerned he’d been sampling a little too much of his own product.
Humans have been getting excited about the magical transformation of sugar into alcohol for millennia, though thankfully most of us have learned to keep our claims a bit more grounded than promising miracle cures. While that London kombucha seller was making wild health claims, British Columbia’s producers are quietly revolutionizing what fermentation can achieve.
Locally-made natural wines are big business here on Vancouver Island. In Victoria, there are now several venues selling a selection of natural wines – wines made using traditional techniques, with no pesticides or herbicides and limited filtration. Venues like Tourist, RabbitRabbit and L’Apero showcase many of our great local wines.
Back on the mainland, innovators are making Pétillant naturel wines, commonly known as Pet-Nats. Unlike Champagne, where a secondary fermentation creates bubbles in the bottle, Pet-Nats capture the bubbles from the primary fermentation, resulting in wines that are lighter, softer, and usually a bit hazy from the yeast left in the bottle – with a gentle effervescence that dances on your tongue rather than demanding attention.
Back here on Vancouver Island, Coastal Black Estate Winery has been experimenting with mead, bringing ancient traditions into conversation with Island terroir. Mead is humanity’s oldest alcoholic beverage, created by mixing honey with water and flavouring with spices before fermentation. Archaeological evidence stretches back over several thousand years, making mead a common drink throughout human history.
Here on Vancouver Island, Coastal Black has created a blueberry mead that represents a perfect marriage of traditional techniques and Island ingredients. Their melomel – the technical term for fruit-enhanced mead – delivers honey’s ancient sweetness balanced by the bright tartness of local blueberries, creating a wine that tastes like summer afternoons and connects us directly to humanity’s oldest alcoholic tradition. You can sample this remarkable beverage at their tasting room, where the honey’s floral notes give way to the burst of Island blueberries on your palate.
Similarly, The Victoria Cider Company demonstrates how innovation builds on tradition with their remarkable Cyser. This sophisticated blend of cider, quince and wildflower honey undergoes two years of barrel aging, creating a complex beverage that opens with apple’s familiar comfort before revealing layers of quince’s exotic perfume and honey’s deep sweetness. It pairs beautifully with aged cheeses and represents the pinnacle of local cider craft. You can find their Cyser at select Victoria restaurants and their Saanich tasting room, where the extended aging process creates a drink worthy of special occasions.
Beyond Vancouver Island, producers like Maan Farms in the Fraser Valley are pushing boundaries further, creating exceptional beverages from raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, using an impressive two pounds of fruit per bottle to achieve intense, concentrated flavours. This dedication to fruit-forward fermentation echoes the connection between fruit and wine in B.C. that runs deep through our provincial heritage.
From the honey-kissed meads of Comox to the fruit-forward ciders of Victoria, Vancouver Island offers a remarkable journey through fermentation’s possibilities. But our province’s fermentation story extends well beyond the Island. British Columbia has established some of the world’s strictest standards for craft distilleries, requiring 100% B.C. agricultural inputs and on-site fermentation, creating a new generation of spirits that truly reflect our terroir.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Maan Farms: Raspberry Table
While Vancouver Island boasts an impressive array of fermentation artisans, sometimes exceptional craft demands a journey across the water. Maan Farms in the Fraser Valley has earned recognition for their award-winning raspberry wine that sets the gold standard for fruit-forward fermentation in B.C.
Victoria Cider Company: Cyser
At 12% ABV, this isn’t your typical cider – it’s a rich, refreshing sipper that deserves to be savoured slowly. The collaboration with Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery brings together two of the Island’s most respected fermentation artisans, creating a beverage that showcases the best of both traditions.
Coastal Black Estate: Blueberry Mead
Experience humanity’s oldest alcoholic tradition with a distinctly Vancouver Island twist at Coastal Black Estate’s Blueberry Mead. This delicious melomel (fruit-infused honey wine) showcases the perfect marriage of traditional mead-making techniques with local ingredients, allowing both the bright berry flavours and floral honey notes to shine through on the palate.
