{"id":2058,"date":"2015-04-28T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T21:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2015-05-03T15:05:54","modified_gmt":"2015-05-03T22:05:54","slug":"go-to-chaberton-estate-in-langley-bc-for-excellent-food-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=2058","title":{"rendered":"Go to Chaberton Estate in Langley, BC for Excellent Food and Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had a great experience somewhere, only to return years later and find that things just weren\u2019t the same?<\/p>\n

I remember having an excellent visit at Chaberton Estate Winery<\/strong> three years ago, and not wanting to get my hopes up too much, set the bar a bit lower for my return earlier this month. After all, it couldn\u2019t get much better than that first experience, could it?<\/p>\n

Oh yes it could. In fact, it was exceptional.<\/p>\n

General Manager Brian Ensor took me through a tour and tasting at the winery\u2019s Langley, British Columbia facility that concluded with a first-class dinner and very reasonably priced wines that should have Whatcom County residents lining up for reservations.<\/p>\n

But before I get too far, let\u2019s start with the grapes.<\/p>\n

Chaberton Estate is home to about 50 acres of estate grown grapes in its cooler climate, Fraser Valley location. The bacchus grape is responsible for about one-third of the total plantings and Ensor feels that the wines it yields are among Chaberton\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

The winery also produces wines from a number of warm-weather varietals, such as Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, which are sourced from the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in Eastern British Columbia.<\/p>\n

Together, they contribute to a sizable production totaling about 48,000 cases annually, making it the fourth largest winery in the province.<\/p>\n

After spending time in the tasting room and retail store, visitors can have lunch or dinner at the adjacent Bacchus Bistro, where Executive Chef Ashley Chisham provides a small but sumptuous menu designed to complement a wine list that consists almost exclusively of Chaberton wines.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a small sample of some of the wines I tasted during my most recent visit. Note that all prices are in Canadian dollars at the tasting room, excluding taxes:<\/p>\n

\"null\"2013 Reserve Bacchus <\/strong>($15) \u2013 This lovely white wine displays stone fruit and white flower aromatics, generous flavors of peach, tangerine and citrus, and a spicy\/semi-sweet finish. The 2013 Reserve Dry Bacchus<\/strong> ($15) replaces the sweetness with refreshing, laser-sharp acidity that is absolutely astounding.<\/p>\n

2011 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon<\/strong> ($21) \u2013 Dark berry and plum flavors predominate, with touches of toasted oak and cocoa powder on the slightly textured finish. Try it with the restaurant\u2019s signature dish, beef bourguignon.<\/p>\n

2012 Reserve Meritage <\/strong>($24) \u2013 This blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc is big on black cherry and currant aromas and flavors that extend into a surprisingly soft finish.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Chaberton Estate Winery and Bacchus Bistro are easily accessible via either the Blaine\/SR-543 or Lynden\/Aldergrove crossings and only about an hour\u2019s drive, plus border wait times, from Bellingham.<\/p>\n

For a complete list of the winery\u2019s current releases, along with hours, directions, and restaurant information, go to chabertonwinery.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had a great experience somewhere, only to return years later and find that things just weren\u2019t the same? I remember having an excellent visit at Chaberton Estate Winery three years ago, and not wanting to get my hopes up too much, set the bar a bit lower for my return earlier this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2063,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/2063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}