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Wines of Canada

Since 1992

John Schreiner

John Schreiner is Canada's most prolific writer of books on wine. Since his first book in 1984, The World of Canadian Wine, he has written 19, including multiple editions of The Wineries of British Columbia, British Columbia Wine Country and John Schreiner's Okanagan Wine Tour Guide

 

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He is the author of Icewine: The Complete Story

His passion for wine has caused John Schreiner to lead a double life as a writer.

Born in Saskatchewan in 1936, he graduated in English from the University of Saskatchewan in 1958. He immediately began his career as a journalist with the Regina Leader Post. In 1961, he joined The Financial Post, leading to a 40-year career as a business writer until he retired in 2001. He took over the newspaper’s Vancouver bureau in 1973 and reported widely from Western Canada and Asia.
In 1996 he won a Jack Webster Award for business, industry and economic writing.
 
He has written two business books, a textbook (out of print) on the Canadian transportation system and The Refiners, the 100th anniversary history of BC Sugar. The book, published by Douglas & McIntyre, was runner up in the 1989 National Business Books Awards.

Since 1974, he has cultivated a parallel career as a wine writer, starting with regular columns in The Financial Post and Vancouver Magazine.

He began writing wine books in 1984 with The World of Canadian Wines, published by Douglas & McIntyre. 

Since 1994, three editions of The Wineries of British Columbia have been published. His other books include:

The British Columbia Wine Companion, a compendium of essays, history and biography, was published in 1996.

Chardonnay and Friends, about varietal wines in British Columbia, was published in 1998.

Icewine: The Complete Story, the first comprehensive international book on this dessert wine, was published in November 2001 and was judged “best book on wine history” in English that year in the World Gourmand cookbook and wine book competition.

CedarCreek Wine Journal was published early in 2003.  

British Columbia Wine Country, of which more than 10,000 copies have been sold, was published in March 2003 by Whitecap. It won a World Gourmand award for photography, a gold medal in the 2004 Vancouver Magazine Awards, and two silver medals in the 2004 Cuisine Canada competition. A completely revised second edition, with information on 175 producers, was published in April, 2007.

The Wines of Canada was published in May, 2005, by Mitchell Beazley Publishers of London; an updated paperback edition was released in October 2006 by Whitecap. This book is a comprehensive discussion of all of Canada’s wine regions, with profiles of about 300 producers, including fruit wineries and meaderies.

His most popular book is John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide. The first edition was published in 2006. The fifth edition, double the size of the first, was published in the summer of 2014. He is currently working on the sixth edition, to be published in 2020.

A companion volume, John Schreiner’s Coastal BC Wineries Tour Guide, was released in April, 2011.

His latest book – Icon, on iconic and collectible wines of British Columbia – was  published in May, 2017. In the World Gourmand awards, it was acclaimed the best Canadian wine book of 2017.

In 2002, the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society presented Schreiner with its Founders Award, an award given annually since 1984 to recognize contributions to the British Columbia wine industry. In 2009, the Vancouver International Wine Festival gave him its Spirited Industry Professional Award. He is a past chair of the Festival’s selection committee. In 2014 he was inducted into the B.C. Restaurant Association Hall of Fame as a friend of the industry.

His writing has been honoured by both national and regional wine industry groups. In 2015 the Canadian Vintners Association gave him its Canadian Wine Industry Champion award. In 2016 the British Columbia Wine Institute gave him its Industry Recognition Award.
 
A member of numerous wine societies and an award-winning home vintner, Schreiner has toured wineries in virtually all of the world’s major wine regions. He is a 1984 graduate of the German Wine Academy and has judged in wine competitions in Canada and abroad. His articles on wine have appeared in many wine consumer publications. Currently, he has a wine column in West Coast Homes & Design. He is a prolific blogger at http://johnschreiner.blogspot.ca.

  

One of John's previous books, British Columbia Wine Country , won a World Gourmand award for photography, a gold medal in the 2004 Vancouver Magazine Awards, and two silver medals in the 2004 Cuisine Canada competition. A member of numerous wine societies and an award-winning home vintner, Schreiner has toured wineries in virtually all of the world's major wine regions. He is a graduate of the German Wine Academy and has judged in wine competitions in Canada and abroad. He is the former chair of the selection committee of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

His articles on wine appear in Wine Access, in Savour magazine, on PlanitBC.com, in several community papers and on his blog, http://johnschreiner.blogspot.com. He also has a weekly wine commentary on CKNW radio in Vancouver.

Winner 2009, VPIWF, Spirited Industry Professional the award annually honours an individual who has made a significant contribution to the sales, service or promotion of wine in British Columbia.

I enjoy being around
wine people, who are among the most colourful and creative people
I know. I like what they produce, and derive added pleasure from the
wines because I have come to know many producers intimately. I tell
their stories in this book in the conviction that you will also get more
from the wines if you know the backstories. - John Schreiner

John Skinner ~ Painted Rock Estate winery deciding what grapes to plant when he purchased his property wrote :

After exploring many options I was constantly reminded of a comment John Schreiner made to me when he first learned that I bought the “Blackhawk”, “Are you planting Syrah?” he asked, “I think it may be the grape of the Okanagan”. I don’t think anyone knows the wineries of the Okanagan better than John and my taking him up on his suggestion honours the fact that not only did I trust his opinion, I knew that other wineries would share their successes and enthusiasm with him and he would indeed have an inside track

"John Schreiner jokes that he’s to blame for the B.C. wine industry getting ahead of itself as he serves notice of the province’s products." Chris Steinberg /Globe and Mail

If you have not read his books go back and do so. His 18 books tell us this story "It’s telling of how quickly the British Columbia wine industry has evolved. How dynamic it’s become. It’s moved from utter and complete mediocrity in the early eighties to producing world-class wines," says Schreiner.

Over the years John has been a great support of this website and has provided numerous pieces of information and updates. We thank John for his friendship and kind support.

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