Taiwan’s shining star in the wine world—Come taste at Vancouver’s largest winery!

Text & Photos /Dad Seahorse

When it comes to wineries in the Greater Vancouver area, none are as well-known or as large-scale as LuLu Island Winery. Through a wine-tasting tour, Dad Seahorse finally got a glimpse of this winery located in the suburbs of Richmond and chatted with the owner, Mr. Zhang Zhongnan, sharing the fruits of this Taiwanese man’s hard work in a foreign land.

The name of LuLu Island Winery is derived from Richmond’s former name. Covering an area of 25,000 square feet, this leisure and sightseeing winery was completed in 2007 and primarily produces red and white wines, ice wines, as well as fruit wines made from blueberries, raspberries, and other fruits. The grapes used in the winemaking process come partly from vineyards near the winery, but the majority are sourced from the Okanagan Valley, known as the “Napa of the North” and renowned as British Columbia’s wine country. The fruits used for fruit wines are grown in the Fraser Valley, about a two-hour drive away.

After parking in the winery’s spacious lot, the first thing you see is a green grapevine tunnel. “In the summer, small wine-tasting concerts are often held here, and it’s also a popular spot for wedding photos!” explained Leo, the winery guide, with a smile. He then pointed to the nearby bountiful vineyard—rows of grapevines, pruned neatly to waist height to control growth, with clusters of grapes hanging at an easily reachable level for picking. Many roses are planted around the vineyard, serving as natural indicators of soil health; their delicate nature helps detect pests or changes in soil quality, acting as guardians of the vineyard’s soil.

Following the guide, we visited the outdoor washing and juicing equipment, then entered the heart of the winery: the fermentation area. Two-story-high stainless steel fermentation tanks gleamed under the lights, modern tools essential for wine fermentation. Once grape juice enters these tanks, yeast addition and temperature regulation are precisely controlled by computer to ensure fermentation quality. One advantage of stainless steel tanks over traditional wooden ones is ease of cleaning: after being rinsed with hot water, stainless tanks dry and are disinfected within three days, eliminating the lengthy drying time and risk of spoilage due to incomplete drying in wooden barrels.

Once fermentation is complete, the wine is transferred into oak barrels to mature, allowing the liquid to interact with the wood, softening tannins, enhancing flavor, and adding oak notes.

LuLu Island Winery has two main tasting rooms, which also serve as sales areas. The other, a VIP tasting room that accommodates only about 40 people, has a unique style. In addition to wooden carvings on the walls depicting vineyard scenes and harvesting processes, the entire room is built from reclaimed oak barrels, creating a beautiful, natural, and fresh atmosphere. Sitting here and sipping wine gives the illusion of drinking from inside an oak barrel.

● ET News Cloud reminds you: Don’t drink and drive, don’t drive if you’ve been drinking.

After seeing the winemaking process, it’s time for the wine tasting. The winery offers its proud red and white ice wines—these are not easy to produce, with only Canada, Germany, and Austria capable of making them. From fruit harvesting to the brewing process, strict controls are enforced to earn the ICEWINE label, making these wines significantly more valuable than regular ones.

LuLu Island Winery is well-renowned not only because its wines have won various international competitions (Gold at the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, First Prize at the All Canadian Wine Championships), but also because its owner, Mr. Zhang Zhongnan (John Chang), is a legend himself.

Mr. Zhang may not be a smooth talker, but his calm, confident tone reveals a determined personality and an unwavering resolve for success.

At the age of 44, he closed his business in Taiwan and emigrated to Canada with his family. Optimistic about the wine markets in Canada and Asia, to everyone’s surprise, he dove headfirst into the wine industry. From a complete outsider who couldn’t even distinguish grape varieties, he became a professional winemaker, owning two vast vineyards, and earning recognition from officials at all three levels of the Canadian government. Before achieving stability, reputation, and continued expansion (with two new wineries set to open in Ontario in 2016), Mr. Zhang faced 24 consecutive months of losses, betrayal by foreign winemakers, and construction setbacks. Yet, his journey—fraught with hardship and perseverance—is summed up in his gentle yet firm gaze.

The ice wines from LuLu Island Winery are sweet upon entry, while the blueberry wines burst with fruity aroma—flavors born of a Taiwanese’s trials and tribulations abroad, harvested through sweat and perseverance.

● ET News Cloud reminds you: Don’t drink and drive, don’t drive if you’ve been drinking.

Related Information
LuLu Island Winery
Address: 16880 Westminster Hwy, Richmond V6V 1A8,BC Canada
Website: http://luluislandwinery.com/

Dad Seahorse
A Gemini man born under the air sign. Before turning 45, he was a senior marketing and PR executive at a multinational corporation; after 45, he moved to Canada. Alongside his teenage sons, he plays the role of a father amidst foreign springs of cherry blossoms, summers of sun, autumns of maple, and winters of rain and snow, while documenting life in Vancouver.

Blog:Vancouver Laughs – my.van.lifeFacebook Page:Dad Seahorse’s Vancouver Diary

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