Karen’s Road Trip To Ruby Red Vino

My journey to Ruby Red Vino has been the best kind of road trip, complete with detours and unscheduled stops. Growing up on a farm in Dawson Creek made me appreciate the skill and hard work that go into putting food on the table, but the wine in the glasses was Calona red or white, poured from a giant bottle with a screw cap and handle. On festive occasions we would break out the Baby Duck ‘Canadian Champagne’, nothing says quality like a plastic ‘Champagne’ cork! Leaving the farm for the city, I started working in restaurants. I loved the bustle and excitement of lunch and dinner service and spent my days off going through food markets. Chinatown was a favourite; my pantry was stocked with a variety of dried fish and mushrooms, tofu sheets, shredded seaweed, a dried bat on a stick and lots of other crazy stuff. Those were my Mateus, Retsina and fiery raw Chianti years. Moving to the West coast, I had the luck to work with people who had a strong vision involving the ethics and sustainability of food, people to whom this wasn’t just a job, it was their identity- it was shock to realize that that was what my parents had been doing all along. Moving back to Calgary, I worked in a fine wine and spirit boutique for a decade, experimenting with food and wine pairings and trying to keep my palate within my price point.