Hired Belly’s Best Wines

SYL at TWB – OK? Provence Marinaside Unwraps a Smart New Wine Bar

January 17, 2013
Alessandra and Jean Francis Quaglia: smartly tapped into changing tastes with their sleek new TWB, Tim Pawsey photo

We’ve always felt Provence Marinaside is one of Vancouver’s more under-appreciated rooms—but that might just be about to change with the arrival of TWB, which stands for (drum roll) The Wine Bar—at Provence. (We’re a tad over initial names but TWB is AOK for now.) Owners Jean-Francis and Alessandra Quaglia have turned what used to [...]

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California Shines Again at 2013 Vancouver International Wine Festival

January 11, 2013
Robert and Margrit Mondavi

When I was looking for an image to run with this post (most of which appears in this weekend’s North Shore News), I input “Mondavi” into my Spotlight and the above is what popped up. In my mind, and I suspect for many others, California wine and Robert Mondavi will forever be inextricably linked. I [...]

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Sun Peaks Winter Wine Festival: The Skiing Senator, Snowshoes and Syrah

January 4, 2013
Sun-Peaks-Sundance-Lodge-Tim-Pawsey-photo-300x199

UPDATE: There are still a few tix to be had for this year’s Sun Peaks Winter Festival of Wine (January 12-20, 2013). Take a look at last year’s post and you’ll see it’s a lot of fun—particularly if you’re a skier or into any other winter sports. Sun Peaks is one of those ‘just right’ [...]

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Eight Perky Sparklers to Get You in the Holiday Mood

December 17, 2012

Thinking of buying some bubbles in the next few days? You’re not alone. By far the majority of Champagne quaffed during the year is consumed during the holidays—and the same goes for sparkling wine. Here in the swank surroundings of Hired Belly corporate HQ, while we relish the taste of Champagne as much as anyone, [...]

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Fighting Winter’s Ills with Pot au Feu at Vancouver’s Bistro Pastis

December 13, 2012

The Hired Belly is a push-over for hearty, winter dishes, such as the pot au feu at Bistro Pastis, (2153 West 4th Ave., 604-731-5020) which we more than did justice to last week, when the winter rains were sluicing through Vancouver; and flu was threatening to force us to the sidelines. We can’t say, for sure, [...]

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No Champagne Discounts Please: We’re Canadian!

December 7, 2012

It’s a question guaranteed to pop up at this time of year. Where can I buy Champagne, (as in true, French Champagne) for a song? The short answer is “You can’t.”  At least not here in BC. Want to buy Big C Champagne at sparkling wine prices? Your best bet is to move to the [...]

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In Vancouver’s Yaletown, this Pig is Still Flying High

November 30, 2012

One spot that’s an easy lure for lunch—particularly when it’s raining cats and dogs—is Yaletown’s The Flying Pig (1168 Hamilton St, 604-568-1344). There’s just something about this place, from its easy going ways and cosy room with a great buzz to the quality that comes out of the kitchen at very fair prices. They refer to [...]

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A Visit to Emiliana Vineyards: the Heart of Chile’s Organic Wine Movement

November 14, 2012

Last week’s column for the North Shore News was a quick recap of our visit to Emiliana Los Robles Organic Biodynamic Vineyards. It was one of the more impressive but—more to the point— profound experiences of my week in Chile. I still find it quite remarkable that a company of this size took the giant [...]

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BC Sparkling Meets French Champagne—But It’s Not a Battle of the Bubbles

November 3, 2012

Champagne and sparkling wine producers enjoy a well earned rep for coming up with some pretty clever promos. We can certainly attest to that … However, we were still intrigued, a few weeks back, when Summerhill’s Ezra Cipes invited us to taste his 1998 vintage Ariel Brut beside nothing less than non-vintage—or more correctly multi-vintage—Krug [...]

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Argentina: Value and Variety at Every Tier… Taking Malbec to the Next Level

October 31, 2012

With the apparently unstoppable success of Malbec, Argentina is in the enviable position of having almost too big a hit on its hands. Almost, but not quite. In ‘value-priced’ entry wines, Malbec’s fruit-forward, very approachable style often as not over delivers for the dollar. And, not surprisingly, continues to be an unqualified hit with consumers. [...]

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