Sparkling wine time is here. And I’m late to the party. My apologies. We’re a tad backed up here in the executive suite at Hired Belly HQ. Plus most of the staff has been down with the flu... Sparkling has evolved. These days—from Cava to Sekt, Prosecco, Crémant (and, yes, Champagne) you can pretty well [...]
Judgment: The process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing. (Merriam-Webster) How do BC wines stack up beside the rest of the world? It’s a question we used hear a lot, though, nowadays not so much. That BC wine has come of age is old news (at least to Canadians). After all, [...]
Sea Star Rising A handful of wineries has sprung up on BC’s Gulf Islands over the last few years. Yet, none have impressed as much as Sea Star Estate Farm & Vineyards. The picturesque winery is perched on a bluff on North Pender Island (between Vancouver and Victoria). Its vines seem to march right down [...]
Updated: September 7, 2019: Dames Brut 2017 This is the first Dames sparkler ... and, as it turns out, the last of the Les Dames wines, the successful fund raising project launched by Mireille Sauvé in 2015. Here’s her tasting note: “Fine bubbles introduce this Traditional Method Extra Brut sparkling wine. A bread-dough aroma allures with [...]
The just concluded BC Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Excellence in BC Wines is surely one of the most unique competitions anywhere. I'm not aware of any other judging that starts out with over 500 wines from 132 wineries and manages to single out a mere dozen for recognition. (The similar, Ontario LG Awards, modeled on [...]
BC Lieutenant Governor's Wine Awards judging The winners are announced by Government House for this year's Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Excellence in BC Wine. This year there were more wineries awarded than in any previous year. It's a sure sign of the excellent conditions of the last two vintages. And also a measure [...]
VICTORIA – The winners have been chosen for the 2011 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines. This year 309 wines were submitted from 83 wineries across the province. The winners are: • Howling Bluff Estate Winery 2009 Pinot Noir • Laughing Stock Vineyards 2010 Pinot Gris • Mt. Lehman Winery 2009 Viognier Reserve [...]
One of our few regrets, we never seem to have enough time to get the photograph we really want. Images are becoming even more crucial these days, especially in the more visually driven on-line world. We like this shot of winemakers Howard Soon and Stephanie Leinemann for any number of reasons, none the [...]
We're still sorting through our notes from this year's South Okanagan Banée. But this was the major news... Here's our column as it appears in this weekend's North Shore News: Over the last six months, the South Okanagan Wineries Association (SOWA) has been on the quest for a new identity. While organizations often [...]
Here at Hired Belly’s lavish corporate headquarters, we’re resting up in preparation for the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (March 28-April 3)—one of the longest running and most successful wine events on the continent. If you live in Vancouver and drink wine but have never been (for shame!), there’s no time like the [...]
