Winning Wines at The Osoyoos Oyster Festival

By |2023-05-09T09:11:17-07:00April 26th, 2014|Wine|

Osoyoos beach from the Watermark Resort The Osoyoos ‘Oyster’ Festival? Seriously? I must admit, I was just a tad surprised when I first heard of the idea. After all, burgeoning bivalves is maybe not the first thing that come to mind when you consider the sandy (rock free), shores of the South Okanagan’s [...]

Breaking Bread with Clos du Soleil at Tavola

By |2018-01-21T15:05:18-08:00March 21st, 2014|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Spirits|

    A ground-breaking collaboration: Marc du Soleil, made by Long Table Distillery, TP photo The Hired Belly has attended more than few winemaker dinners. But some remain etched in my memory. The very first was when Howard Soon (now Peller Estates’ chief winemaker, then Calona Vineyards’) dropped by the original Raintree, in [...]

10 Sure Bets: The 2014 Dine Out Vancouver Short List

By |2023-11-03T09:32:03-07:00January 8th, 2014|Belly's Best Bites, Belly's Budget Best, Hired Belly's Best Wines, Uncategorized|

Dine Out Vancouver: It's about food and wine UPDATED, Jan 16, 2014. The Trouble with Dine Out Lists... Is that you're guaranteed to miss not only a few worthy restos but likely many. So be it. However, here, in random order (i.e. as I think about them or hear about them from reliable sources), is [...]

Time to Sip the Slopes for The 16th Annual Sun Peaks Winter Okanagan Wine Festival

By |2019-11-19T16:44:10-08:00January 6th, 2014|Wine|

Sun Peaks Village is truly accessible, Tim Pawsey photo I’ll confess: I’m not exactly a champion of winter sports. There was a time when I used to pretend to downhill ski. That was before I “graduated” to cross-country—back in the days when mohair was big. And I’m not talking about sweaters. More recently [...]

Kamloops’ first winery, Harper’s Trail Releases Inaugural Cabernet Franc

By |2023-03-03T19:58:17-08:00November 19th, 2013|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Wine, Wine Reviews|

Harper’s Trail has released its inaugural Cab Franc—and my guess is it will get plenty of attention. Well, it should anyway. In fact, you could file this under “One more reason why Cab Franc could be BC’s defining red variety.” I do think this is a ground-breaking wine. If you had asked people a [...]

Lake Sonoma Wines: Cross-Border Co-Pro Promises to Deliver

By |2018-01-21T15:05:22-08:00November 18th, 2013|Wine|

Tony Stewart and Dan Zepponi celebrate their latest joint venture, overlooking Lake Sonoma (image supplied) The other week I had a chance to catch up with Quails Gate CEO Tony Stewart. We’ve followed Quails Gate almost since day one, and can just about track every achievement made over the years—and there have been [...]

The Medal Counts: 2013 BC Wine Award Results

By |2018-01-21T15:05:24-08:00October 3rd, 2013|Wine|

A tough job but ... Yes, I know, there should be a way more sexy pic here. But that’s all there is: a down and dirty get it done, direct from the action shot that exposes the gritty reality of judging the morning’s first flight. We had planned to have all kinds of [...]

A Clutch of Wines for BC Day from Across the Province

By |2021-11-15T09:09:26-08:00August 4th, 2013|Wine|

Centennial BC Coat of Arms at Government House This elaborately carved coat of arms from 1958 details the history of European settlement and early industries—grape growing not among them.  (More below ...) There's no time like the B.C. Day long weekend to celebrate the diversity of B.C. wines, no matter where in the [...]

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