Brent Marris: Renewing an Old Acquaintance over Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc

By |2018-01-21T15:05:18-08:00March 20th, 2014|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Wine, Wine Reviews|

The last time I met Brent Marris—the man behind Marlborough’s The Ned, The Kings series, and a whole lot more—was almost exactly 20 years ago. He was part of a New Zealand trade mission that came to Vancouver. At the time, Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc was in the early stages of its remarkable ascent and the [...]

8 Tasting Tips (and more) for the Vancouver International Wine Festival

By |2019-09-23T17:33:38-07:00February 20th, 2014|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Top Drops, Wine|

Next week’s Vancouver International Wine Festival will be one of the most well attended  in the festival’s 36 years. How come it’s so popular? There are a couple of key reasons: Arguably North America’s most important combined consumer and trade wine gathering, it’s a great opportunity for wineries to meet their customers face to face—in [...]

10 Fizzy Faves for the Holidays: Hired Belly’s Best Bubbles

By |2024-03-05T10:21:14-08:00December 14th, 2013|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Wine, Wine Reviews|

Bubbles beckon... Champagne flutes await at Cornucopia Bubbles forever! © Tim Pawsey photo Bubbles 'R' Us! Over here at HB's swank, granite and glass adorned, soaring corporate HQ, we’ve been busy popping a few corks, drafting our list of go-to holiday bubbles. Sparkling wines (and Champagne for some a few [...]

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 [...]

5 Reasons Why You Should Check Out the New Marquis Wine Cellars (Video)

By |2018-01-21T15:05:23-08:00October 17th, 2013|Wine|

Marquis Wine Cellars: a sign of good wine! One of Vancouver's first private wine stores When John Clerides forged ahead with Marquis Wine Cellars in 1986 we were, truly, still in the dark ages of wine retailing in BC. Hear what he has to say about his 27 years in the wine biz—and [...]

What’s in a Blend? Don’t Ask Kevin Grant!

By |2022-02-13T08:11:01-08:00September 22nd, 2013|Wine, Wine Reviews|

What’s in a blend? Why worry? One of the many interesting people I met at Beautiful South in London last week was winemaker Kevin Grant. He and his wife Hanli own Ataraxia in Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, on a ridge overlooking the stunningly beautiful, cooler coastal region—whose name (which means "Heaven on Earth") kept popping up during [...]

Culmina Family Estate Hypothesis, More Than a Theoretical Winner

By |2018-01-21T15:05:24-08:00September 6th, 2013|Wine|

Culmina Hypothesis 2011 Culmina's inaugural release: Hypothesis     Here’s a wine we figured would be worth waiting for, and we weren’t disappointed, as it more than lived up to our expectations. This is the inaugural release from just opened Culmina Family Estate, the project undertaken by Don Triggs, his wife Elaine  and [...]

The Beautiful South: Wines of South Africa, Chile and Argentina

By |2019-09-23T17:32:37-07:00August 28th, 2013|Wine|

The Beautiful South Salta, Aconcagua and Robertson are just a small part of the big, Beautiful South Next month in London, they’ll pull the wraps off “The Beautiful South”, a two day tasting extravaganza (September 11, 12) that brings together South Africa, Chile and Argentina in a major collaboration. Even though the countries [...]

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