Hired Belly’s Best Wines

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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“The Lake”: When History, Music and Wine Combine

October 29, 2012

  UPDATED: The Lake opens tonight—and is sold out. The good news is there are still tix for tomorrow night (November 15). And the better news is that all audience members  have a chance to enter a draw to win a superb weekend at Quails Gate’s guest cottage, The Nest, with dinner at Old Vines […]

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Similkameen Valley’s Little Farm Winery Rolls Out First Releases

October 12, 2012

Planting your own vineyard requires healthy doses of optimism, a ton of knowledge, unbridled passion and not a little cash, regardless of how big—or small—the project. Making your own wine, even more. This week we got to taste the first release from Similkameen’s aptly named Little Farm Winery, the labour of love undertaken by wine […]

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Joie and More Joie: Joie Farm Reserve Wines Bump it Up a Notch

October 1, 2012

Time to catch up on some housekeeping. Here’s our column from the North Shore News a couple of weeks ago. As you can tell, we’re a big fan of Joie Farm (and—full disclosure—a longtime friend of Heidi and Michael.) The piece speaks for itself … and we can still taste that Pinot and wild mushroom […]

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