BC Wines and wineries

Hired Belly’s Best Dine Out Vancouver $28 Menus with Wine Pairings

January 17, 2013
Dine Out offers a chance to experience Maenam

The $28 menu selections are probably the toughest to sort through, because they represent the most competitive price point. It’s good to see so much action here; and we’ve tried be somewhat eclectic in our choice. Any middle to upper tier place where you can enjoy a three course dinner for two plus glasses of […]

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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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Some Great $18 Dine Out Vancouver Picks – Plus a Smorgasbord of Events

January 16, 2013
Edible Canada

Dine Out Vancouver Festival (Jan 18-Feb 3) kicks into high gear this weekend.  You could spend a lot of time sifting through DoV’s three tiers of menu offerings, which on the surface appear to have grown yet again this year. For the most part they’re still a good deal, at least, the menu prices haven’t increased over […]

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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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Rooting Around at Forage Yields Ultimate in Porcine Pampering

November 29, 2012

We finally managed to get into forage last night for a serious meal. And believe me, it was serious. Chef Chris Whittaker was showcasing pork from Gelderman Farms (Abbotsford) with Audrey and Jerry Gelderman in attendance. Think Porkapalooza—and then some. Part of the conversation revolved around the need to better educate people as to why […]

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Great Value Bites and a Smart New Wine at Edible Canada

November 15, 2012
Another winner from Okanagan Crush Pad!

A few weeks ago we dropped byEdible Canada at the Market(1596 Johnston St. 604-682-6681) for a post theatre, late night bite. (Somehow a trip to Chile in between derailed our good intentions to post about it sooner.) It’s also been a while since we wrote at length about Edible Canada but there have been more than a few meals and […]

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Vancouver Listel’s Chris Whittaker Goes Even Greener with Forage

November 9, 2012

Reinventing a legendary room is never easy but when the Listel Hotel decided to close long running O’Doul’s, the move afforded no shortage of opportunities. In 10 days or so they’ll pull the wraps off forage (1300 Robson St, 604-684-8461), a smaller and considerably more casual space than its predecessor, but with a personality and […]

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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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“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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