A few weeks ago I was having lunch at a fancy new modern bistro on top of an equally fancy new downtown department store, over which everyone’s gone ga-ga. The food was good, the service too, and the company delightful. But the stemware was downright clunky. Given the perceived cachet of the store, I was [...]
“So, what’s a good wine?”... “What can I buy that won’t break the bank?” What they’re looking for, above all, is Bang for their Buck. Well, that’s what we’re all looking for, right? In the trade it’s referred to as QPR, or Quality / Price / Ratio. We're all in search of wines not only [...]
Cava, Proseccco, Spumante, Sekt, Cap Classique. There’s no end of monikers for effervescent efforts that mimic Champagne—even if in Canada we’ve yet to come up with our own handle beyond, truly riveting, ‘Methode Traditionelle.’ The fact is: Champagne and sparkling wine sales are booming just about everywhere. That’s good news for consumers, who are [...]
Kamloops, BC: The Thompson Valley is BC's newest wine region British Columbia’s wineries continue to push the boundaries, opening up new areas previously not deemed capable of ripening grapes. A decade ago, if you'd suggested to anyone that Kamloops would be on the verge of becoming B.C.'s newest wine region, chances are you would have [...]
Adge Cutler & the Wurzels: cider fueled comedy and a legend in their time (Courtesy Wikipedia) I’ll admit it: I have a soft spot for cider. While I wasn’t exactly weaned on it, growing up in Somerset, in England’s West Country, cider was pretty hard to ignore. And I do recall my first [...]
The impressive, new Blue Grouse, two storey winery and tasting room enjoy a south facing aspect overlooking the Cowichan Valley It was over a couple of decades ago that I first went to Blue Grouse and met its founder, viticulturist and winemaker, Hans Kiltz. German by birth, Hans is a perfectionist, [...]
Joseph Mellot Sancerre—the perfect match We’re seriously back on our oyster kick, after the long drought that saw oyster sales banned due to the risk of Vibrio Vulnificus. That’s the disease that oysters carry which can cause serious food poisoning, which in some cases can be fatal. While I’m not crazy about Vancouver [...]
Every time I taste a wine from Fort Berens I’m impressed. While it may well be the wine itself that makes its mark (their 2012 was a pop-out BC Lieutenant Governor’s Award winner), it’s also the overall story that grabs me. I’ve been watching the growth of BC’s “borderline” regions with interest. I don’t fault [...]
Bordeaux 2012: a sneak peek with MW Barbara Philip There’s no denying the mystique of Bordeaux. It’s entrenched in wine lore. Many will say: “And rightly so.” After all, Bordeaux is still regarded as the world’s leading wine producing region, by which all others are judged. And just about every New World wine region [...]
This week sees the return of Top Drop Vancouver (Sept 10-11), a "wine and more" festival that focuses very much on smaller wineries and other craft producers. Last year’s debut was rightly well received—likely because the selection of wineries did indeed appeal to a more curious taster, as well as to sommeliers looking to tweak [...]
