I’m truly saddened to learn that Burnaby’s long-running The PearTree is closing. Since its opening in 1998, the restaurant has been a beacon of regional cuisine. In fact, in the late 1990s, it was one of the first ‘fine dining’ rooms to establish away from downtown Vancouver. (One of the originals was Bruno Marti’s Le [...]
Updated, April 20th, 2021. As District Wine Village nears its first phase completion several wineries and breweries have confirmed their partnerships. To date they include: JoiRyde Winery One Faith Vineyards Trading Post Brewing & Trading Post Eatery Wapiti Cellars Vintners Cove Gneiss Wines Winemaker’s Cut Eau Vivre Winery Stay tuned for more! Oliver’s claim as [...]
I’ve written at length about the success of Sea Star Vineyards, in part, because I enjoy a personal connection with the Gulf Islands (Northern and Southern) that spans several decades. But also because, since Sea Star emerged in the place of its struggling Pender Island predecessor, I’ve been consistently impressed by the wines every vintage. [...]
The late Harry McWatters used to say “There’s no place like the Okanagan to make sparkling wine!” McWatters was convinced that grapes coming from a triangle within the central Okanagan (between Summerland, Naramata and Okanagan Falls) consistently had the right amount of acidity to make good bubble. Harry once told me “One thing we’ve never [...]
From the ‘out of left field’ department comes news today that Unsworth Vineyards has been purchased by Barbara Banke and Julia Jackson of California. This is a significant development for the recently proclaimed Cowichan Valley Sub-GI. It marks the first time that a Cowichan winery has been sold to major outside owners. No doubt, it [...]
This month is South Africa’s time to shine at BC Liquor Stores. The pandemic has shut down the array of events and in-store tastings that usually go along with these thematics. But never mind. There’s still no shortage of decent drops to be found. One of the oldest ‘new world’ producers, South Africa’s industry dates [...]
Last time I checked there were well over 75 different varieties of vinifera grown in BC. That’s not surprising. Compared to the rest of the wine world, this corner of the Pacific Northwest is still a youngster. In other words, we’ve only recently begun to ‘drill down’ on what does best in a specific area. [...]
Few people outside of friends and family know about the Hired Belly’s somewhat devout—nay, near angelic—upbringing. It will come as a surprise to some that today’s brash, hard-nosed swirler and spitter was raised as a pure and innocent, dulcet-toned boy-chorister at England’s Chichester Cathedral. […]
Provence Marinaside joins the list of re-openings in Vancouver, which have been coming thick and fast this week. That’s really good news. How reassuring to see all those familiar names returning to whatever the new normal might be. Of course, many never completely shut down but switched to takeout almost without [...]
In a Vancouver still ruled by straight-jacket liquor laws they came also for late night tea pots—filled with beer. The code name was cold tea. And all you had to do was ask.
