Been a bit churlish, we have, of late towards BC’s beloved burger-monger and family resto chain White Spot—due mainly to the presence of its large chicken mascot on BC Ferries the other weekend. (White Spot supplies a portion of BC Ferries food requirements...) Somebody in the Twitterverse took offence when we suggested (in jest) the [...]
Nova Scotia L'Acadie Brut: now you can bring it to BC by the case without paying the LDB markup, Tim Pawsey photo It’s fascinating to watch the rapidly unfolding machinations surrounding today’s announcement that BC will now allow its residents to bring in wine from other provinces free of the usual BC mark-up—as long as [...]
Winning wines, from one of the year's toughest contests: celebrating BC's best, Tim Pawsey photo This week’s announcement of winners of the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines marks ten years since the competition’s inception. Check out the Government House website and you can track the winners over that [...]
Smart decor, covered patio, Golden Mile vista. Works for me... TP photo Beyond test driving our Zagat equipped Acura, the main reason for last week’s Okanagan swing was to take in the Vinos and check out Black Hills snappy new tasting room—aka Black Hills Wine Experience Centre. Black Hills president Glenn Fawcett, [...]
Grant Stanley: one of the Okanagan's best One of our favourite tastings of the year is an action packed hour or so spent with Quails Gate winemaker Grant Stanley. We’ll get to the wines shortly but much of my enthusiasm stems from the fact that Grant—aside from being a superb winemaker and one [...]
BC Wines Stand Up in Global Tasting ... from North Shore News Several years ago, Quails Gate co-owner Ben Stewart did something unprecedented. He held a tasting of his wines at the Four Seasons Vancouver, mixed in with comparable drops from elsewhere in the world. When the wraps came off (it was a [...]
Peller / Sandhill master winemaker Howard Soon, Tim Pawsey photo Because he always is! I like this pic of Peller / Sandhill / Calona winemaker guru Howard Soon. It was just a quick snap, taken at a recent BC Wine tasting. But it shows you exactly the way Howard is: always there [...]
Our recent nod to the BC Liquor Stores Alsace promo just happened to coincide with the release of Joie Farm's latest crop of whites and ever popular rosé. And, as usually seems to be the case, right out of the gate, the Joie wines are an indication of what to expect for 2011 (overall, a [...]
Cutting edge: Haywire and Bartier Scholefield vial samples, Tim Pawsey photo (Edible Canada is now closed. Yesterday we took time out from our pre-holidays deadline whirl, and Zagat Survey wrap-up (hence the lack of posts here), to catch lunch with the Okanagan Crushpad gang and consulting winemaker Alberto Antonini. His best quote [...]
It’s entirely possible that the impressive Sidecut / Painted Rock 4 x 5 course winemaker dinner (that’ll be four courses each of five plates or accompaniments) that we enjoyed at just concluded Cornucopia entailed the most food we’ve seen at one sitting! Much like the winery with whom they partnered, it's apparent [...]