O’Rourke Family Estate Shines at Chardonnay du Monde

By |2023-03-20T08:26:43-07:00March 18th, 2023|Hired Belly's Best Wines, Latest Posts, Wine, Wine Reviews|

O’Rourke Family Estate has been recognized by Chardonnay du Monde for its O’Rourke Family Estate 2020 BC VQA Estate Chardonnay—the wine’s inaugural release. You could say it was a pretty good St. Patrick’s day present for owner Dennis O’Rourke—whose bottles sport “Sláinte” (Irish for ‘good health’) on the label. The [...]

Fattoria Colmone della Marca : A Passion for White from Red

By |2023-03-01T17:37:41-08:00March 1st, 2023|Latest Posts, Top Drops, Wine, Wine Reviews|

Recently I was delighted to meet Giovanni Meschini, charming proprietor of Fattoria Colmone della Marca, for a tasting of some unique wines. They come from one of Italy’s smallest DOC’s—I Terrini di San Severino Moro, in the heart of the Marche. Fattoria Colmone is the sole producer.  They make only [...]

8 Great Ways to Enjoy Dine Out Vancouver

By |2023-05-09T09:11:27-07:00January 15th, 2023|Belly's Best Bites, Dining, Latest Posts, Wine|

Dine Out Vancouver (Jan 20-Feb 5) turns 21 this year. Hard to believe that it all started in 2003 with just 57 restaurants. Equally impressive is that some restos have been there every year—such as Bacchus at the Wedgewood. This year, says Dine Out manager Lucas Pavan, no less than 370 [...]

‘New’ Blue Grouse Celebrates 10 Big Years

By |2022-08-12T15:47:30-07:00August 12th, 2022|Latest Posts, Wine|

Blue Grouse Estate Winery, Cowichan Valley. I’ll confess I’m not a great judge of time. Even so, it still took me by surprise that a decade has flown by since the Brunner family bought Blue Grouse. To be fair, it was actually in 2015 that the team unveiled new (soon to be destination) winery, which [...]

Graham Pierce Joins Ruby Blues as Head Winemaker

By |2023-06-05T10:31:19-07:00August 9th, 2022|Latest Posts, Wine|

Seasoned winemaker Graham Pierce has joined Ruby Blues as full time Head Winemaker. Pierce, who is best known for making ten years of Black Hills’ flagship Nota Bene, takes over winemaking operations at Ruby Blues, effective immediately.

Fort Berens: 6 Wicked Wines to Celebrate #3

By |2022-08-07T12:56:34-07:00August 7th, 2022|Latest Posts, Wine, Wine Reviews|

Fort Berens, in Lillooet, BC may well be the province's most remarkable  winery. Think about it. In vine terms a decade is a barely a blink of an eye. And a couple of decades might be a wink. Yet, where many thought it couldn’t be done—Fort Berens has made its mark in well under 20 years.

Go to Top