Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre, home to Vancouver International Wine Festival It’s never too early to be thinking about this coming spring’s wine festival—especially if you’re a wallet watcher. Some serious deals are afoot for early birds, right through December 31. This year’s theme country is Australia. And the global focus is Syrah—which [...]
A rugged coastline reminiscent of Cornwall, maybe Ireland, even Galicia: I’m resigned to the fact that I’m a wee bit obsessed with the place. I’ve just returned from my second visit. It was whirlwind tour of only three days, into which we managed to pack visits to wineries in three sub-regions; enjoy a smorgasbord [...]
Wine Tourism day wraps up with dinner at Summerland's Local Lounge | Grill (image supplied) (From the release) November 8 marks North America’s 2nd annual Wine Tourism Day. Okanagan Crush Pad has gathered neighbouring wineries, restaurants and a hotel, to offer an incredible weekend getaway in BC wine county. The winery itself will [...]
South Okanagan, including the proposed Golden Mile Bench, from Anarchist Mtn., Tim Pawsey photo Updated: October 17th, 2014 ... GOLDEN MILE APPROVED AS BC's FIRST SUB G-I As per the British Columbia Grape Authority: "Golden Mile Bench" Sub-GI Application On May 20, 2014 the Authority received an application from a group of proponents [...]
Flight of fancy, complete with 'silver bullet' Last week I was privileged to spend the best part of three days with a very focused group of wine judges from BC, across Canada and Kansas City. I’m convinced that, aside from an overall willingness to truly work together, the right setting enhances the process. As it [...]
(oops) wine label documents in detail the improbable but true story of how most of what used to pass for Merlot in Chile was actually Carmenère.
Prunelade: Papa de Malbec. Who knew? This week I got my nose into a whole bunch of new varieties. Actually, as it turned out, most of them weren’t that new—and some were pretty old. Just east of Toulouse, in Lisle Sur Tarn, is one of seven regional offices of l’Institut Français de la Vigne [...]
Chateau Gaudou's Fabrice Durou CAHORS, southwest France. Mention 'Malbec' and chances are your mind and palate will go straight to Argentina. That’s not surprising: the South American producer has done for Malbec what Australia did for Shiraz, or New Zealand for Sauvignon Blanc. However, the fact that Malbec is now a household name—even if propelled [...]
Smoke & Oak overlooks this dramatic panorama Last week—on yet another glorious Okanagan summer’s day—we found ourselves on the patio at Wild Goose. Nothing unusual about that. But this was the first time I had managed to get back to check out Smoke & Oak Bistro, which they launched late last year. Some [...]
Izele Van Blerk One thing about the wine biz: it’s always changing—and usually for the better. It’s been a few years since I was in South Africa. But I vividly recall a visit to KWV’s hallowed Cathedral Cellar, for so many years the heart of the ‘old’ South African wine industry. At the [...]
