Happier times ... But unquestionably a corrupting influence ... I’ll admit it. I’m only a lukewarm fan of Beaujolais Nouveau, which is maybe why I barely noticed this past week’s celebration. Don't get me wrong— It’s nothing personal! I just don’t think it’s that big a deal any more. Sure, Nouveau [...]
A comprehensive organic-biodynamic program from vineyard to bottle, Tim Pawsey photo Last week’s column for the North Shore News was a quick recap of our visit to Emiliana Los Robles Organic Biodynamic Vineyards. It was one of the more impressive but—more to the point— profound experiences of my week in Chile. A [...]
Cipes Arial beside Krug Grande Cuvée: More of a love-in than a smackdown, TP photo Champagne and sparkling wine producers enjoy a well earned rep for coming up with some pretty clever promos. We can certainly attest to that ... However, we were still intrigued, a few weeks back, when Summerhill’s Ezra Cipes [...]
With the apparently unstoppable success of Malbec, Argentina is in the enviable position of having almost too big a hit on its hands. Almost, but not quite.
Quails Gate Estate, on the site of the Allison homestead, overlooks Lake Okanagan (photo Brian Sprout) UPDATED: The Lake opens tonight—and is sold out. The good news is there are still tix for tomorrow night (November 15). And the better news is that all audience members have a chance to enter a draw [...]
Ah, the joys of spontaneous journalism! Our column in this weekend’s North Shore News went to press too late to acknowledge the BC Government’s action—or rather statement of intended action—to modify the use of a Special Occasion License for charity auctions of wine or other alcohol. According to CTV, the minister responsible, the Honourable Rich [...]
LittleFarm's Rhys Pender and Alishan Driediger Planting your own vineyard requires healthy doses of optimism, a ton of knowledge, unbridled passion and not a little cash, regardless of how big—or small—the project. Making your own wine, even more. This week we got to taste the first release from Similkameen’s aptly named Little Farm [...]
Heidi Noble and Michael Dinn ... to the next level, TP photo Time to catch up on some housekeeping. Here's our column from the North Shore News a couple of weeks ago. As you can tell, we're a big fan of Joie Farm (and—full disclosure—a longtime friend of Heidi and Michael.) The piece [...]
Gold medal weather accompanied our judging at Manteo Resort If you’re a BC wine lover, the line-up of the 24 gold medal winners of this year's British Columbia Wine Awards (a key part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival) adds up to a pretty serious shopping list. (Most of these wines should still be [...]
... A good intro to Patagonia Barely an hour on the ground in Buenos Aires and we were headed for Experiencia Del Fin Del Mundo for an overview of Argentina wine with Andrés Rosberg (president of the Argentina Sommeliers Association), before a regional tasting of wines from Patagonia. The restaurant (owned by the [...]