Here at Hired Belly’s lavish corporate headquarters, we’re resting up in preparation for the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (March 28-April 3)—one of the longest running and most successful wine events on the continent. If you live in Vancouver and drink wine but have never been (for shame!), there’s no time like the [...]
One of Vancouver’s flagship restaurants, Diva at the Met celebrated its 15th anniversary last night with a gala dinner (benefitting Big Brothers) that featured an extraordinary array of culinary talent. The hotel business is by nature a mobile affair, where personnel—including those in food and beverage—move around frequently. Hence it was [...]
You have to hand it to John Clerides. He’s always been ahead of the curve. John’s the man behind Marquis Wine Cellars, which was one of the very first private wine stores anywhere in British Columbia. We were among the first through the door when he managed to wrangle a license in 1986—the [...]
Maybe it’s not surprising. but the Hired Belly has a thing about corkscrews. Even though these days we likely encounter almost as many screw caps (or even the occasional Zork) as we do corks, the choice of weapon—the venerable ‘church key’ or whatever you may call it—is crucial when it comes to pulling [...]
Last week we spent a couple of enjoyable and informative hours with Shingleback winemaker Jahn Davey, from Australia's McLaren Vale. Wines tasted ranged from Shingleback 06 D-Block Shiraz (sequel to the celebrated 05 Jimmy Watson award winner) to value-based workhorse Red Knot Shiraz (BCLS $19.99) and Cabernet. The nicely designed Red Knot package comes [...]
Fancy yourself a good mixer? Here’s a great chance to hunt down that silver cocktail shaker you were given for your 21st (well, wasn’t everyone?) and polish up your mixology skills. Tales Of The Cocktail on Tour rolls into Vancouver, March 12-15. If you’re ‘in the biz’ you won’t want to miss this [...]
All too often, the role of BC wine has been overlooked... As you can see from elsewhere here, and from the crescendo this week of the on-line buzz surrounding the live launch of this year's 200 plus menus, Dine Out Vancouver has more than earned its place as the country's biggest restaurant promo of its [...]
With Golden Gate Bridge in the background, and a wealth of wine within, not a bad place to taste, Tim Pawsey photo ZAP may well be the most fun you can ever have at a wine tasting ... We’ve been to a few tastings in our time but nothing quite compares with ZAP—the no holds [...]
It should have come as no surprise. But John Bishop's 25th anniversary celebrations were as understated as the man himself. Just before Christmas, on December 14th, 2010—25 years to the day when Bishop’s first opened—it was almost business as usual in the modest, west-side Vancouver room that still holds considerable sway in the [...]
Back Yard Vineyards: a fun, eye-catching label, plus plenty to please in the glass, Tim Pawsey photo Looking for a special bottle for that hard to please wine geek in your life? Yesterday we sipped a glass of the first vintage sparkling wine to (officially) come out of the Fraser [...]