Oct
11
2011
I really do enjoy finding wines that excite me, and I think you will also like. I’ve been to a Mark Anthony Brands Portfolio tasting and really enjoyed it. There were wines from all price points, and styles from red, white, dessert, fortified and bubbles. So when I was invited to their latest Portfolio tasting, [...]
Apr
20
2011
This Part 2 of my review of my picks from the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Part 1 covered the wines of Spain. Part 2 is the rest of the world. Again, there are so many wines at the tasting, and so little time, I’m sure I missed many great wines. If you tasted some [...]
Apr
17
2011
On the MyWinePal blog I posted my Spanish wine picks, sans reviews, but promised the reviews would come out here on the main MyWinePal website. As promised, I’ve had a chance to sit down in front of the computer going through my wine notes and entering them for you. I hope you find a wine [...]
Feb
13
2011
This week I attended the IVSA‘s latest tastings of new wine and spirits in the Vancouver area. There was at least 70 different tables from my quick count, with each table offering 5-10 different wines. As such, I was not able to try everything offered, but hopefully I was able to find a few gems, [...]
Sep
26
2010
I look forward to the California Wine Fair when it comes to Vancouver every year. Beyond enjoying big Napa Cabs, there is a wide variety of other grapes that are being grown for wine in California.This evening there were 115 wineries presenting their wines to us. With each winery showing around 4 wines, that is [...]
Sep
26
2010
For the past 5 years, Vancouver’s South World Wine Society has been having a tasting in January called the “5 Nations Cup“. This January was the 5th competition. The premise of the event is that 5 white and 5 red wines are selected by the cellar master and the speaker at the event. The wines [...]
Sep
26
2010
This October, I spent two weeks touring Chile, which of course included visiting several wineries. I had made appointments ahead of time with the winemakers so that I could go through their wines with them, as they would be the best knowledge of their wines. The Chilean people are very hospitable. My meetings with the [...]
Sep
26
2010
Oregon has been touted as having the best pinot noir outside of Burgundy. MyWinePal went to Burgundy last fall, and now visited Oregon to see how the two wine regions compare. In Oregon, most of my time was spent around the McMinnville, Dundee and Salem areas. The landscape was quite varied, with some flatter sloped [...]
Sep
25
2010
In April 2008, MyWinePal was able to spend almost a week touring Sonoma and Napa Valleys. The weather was unusually warm; almost 20 degrees Farenheit above the normal temperature. Workers were in the fields actively managing the trellising. Some of the wineries,and brief notes on the wineries follow. The first visits were at J Vineyards [...]