MyWinePal

I hazard to guess how many wines I tasted over the past year, but every year I find several gems that I pass along to you as I taste them.  Getting ready for the holiday season, you may be considering buying wines to take to parties, or serving wines at your parties.  What to buy? [...]

I was happy to be invited for the second year in a row to the Select Wines & Spirits’ Annual Portfolio Tasting, held at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.  Last year I found several gems that I passed along to you, and you will read about my latest wine recommendations.  You may want to [...]

On Friday night, Dianne Chow and I were invited to sample some of the new menu items at Hurricane Grill (1137 Marinaside Crescent) in Yaletown. Hurricane Grill is situated in a beautiful part of Yaletown facing the inner harbour lined with sailing boats. Sitting on the patio, sipping a glass of wine is probably a [...]

Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) in Summerland, BC, has not yet been around for a year, but has already has an impressive list of up and coming wineries using their custom wine making services. On a recent Media trip to visit OCP, we were introduced to their winery clients, and learned more about OCP’s vineyard and [...]

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful and sunny, and the Dockside Restaurant perfectly placed in Granville Island looking over the water.  With this as our backdrop we were enticed to try wines from around the world by 17 different wine agencies here in Vancouver.  The name of the event is Pelican Bay Wine Tasting.  As I had [...]

Did you know that Vina Carmen is Chile’s oldest winery, founded in 1850 by Christian Lanz, who named the winery after his wife, Carmen? The Carmenere grape variety was rediscovered at Carmen in 1994. In 1997 Carmen launched the first Chilean organic wine under the Nativa brand.  I remember buying the wine in WA state [...]

Miguel Torres is best known as a wine making family with long pedigree from Spain.  From Spain they have spread out around the world.  One place where they have taken root has been Chile; the Curico Valley to be precise.  Their winery is very well known for their high quality Cordillera red blend. But when [...]

Emiliana Vineyards has become very well-known for their organic and biodynamic wines that they produce in the Colchagua Valley, Chile. I speak briefly with Fernando Pavon, Export Director about the winery and their wines.  Enjoy.

My last event at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival was “Speaking Frankly About Franc“. I was eagerly waiting for this seminar as I really enjoy drinking Cabernet Franc. A grape that is at home in Bordeaux and in the Loire Valley. It is used as a blending grape in Bordeaux, as a minor partner [...]

Last week the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival finished, and more work began for me.  Last week was about tasting the wines from Chile and from many other wineries around the world.  This week starts my writing my experiences in seminars and in the International Festival Tasting room. I made the following recommendations for Chilean [...]