MyWinePal

The New West Quay, overlooking the Fraser River, was the venue for the latest Naramata Bench wine release in the Vancouver area.  The number of wineries has increased each year that I have attended this event.  I did not count, but there was probably somewhere around 24 wineries in attendance. Where and what is the [...]

Last year, 2011, was a banner year for newly licensed wineries in BC.  21 wineries were licensed.  Who are they and where are they?  Most of the ones listed below I have not heard of, except for Okanagan Crush Pad Winery, Serendipity Estate Winery and 40 Knots Estate Winery.  Here is a review I did [...]

I was very excited when I received two bottles of the latest releases from Painted Rock recently to review.  The two bottles being Painted Rock’s Syrah 2009 and their Merlot 2009.  Every year, I hear great things about Painted Rock’s wines and read about awards they have won.  Did you know that Painted Rock Estate [...]

David Scholefield and Michael Bartier are not new to wine in BC.  Michael Bartier was born and raised in the Okanagan and worked in the past for Hawthorne Mountain (See Ya Later Ranch), Township 7, Stag’s Hollow and most recently Road 13 Vineyards. He joins the team at Okanagan Crush Pad Winery as winemaker, where [...]

Meyer Family Vineyards goal is”crafting single vineyard wines of excellence“. This is my fourth review of their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines and each year their wines get better.  More complexity, more balance. For this review I received a bottle of the following wines: Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay, McLean Creek Road Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, 2010 [...]

I’ve been told that over the past two decades, the Wines of British Columbia have truly come of age.  Wines are produced in the Okanagan, the Similkameen, the Fraser Valley, the Gulf Islands and on Vancouver Island.  Cool climate to desert conditions let us produce a wide range of wines and wine styles.  At the [...]

This week I was invited to some major announcements from Okanagan Crush Pad. OCP was established in 2010 by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie. The Crush Pad is located on Switchback Road in Summerland, BC. Their head wine maker is Mr. Michael Bartier. Mr. Alberto Antonini is their consulting viticulturist and wine maker from Italy, [...]

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 [...]

This is my third time to review Meyer Family Vineyards’ wines, and I am always impressed with them.  Each vintage I think is getting better as the wine maker gets a better feel for the terroir of their vineyards. For this review, I tasted the 2009 vintage of 3 of Meyer Family Vineyards’ Chardonnay, plus [...]

One of the first reviews I wrote was for the inaugural release of Meyer Family Vineyards‘ wines. I now have the pleasure of being presented with the latest, soon-to-be, release of their 2008 Chardonnay and 2 Pinot Noirs. For those unfamilar with the Meyer Family Vineyards, they are located on the Naramata Bench in the [...]