MyWinePal

Did you know that SpierHead Winery from South East Kelowna won the “Best New Winery” at the 2012 BC Wine Awards, and that their Pinot Noir was ranked #1 by the judges at the 2012 Canadian Wine Awards?  Well now you know.  I’ve been in contact with SpierHead for a year now, tasting their wines [...]

04.16.2013.  That’s the date that the Okanagan Falls Winery Association (OFWA) launched their Inaugural “The Heart of Wine Country Comes to Vancouver” event to show their wines to the wine trade, which includes wine writers like me, but as well wine shop and restaurant owners and staff.  If you ask someone in Vancouver where is [...]

Are you a lover of Pinots?  Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, I am sure will be front and centre at the Vintage Oregon, all-Oregon wine tasting in Portland on April 28, 2013.  Along with these well known varietal wines, you should also get to taste some Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Viognier, and [...]

Here in BC we have wonderful wines to enjoy from the Okanagan, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and more.  But did you know that just across the border, to our Washington State neighbours, there is a wine industry that is 3-4 times bigger than here in BC?  There are approximately 750 wineries in Washington state making [...]

February 10, 2013 is a new Chinese New Year.  This new year will be the Year of the Water Snake. It begins on the first day of the first lunar month (usually in late January or early February) and ends on the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival). According to Chinese Horoscopes, [...]

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? [...]

Recently I received two new red wines from Spierhead Winery; Vanguard 2010, and Pursuit 2010.  If you have not heard of Spierhead before, they are a relatively new winery, located in Kelowna, BC.  They were named BEST NEW WINERY at the  2012 B.C. Wine Awards. The first wines I tried from Spierhead was a Pinot Noir and a [...]

This is my second year at the Taste of Tulalip. Last year I was getting my feet wet, trying to learn the ropes.  Here is the  link to my Celebration Dinner notes last year.  This year, I came prepared with a plan, and how to pace myself.  The Taste of Tulalip starts off with the [...]

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to interview Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, located in Kelowna, BC.  One of the things Ezra told me about was a new line of BC VQA wines that they are producing called “Alive“, making both a red and a white wine.  The wine labels really [...]

When you talk with visitors to the Okanagan, most will say they want to visit Summerhill Winery and see their pyramid, where they partially age all their wines. Some may say they also want to visit because it uses biodynamic farming methods.  I sat down with Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill, and son of the founder, [...]