MyWinePal

In case you didn’t know, Portugal occupies a unique and disproportionately influential position in the global wine landscape. Despite spanning less than 600 km in length and around 250 km on average width (as a comparison, Vancouver Island is 460 km in length), the nation stands as the 8th largest wine exporter, the 10th largest wine producer, and holds the…

Three years ago, I had a sit-down tasting with Virginia Willcock from Margaret River’s Vasse Felix.  This past week, Virginia was back visiting Vancouver, and I had a chance, along with a few other wine people, to taste the latest releases of their Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec wines.  This was quite informal with us standing around Virginia with her…

BC’s Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery is located in the Okanagan Falls area, which I think has one of the best climates for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the province.  Recently I tasted their Noble Pinot Noir 2025, with grapes from their estate, Home Vineyard.  I also tasted their Reserve Meritage 2022, which comes with grapes along the Okanagan Valley. …

At Casa Molina, widely celebrated as the most authentic Spanish restaurant in Vancouver, a remarkable culinary gathering hosted by World Wine Synergy brought the green, wind-swept region of northwestern Spain to the Pacific Northwest.  The masterclass brought Yago Gómez, representing his family’s estates in Galicia, Adegas Valmiñor and Mínius,  to Casa Molina to speak about their wines. Adegas Valmiñor is a…

For the holiday season we all seem to enjoy a touch of sweetness, especially with cookies, cakes, and other indulgent desserts.  You could have these desserts with tea, but why not have them with a BC dessert wine?  Many of you have heard of ice wine, which Canada specializes in but tends to be intensely sweet and syrupy.  Too much…

For Okanagan Crush Pad, making wine begins with caring for the land. At Garnet Valley Ranch in Summerland, BC, their vineyards are part of a broader agricultural landscape where healthy soils, biodiversity, native habitat, and diverse crops work together. Their philosophy is about more than growing grapes. It is about building a resilient ecosystem that can support vineyards and wildlife…

I have two BC wines that come from WA state grapes as a result of the devastating January 2024 cold snap that hit BC’s interior, wiping out some or all grape vines for many BC wineries.  Luckily our neighbour to the south, WA state, also was affected, but not as badly, and was able to tend and harvest their grapes…

Today’s two wines I label “Wine hands across the border,” as one wine has grapes from the Okanagan and the other bottle has grapes from Washington state.  The winery and wines are Hester Creek Estate Winery Trebbiano 2025 and Hester Creek Estate Winery Rosé Cabernet Franc 2024.  The Trebbiano is from Hester Creek’s estate vineyard on the Golden Mile Bench…

Recently I opened a bottle of BC’s Blasted Church Vineyards Big Bang Theory 2024.  It is made primarily from Merlot, Syrah, and Malbec (with contributions from varietals like Pinot Noir and Lemberger) using fruit sourced from the Andrews Family Vineyards in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills.  2024, remember, was when we had the terrible January cold snap that wiped out many…

The Swirl Around BC Wine Expo was held this week for people in the wine trade to show off the latest vintages from BC wineries across the province.  I decided to start by tasting white wines only, and then as time and my back permitted, I would try a few red wines.  Most of the white wines are from our…