Category: food and wine pairing

I enjoy having dinner with friends and introducing an unfamiliar wine.  For my latest dinner, I brought a bottle of Kamloops’ area wine, Monte Creek Ranch Frontenac Gris 2024.  This is an organic wine using a hybrid grape, Frontenac Gris, that is cold hardy to survive winter blasts, while regular vitis vinifera grape vines would perish. I picked this wine…

Chaberton Estate Winery is the pioneer estate of the Fraser Valley and in BC. They farm 44 acres of estate-grown fruit with other parcels from across the Okanagan Valley. The winery’s history was initially established by the Violets family, whose European lineage includes a Guinness World Record for a one-million-litre oak barrel.   They sold their winery and vineyard in France…

For the past few articles, I’ve been writing about white, aromatic wines and sparkling wines for the summer.  But there is more than bright, white, and sparkling wines for the summer.  Think red wines for the BBQ.  Today I have two red wines coming from the Okanagan’s Gold Hill Winery.  They have an excellent reputation for big red wines.  The…

One of the most profound joys of river cruising is the realization that the view changes as often as the courses. As a food and wine reviewer, I find the true success of Avalon Waterway’s program lies in its balance of the modern traveler’s desire for healthful dishes as well as the culinary traditions of the European heartland.  I downloaded…

Created through a collaboration between Provence Marinaside and Haywire Winery, this newly released, limited edition, Brut Nature Sparkling wine is all about purity, precision, and place. Crafted from 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay grown at Haywire’s organically farmed Garden Valley Ranch estate vineyard in the high-altitude Okanagan, the wine carries a subtle shade of pink in the glass. Bottled…

How often do you drink white Bordeaux wines? Do you know that they range from bone dry to lusciously sweet? Do you know which grape varieties go into white Bordeaux wines? I recently attended a seminar at L’Abbatoir in Gastown, covering these wines and some ideas for wine pairings that was hosted by Wines of Bordeaux.   Our speaker was Emma…

This April, Port Moody’s Pizzeria Spacca Napoli marks 10 years of wood-fired Neapolitan craft – a milestone that arrives with a new addition to the kitchen and two firsts for the restaurant. Recently arrived from Naples, pizzaiolo Salvatore Russo brings more than 25 years of experience in Neapolitan pizzerias, including overseeing multiple kitchens. His arrival deepens a program already rooted in traditional…

On a lighter tone, at VanWineFest 2026, I had a chance to attend a walk-about lunch at LaSalle College Vancouver; French bistro fare prepared and served by LaSalle students, while sampling a selection of French wines representing seven French wine regions.  Below is a list of the French wines followed by the menu.  No wine reviews here, just some general…

With Canadians not wanting to travel to the USA at the moment, we have more opportunities to explore our beautiful country.  I do enjoy eating tasty food and visiting wineries where I can sample their wines and maybe speak with the wine maker.  Victoria is a wonderful place to visit.  It has a culinary scene and it is close to…

A Tour de France in Your Glass Food and wine go together, especially in France.  I attended the VanWineFest 2026 seminar, A Tour de France in Your Glass.  With Moderator, Arnica Rowan, we took an oenological journey through seven classic French wine regions, each with their own unique characteristics and history. We crossed the country from Champagne to South West…