Category: italy

Top Drop Canada is a premier wine festival held annually in Vancouver, showcasing a curated selection of terroir-driven wines from around the globe. The event brings together over 40 international producers, including renowned estates from regions such as Piedmont, Champagne, and the Okanagan Valley. 50+ wineries in total.  None from the USA this year.  Attendees have the unique opportunity to…

After attending the Chianti Classico: Digging into the Region’s UGA Masterclass, there was a walk around tasting from the wineries from the masterclass plus other wineries in the region; 26 wineries in total, each pouring three wines, so 78 different Chianti Classico wines to try from the foundation, Annata, wines, to Riserva middle tier, and the top tier, Gran Selezione. …

I was honoured to attend the Chianti Classico: Digging into the Region’s UGA Masterclass lead by Michaela Morris. The masterclass, hosted by the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico, focused on the region’s evolution, particularly the introduction of the Gran Selezione category and the newly established Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive (UGAs). The presentation highlighted the historical significance of the region, the hierarchical structure…

What do you know about Prosecco DOC?  When purchasing a bottle, most of us probably just see that the bottle says “Prosecco” without checking its designation.  I recently attended a masterclass, led by Jenna Briscoe, a local sommelier and wine school educator, that covered the history, culture, and quality assurance around Prosecco DOC.  Let me tell you about it, along…

The wines of BC and the rest of the world, excluding the USA, were the last of the wines I tasted at the International Festival Tasting Room during VanWineFest 2025.     Read through my wine tasting notes below and if you find some wines that spark your interest, check out your local BC Liquor store, some private wine shops,…

While the term “Cru” is most often used for the French classification system, the “Cru” concept can apply to any vineyard or group of vineyards recognized for their superior quality.  It was first mentioned in Champagne in 1911 and then spread across France, and now the rest of the world. This seminar, The Global Cru, took participants on a global…

Did you know that Giusti Wine, comes from the Valpolicella region of Italy, but is owned by a BC businessman, Mr. Joe Giusti?  Mr. Ermenegildo “Joe” Giusti, was born and raised in Italy and moved to Vancouver, where he became a very successful businessman in the construction industry.  With this wealth, he wanted to show his passion of Italian wine;…

This is my third article reviewing Canadian Wine Trends that happened over 2024.  In this article, I will review our interest in Old World (e.g. Europe) vs New World (e.g. North and South America) wines.  Did we get more interested in European wines? I used Google Trends to produce graphs for our interest in Old World and New World wine areas, showing…

While I was Grinch-like in awarding 5 stars to only three wines I tasted in 2024, I was more Oprah-like with the 4.5-5 -star wines.  Plus, there are many quality wines, so it should not be a surprise.  This year there were 13 BC wines, 18 Italian wines, 4 French wines, 2 Californian wines, and 4 wines from New Zealand…

In 2024, I wrote 190 articles, with most of the articles reviewing at least one bottle of wine.  From a quick calculation, I wrote about 493 wines on mywinepal this year.  Wines submitted to me through the year ranged from to wines, but I usually only post wines that were at least .   5-star wines are the wines that I…