Category: italy

From the Fall through Spring, the Import Vintners & Spirits Association (IVSA) hosts a regular tasting of importers latest wines, beer and spirits.  The kick-off for the fall was last week, and it was very busy.  Again too many wines to try, so I went table by table trying to find wines of interest, or completely new wines/wineries I have…

I was happy to be invited for the second year in a row to the Select Wines & Spirits’ Annual Portfolio Tasting, held at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.  Last year I found several gems that I passed along to you, and you will read about my latest wine recommendations.  You may want to compare to my last year’s…

Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) in Summerland, BC, has not yet been around for a year, but has already has an impressive list of up and coming wineries using their custom wine making services. On a recent Media trip to visit OCP, we were introduced to their winery clients, and learned more about OCP’s vineyard and wine making philosophies.  One of…

Being social has it’s privileges.  One such privilege is being invited to Marquis Wine Cellar’s Social Media tasting in downtown Vancouver.  A small, intimate affair with other social media wine and food bloggers; we get to try some new and exciting wines brought in by Marquis.  This year, I had my sights on two wines: 1) Josko Gravner Breg Anfora…

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go down to Woodinville, WA and try the wines from 4 different wineries. I’ve been travelling down to Woodinville every few months and going to a different set of wineries’ tasting rooms. I think I’ve counted about 96 tasting rooms, so going to 4 per trip will take me 24 trips. Where is…

What do you know about the Lombardy region of Italy?  Not much probably.  Neither did I until I attended an Italian Chamber of Commerce lunch today in downtown Vancouver. This region of Northern Italy is well known for cheese, charcuterie, wines, fresh produce and olive oil. Lombardy is also very well known for their cultivation of rice, which leads to…

Today I was looking forward to the latest wine releases from Le Vieux Pin and La Stella wineries. In case you haven’t heard or tried wines from these two wineries, Le Vieux Pin makes wine in a French style, while La Stella takes the Italian route.  What do eggs have to do with this?  Read on about the wines first….

Another winery I had a good luck to visit when I was in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State was Wind Rose Cellars.  The owner and wine maker, Mr. David Volmut, greeted me at the door.  Wind Rose Cellars just opened last year in Sequim (pronounced “skwim”) but is already producing some nice wines.  David does have wine making experience,…

My last event at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival was “Speaking Frankly About Franc“. I was eagerly waiting for this seminar as I really enjoy drinking Cabernet Franc. A grape that is at home in Bordeaux and in the Loire Valley. It is used as a blending grape in Bordeaux, as a minor partner to Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot….

There were more wineries than those from Chile at the 2012 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.  It took a while to drag me away from the Chilean wineries, and to try the wines from the rest of the world attending the Festival.  There were many nice wines, and now it’s my time to share them with you. Red Wines (and…