Category: New Zealand

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful and sunny, and the Dockside Restaurant perfectly placed in Granville Island looking over the water.  With this as our backdrop we were enticed to try wines from around the world by 17 different wine agencies here in Vancouver.  The name of the event is Pelican Bay Wine Tasting.  As I had not attended this event before,…

In Part 1 of my Review of the New Zealand Wine Fair 2012, I talked about New Zealand’s sustainability goals, and provided tasting notes on the New Zealand wine makers’ upcoming varietals to the rest of the world of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Syrah. But there is also Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and more to try during this tasting. …

New Zealand is well known for its clean air, temperate climate, and dare I say, super natural environment?  New Zealand’s wine industry goal is to be 100% sustainable, organic, or biodynamic by 2012. I read that over 95% of their vineyards are operating under an independently audited sustainability programme and over 90% of their wine production is also under an…

November is always a special time for tasting new wines at the Import Vintners and Spirits Association (IVSA).  It’s just one month away from the Christmas and New Years holidays.  And that means lots of sparkling wines to taste.  So with this in mind, I spent almost all my time at the IVSA tasting bubbles.  And my picks are here…

What is a Portfolio Tasting? If you have never been before, it is a wine tasting held by a wine agent of all, or many of, the wines that they represent.  It is a great place to taste many different wines, typically from different countries, and learn a bit about the style of wines that they carry.  Are they focused…

In my previous article about preparing for your Summer Wine Trip in the Southern Hemisphere, I outlined most of the wine producing countries and some airline ticket prices from Canada to those countries.  This is Part 2 of this article, where you will get to know a bit about the signature grapes of Chile and Argentina and a few (not…

This Part 2 of my review of my picks from the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.  Part 1 covered the wines of Spain.  Part 2 is the rest of the world. Again, there are so many wines at the tasting, and so little time, I’m sure I missed many great wines.  If you tasted some that I didn’t list, please…

This week I attended the IVSA‘s latest tastings of new wine and spirits in the Vancouver area. There was at least 70 different tables from my quick count, with each table offering 5-10 different wines. As such, I was not able to try everything offered, but hopefully I was able to find a few gems, which I can pass along…

It was a beautiful, sunny day for the New Zealand Wine Fair in Vancouver. The event was held at the new Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. There were 33 different wineries present at this year’s event, and they covered all areas from both the north and south island. Many of the wineries present do not have representation in Canada, but…