Category: organic

I first met owners Chrstine Coletta and Steve Lornie in May 2011, when they were unveiling the concrete eggs they acquired to ferment a line of their wines at Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP). Jump forward 4 years, and you will see that they have followed a long, slightly windy road, that has brought them to where they are today; celebrating…

I am Terroir.  I have been thinking about this for quite a while.  The thought has percolated from the sun that has shone on my head, percolating through my brain, through my veins, mixing with the air that fills my lungs, and reaching my toes, where the roots have grown into the ground I stand.  Terroir is not a new…

Italian wines put a smile on my face and many other wine lovers I know.  Grapes that are native to Italy, and not as widespread around the world like Barbera, Nebbiolo, Rondinella and Corvina produce wines that are very interesting and flavourful.  But Italy still has to work hard to get the general wine drinking public knowledgeable about their wines. …

Haywire wines are made at Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) in Summerland, BC, and are co-owned by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie.  I have followed Haywire wines since their inception.  I like them as they try to be as organic and un-interventionist as possible, letting their wines tell their stories.  They make a range of wines; red, white, and bubble for…

When you drink Pinot Noir, is it always red?  Maybe you don’t realize it, but many sparkling wines are made with the Pinot Noir grape.  For example if you see the term “Blanc de Noirs” on a bottle of Champagne or other sparkling wine, the wine was made with red grapes.  Pinot Noir is a very common red grape for…

While it is not quite as hot and sunny as in Greece at this time of the year, it is warm enough for me, to look forward to enjoying some chilled aromatic white wines on the patio, along with a plate of oysters, chilled shrimp and cheese.  I received these three bottles of aromatic white wines from Summerhill Pyramid Winery…

Where in Vancouver can you taste wines from 114 different wineries across California?  At the California Wine Fair.  The 2014 Fair was last week and it did not disappoint, with sparkling, still and dessert wines for us to savour. And as an added benefit, proceeds to this event went to support the Arts Club Theatre, which is celebrating it’s 50th…

A daunting task, picking my favourite wines from a total of 1750 wines being poured at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.  Thankfully I was able to visit the Acura International Festival Tasting Room 4 times as Media, splitting time between France and the rest of the world.  I have already covered my favourite French wines in a separate article.  In…

2013 seems like a blur, with so many wine and food events to count.  In addition, we had an outstanding sunny summer here in Vancouver, which lead to enjoyment of more wine and bbq.  Between my main website, mywinepal.com, and my food & wine events site, mywinepal.wordpress.com, I wrote 188 posts.  That is 1 new post every other day, but…

This past week I had a chance to try 3 wines currently in the BC market from the De Martino winery, and one wine which is yet to be released.  The De Martino winery hails from Chile, originally located in the Maipo Valley, but has vineyards across Chile. About the De Martino Winery In 1998 they embarked on a project…