Category: pinot noir

As promised, here are my remaining 3 wines that I am pairing with the three “Entertaining Cheeses” that I received from Saputo. The three wines are: CedarCreek Chardonnay 2017, 50th Parallel Estate Pinot Noir 2017, and Château de Marsan 2010. Two BC wines and one French Bordeaux wine with 10 years of age. The three cheeses are from the brands…

Granted, 2020 has been a terrible year due to COVID.  It has affected everyone around the world.  But a sparkle of optimism is on the way.  There are currently COVID vaccines that should be released shortly, which will be used for our high risk healthcare professionals, seniors and others with immune compromised health first, and then to the general public. …

New Zealand is a small country, but is delivering a whopping amount of wine and generating an amazing NZ $2 billion in the process.  Here is the press release from the New Zealand Winegrowers about their export sales.  Canada figures into their totals, as we appreciate their clean, quality wines. ~~~ 26 November 2020: International demand for New Zealand wine…

The Vancouver International Wine Festival in 2021 host countries were slated to be from South America.  One of the countries, Brasil, is one that I have heard makes wine, but never had a chance to try.  With COVID, I understand why VanWineFest cancelled the 2021 Festival, but my interest in finding out about Brasilian wine did not diminish. Fortunately, Vinexpo New…

Pinot Noir and Riesling are probably my favourite red and white grapes respectively.  Both are very transparent to their terroir.  Pinot Noir shows different aromas and flavours with the growing season weather for the year, and can be made as a still wine or into sparkling wine, e.g. Champagne.  Riesling can be made anywhere from bone dry to very sweet…

Canadian Thanksgiving is going to be very different this year for many of us who are accustomed to getting together with our parents, brothers and sister, and maybe aunts and uncles for dinner.  It will be smaller, and may be just you, but you can still enjoy your turkey, ham, or vegan Thanksgiving meal with a glass or two of…

There is such a range of wines in France as you travel North to South and East to West, with so many different climates and soils.  The vintages can be different for major regions across France.  Luckily I was contacted by the Vignobles & Signatures Club whose members span France’s major appellations to tell me about the 2020 harvest, which…

You may say that 1990 was when South African wine came on the international scene.  That is the year that Nelson Mandela was released and sanctions against South Africa were subsequently lifted.  Before that time South African wines were made in a style that pleased the South Africa palate.  But opening their wines up to the world and a more…

Main Divide Waipara Pinot Noir 2018 (NZ $24) I’m going to make a call right now and suggest this is one of THE BEST VALUE pinot noirs available in the country (New Zealand) right now. Incredibly plush, plucky and packed solid with cherry, raspberry, rhubarb flavours, buckets of spice, tantalising tannins, sneaky black tea layers and fabulous length of flavour,…

At this point of my trip to Chile I had visited wineries from the Aconcagua and the Casablanca Valleys.  Now I visited a few wineries closer to Santiago in the Maipo Valley, then headed south to the Colchagua Valley.   A Visit to Wineries of the Maipo Valley Around Santiago Around Santiago is the Maipo Valley, which is the oldest wine…