Category: review

When I was contacted to see if I was interested to review this book, 100 Things to Do in Vancouver Before You Die, by Kathryn Anderson, I could not say no, as I’ve been a Vancouverite for 38 years as an adult, and counting.  What new gems may I find within these pages that I did not already know about?…

Your Tasting Brain: A Sensory Approach to Wine, Beer, and Other Pleasures, by Randy Mosher, is a deep dive into the science of how, what, and why the senses work the way they do when we taste something, with a smaller component covering the practical aspects tasting whether you are a casual drinker or an expert critic.  The science portion…

Stikky Books cover a variety of topics and are created with a simple method to learn about a topic, whether it is night sky constellations or how to taste wine.  I recently received the Stikky Wine book, written by Andrea Ribel, with background knowledge provided by several sommeliers. This book covers how to identify six aroma families, six different grape…

Holly Frey and Maria Trimarchi are two podcasters with a show called Criminalia which tries to dig in and take a closer look at some of history’s crimes and criminals from the ancient past, Egyptian times, to the near present.  The first year of their podcast covered “female poisoners” and as cocktail lovers they thought, why not enjoy a cocktail…

Beer has a long history, perhaps longer than wine, either way, both have ancient roots.  I received The Meaning of Beer by Jonny Garrett to review and was surprised at how beer has been intertwined with so many aspects of society. Jonny sifts through thousands of years of the evolution of beer, its effects on society, and innovation to today,…

Have you ever wished you had a proper wine glass when you were away from home?  Copain de Vin is an innovative product, a portable wine glass, designed to revolutionize how wine enthusiasts enjoy their favourite drink outdoors. Developed with the renowned three-time Vinologist of the Year, Alessandro Matrone, Copain de Vin asserts you will enjoy an authentic and enhanced…

  Jupiter’s Blood novel by Steven Laine Steven Laine is a fiction writer with WSET III, FWS, IWS, SWS, CWS, and Champagne Academy credentials.  For the 2020 harvest, Steven worked as a harvest cellarman for three months with the winemakers at Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in BC.  His novels revolve around some aspect of wine.  In his previous novel,…

Geoffrey Finch, a Canadian born in Victoria, moved to Paris and has been sharing his passion for wine and gastronomy in France for over 40 years.  He operates a series of historic walks through Paris’s vineyards, both visible and open to the public, those closed to the public, and some open only for special occasions.  His love of wine led…

I recommend opening two bottles of wine at the same time, not so that you have to finish both bottles in one sitting. Rather so that you can compare the two wines. What do you like about one wine more than another? What are the differences in their aromas and flavours?  Don’t open the first bottle, finish it, then open the…

Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine and an award-winning wine journalist, who spends her knowledge of wine and researching for writing to educate us on the history of wine tampering from Roman times to the present.  Her newest book is “Vintage Crime: A Short History of Wine Fraud“, which could be a historical thriller set in Europe in the…