Category: Sangiovese

Many people have taken an ocean cruise travelling up to Alaska or around the Caribbean, or maybe the Mediterranean Sea, but fewer people have taken a river cruise, as far as I know.  I decided to go on a Rhine River cruise hosted by Avalon Waterways, travelling from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland.  It was an eight day trip and included…

2022 was a super vintage for the Okanagan wineries.  Hester Creek Estate Winery, as part of this epic vintage, vinified their first Super Tuscan style wine, named UNDICI.  To taste UNDICI is to taste a little bit of Italy.  UNDICI joins The Judge and Garland as part of their Origin Series wines. Together these three wines reflect the beautiful terroir…

We have had some turmoil in Canada and in BC for wines in 2025.  Many BC interior wineries suffered from the 2024 cold snap causing them to either not produce any wine in 2024, or importing grapes from across the border, or from Ontario.  We also had the removal of USA wines from BC government liquor stores.  Overall, we had…

Gate 22 Winery in Surrey, BC, is probably new to many people.  I know it only came on my radar later this year.  It has an interesting name, which made me think of a gate at an airport, plus their logo shows an airplane propeller.  When I checked with the winery, I was told the ownership group manages the Boundary…

The Italian Trade Commission had their 19th Annual Italian Wine Tasting in Vancouver.  There was the opportunity to meet the principals of 40 distinguished Italian wine estates.  I tasted mainly white and sparkling wines at this tasting and at the very end tried a few Italian red wines.  What I like about Italian wines is that many of the grapes are…

My last winery visit while I was staying in the Osoyoos area was the La Stella Winery.  I met with tasting room manager, Wade Martin, as he poured me their recent wine releases and discussed wines in general.  Their winery like other Okanagan wineries was affected by the 2024 winter blast.  Out of 70 acres of planted vines, they were…

I enjoy working with wine agents.  They gather wines from around the world and offer the wines to us for our enjoyment.  This year is the 10th Anniversary of World Wine Synergy (WWS), and I was fortunate, along with other wine trade people to celebrate this anniversary at La Quercia restaurant.  Over those 10 years I’ve been invited to meet…

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After attending the Chianti Classico: Digging into the Region’s UGA Masterclass, there was a walk around tasting from the wineries from the masterclass plus other wineries in the region; 26 wineries in total, each pouring three wines, so 78 different Chianti Classico wines to try from the foundation, Annata, wines, to Riserva middle tier, and the top tier, Gran Selezione. …

I was honoured to attend the Chianti Classico: Digging into the Region’s UGA Masterclass lead by Michaela Morris. The masterclass, hosted by the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico, focused on the region’s evolution, particularly the introduction of the Gran Selezione category and the newly established Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive (UGAs). The presentation highlighted the historical significance of the region, the hierarchical structure…