Category: Spain

My first Trade tasting for 2019 was this week, with agents showing the latest new wines they have brought to Vancouver or new vintages of wines that are currently in our market.  I was quite surprised by how many sparkling wines I had a chance to try.  I normally see a peak interest in sparkling wine leading up to the…

Grapes may have different names depending on where they are grown around the world.  How much do you know?

We are getting closer to VanWineFest 2019 and the stars are aligning.  The stars you can see at the Vancouver International Wine Festival Tasting come from our theme region, California, as well as from around the world, and even from our own Province!  What is a vine star?  A vine star is a term the Festival uses for winery principals…

I tasted through many years this year through Trade tastings with agents and BC VQA wineries, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, visits to wineries, and personal purchases.  I rate all the wines I taste from 1 to 5 stars.  Fortunately, the quality of many wines is quite good, giving them at least a 3 out of 5-star rating.  At the…

One of the perks of being a wine writer is an invitation to a portfolio tasting from a wine agent.  The agency can bring out winery principals in some cases, who you can have a chat to about their wines.  They also pour wines that are available at regular retail, specialty wine shops, and special orders.  Having access to these…

If you have ever attended the Top Drop tastings in Vancouver, you will have experienced many 4.5 to 5 star wines according to my rating scale.  I recently attended a portfolio tasting by Vintage Corks, and this tasting was in that same quality range.  Vintage Corks offers premium wines from US, Italy, Canada and more.  You can find Vintage Corks’…

Vancouver-based wine importer Vintage Corks is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a walk-around tasting featuring some of the world’s most exclusive wineries. Vintage Corks is unusual among local wine importers in that the agency specializes in acclaimed and hard-to-find boutique wines from around the world.  It is the exclusive local representative of celebrated wines from producers such as Gaja, Dana Estate,…

Did you know that Spain’s wine heritage is at least three thousand years old?  Yet, you may not know much about Spanish wine, except for perhaps Rioja red wines and Spanish Cava.  Tempranillo is the best-known grape from Spain, being used to produce red wines from the Rioja region, as well as other regions in Spain. Tempranillo comes from the…

Spain has had a long history of winemaking, from classic Riojas, newer Mencia from Bierzo, to Cavas and more. During the Vancouver International Wine Festival, I and several other attendees joined Master of Wine, Barbara Philip to explore a wide range of Spanish wines and to listen to the forward-looking producers behind them. The winery principals speaking to us were: Fernando Gimenez…

From pale and dry to dark and syrupy, there’s a Sherry for every occasion.  But, Sherry is a very misunderstood wine style.  To provide us with more clarity and experience with Sherry we had Lara Victoria, DipWSET of Cru Classe Hospitality Corp to lead us through a WSET Masterclass at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Lara, besides being a WSET…