Category: Spain

It’s Spring!  I have at least 5 tulips blooming in my front yard, the sun is out, and I’m looking to find some new and exciting white wines for the patio for me and for you.  Last week was the latest Import Vintners & Spirits Association (IVSA) Trade tasting to introduce the wine & spirits trade to the new libations…

If you read my blog regularly you will know my affection for the Taste of Tulalip event held the start of November every year at the Tulalip Resort Casino in Washington State.  This year is their 5th anniversary of the event.  Besides their wonderful dinner on Friday night, the big draw is “The Grand Taste” on Saturday afternoon, which is…

Where is Valdepeñas? Valdepeñas is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) for wines located in the province of Ciudad Real in the south of Castile-La Mancha (Wikipedia). Valdepeñas means Valley of Rocks, referring to the special soil, strewn with pebbles and larger stones over limestone and clay. It is a region with a long history of vine growing with records…

TWB – The Wine Bar opened December 2012 and is yet to reach it’s first birthday.  A very unpretentious place where there are a plethora of wines around the by the glass, which you can sip  with tiny bites and tapas. But did you know that Rachelle Goudreau, Sommelier at TWB, is offering something extra every other Thursday; a bit of…

Definition: Tapas – Small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar.  The variety of tapas though is uncountable.  Every bar or restaurant may have their own take on a Spanish classic, so you need to try them all.  Recently on my quest to experience Spanish tapas, I was invited to Patria Restaurant in downtown Toronto. Walking into Patria,…

This past week, the Seacove Group, a wine agency located in Vancouver, brought over 5 winery principals from Europe to show us a range of their wines.  Strolling through the cobbled Gastown streets, between restaurants, one could imagine you were in Europe.  The winery principals and the participating restaurants, hosting the principals are: Champagne de Vonage, Epernay, France,  Mr. Gilles…

We have just a little over one month away before we are with family and friends, enjoying dinners, gifts, and of course celebratory wine.  And when we think of wines for celebrations, we think “bubbles”.  For some of you it may be Champagne, but there are many other sparkling wines, such as Cava, Prosecco, and Cremant.  I recently had a…

From the Fall through Spring, the Import Vintners & Spirits Association (IVSA) hosts a regular tasting of importers latest wines, beer and spirits.  The kick-off for the fall was last week, and it was very busy.  Again too many wines to try, so I went table by table trying to find wines of interest, or completely new wines/wineries I have…

On the MyWinePal blog I posted my Spanish wine picks, sans reviews, but promised the reviews would come out here on the main MyWinePal website. As promised, I’ve had a chance to sit down in front of the computer going through my wine notes and entering them for you. I hope you find a wine or two of interest to…

This week I attended the IVSA‘s latest tastings of new wine and spirits in the Vancouver area. There was at least 70 different tables from my quick count, with each table offering 5-10 different wines. As such, I was not able to try everything offered, but hopefully I was able to find a few gems, which I can pass along…