Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
Standing before the sprawling shelves of a BC Liquor store, LCBO, SAQ, or local specialty grocer, deciding between dozens of Tuscan red wines and artisanal extra virgin olive oils can feel overwhelming. Labels boast enticing imagery, but how do you spot true regional authenticity amidst slick marketing? Enter Savor Quality from Europe, an EU-cofunded initiative spotlighting the rich provenance behind…
Recently I attended a dinner at Sopra Sotto on Commercial Drive that hosted the wines from Tenuta Cali in Italy. Angelo Dalbello, the export manager, attended and talked to us about the wines we were about to enjoy with our Italian dinner. There are actually two wineries, Tenuta di Capraia in Tuscany and Graffetta in Sicily, that together form Tenuta…
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…
Gambero Rosso is Italy’s leading authority on food, wine, and culinary culture, renowned for its annual Vini d’Italia guide, which evaluates over 45,000 wines to identify the country’s finest. The prestigious Tre Bicchieri (Three Glasses) award is reserved for fewer than 1% of these wines, marking them as exceptional examples of Italian winemaking. To celebrate and promote these top-tier wines,…
This is my third article reviewing Canadian Wine Trends that happened over 2024. In this article, I will review our interest in Old World (e.g. Europe) vs New World (e.g. North and South America) wines. Did we get more interested in European wines? I used Google Trends to produce graphs for our interest in Old World and New World wine areas, showing…
I was invited to sit down with Mr. Beppe d’Andrea, Ruffino‘s Senior Global Brand Ambassador, to taste a selection of their wines and talk about the winery and other wine topics while Beppe was attending VanWineFest 2024. In 1987, Beppe began his career with Ruffino and has never looked back. Initially working in the vineyards, he soon joined the winemaking…
On Friday during VanWineFest 2024, I spent my time in the International Festival Tasting Room, primarily tasting Italian red wines. There was a great variety of wines from across the country and while I attempted to visit every table, that was an impossible task. Here are the wines that I quite enjoyed. If there are red wines you tasted at…
There will be several wineries from the Chianti Classico region attending VanWineFest 2024. What do you know about this style of wine? I have some background information for you, followed by a list of wineries from the region that you can visit at the International Festival Tasting Room. Cin cin. About Chianti Classico Wines Nestled in the heart of Tuscany,…
If you are a lover of French and Italian wines, then you should love the portfolio of wines from Galileo Wine & Spirits. There were so many excellent wines to choose from. Here are a few of the wines that I really appreciated. My Wine Tasting Notes Chateau de Fuisse Macon-Village 2022, France – A medium lemon colour. Fresh, medium-intensity…
In June 2023 Rocca delle Macìe celebrated their winery’s 50th Anniversary. Winery principals have attended VanWineFest in the past as well as other Italian wine events here in Vancouver. I am looking forward to seeing them at VanWineFest 2024 and clinking a glass to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. Here is some information by Rocca delle Macìe about their 50 years…
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