Category: Vancouver

Yesterday marked the official launch of the 2015 Vancouver International Wine Festival Kick Off, held at Joeys Restaurant downtown at the Bentall Centre.  We had Harry Hertscheg, Vancouver International WIne Festival executive director, start off the Kick Off telling us about the wine festival, its many participating wineries, dinners and other events this year, and about Bard on the Beach,…

The Vancouver International Wine Festival 2015 is coming upon us quickly, with the Festival starting on February 20.  There will be 170 wineries in attendance from 14 different countries in attendance.  At the Acura International Festival Tasting Room in the Vancouver Convention Centre, there will be more than 750 wines available for sampling.  It is of course not possible to…

Australia is an ancient land, with some of the oldest known rocks in the world.  To that Australia has a 200 year wine making history, with vinous roots that reach back more than 100 years.  Shiraz was one of the original varieties brought to Australia from Europe and is an iconic grape for the country.  The Vancouver International Wine Festival…

Dine Out Vancouver starts treating us to fantastic food starting this Friday, January 16 till February 1st. There are so many choices from the $18-$28-$38 fixed price meals.  New restaurants are always coming into our food scene, so there are always wonderful surprises each year.  This year, one of our new restaurants is Morocco West located at Jervis and Robson….

Fowles WIne is a new winery for me from Australia, but I am curious to try their wines.  They make a wine that is blended to match wild game meat.  That is quite interesting.  They also have 2 Sauvignon Blancs to try, which you normally don’t think of that much from Australia.  Curious to try.  Read about the winery, from…

February 19, 2015 will be the Chinese New Year; the Year of the Sheep.  Haywire Wines from Summerland in the Okanagan have released their second vintage of the Lunar New Year wine.  I was privileged to try their first release for this current year, the Year of the Wooden Horse.  The wine was crafted to complement Asian dishes.  With the…

Thorn-Clarke Wines is coming from Australia to pour their wines for you at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.  I’ve known and tasted their wines for many years while I was part of the South World Wine Society here in Vancouver. Read about Thorn-Clarke Wines here (and some bonus material at the end by me!). ~~~ The name Thorn-Clarke derives literally…

Thistledown Wines draws on its Celtic links for their logo. Established in 2010 by Giles Cooke MW, “The Pom”, Fergal Tynan MW “The Irishman” and Peter Leske “The Australian of German Descent”. Giles Cooke passed his MW first time around and has since had wine making experience in Spain, Australia and California. Fergal Tynan has extensively travelled the world and…

Thinking of a Christmas gift for a spouse, relative, or how about you?  The Vancouver International Wine Festival tickets for the 2015 event are now on sale.  Details from the Festival are below.  Cheers! ~~~ FREE $89 VANWINEFEST TICKET WITH HOTEL BOOKING Discounts on International Festival Tasting tickets, Gold Pass Tasting Lounge & Gold Pass also available; sale starts Nov….

“The Hart House Restaurant really cares about their food and user experience”, I thought as I sat there on a Saturday night with my dining companion.  The white cotton patterned table-cloth, the beautifully decorated rooms, the knowledgeable servers, the beautifully plated food, all caught my attention. I came as a guest to try their Seafood Celebration Prix Fixe menu, which…