Category: wine tasting

David Scholefield and Michael Bartier are not new to wine in BC.  Michael Bartier was born and raised in the Okanagan and worked in the past for Hawthorne Mountain (See Ya Later Ranch), Township 7, Stag’s Hollow and most recently Road 13 Vineyards. He joins the team at Okanagan Crush Pad Winery as winemaker, where he and David produce their…

Have you ever wanted to go to Argentina, watch a live tango show, visit the Iguazu Falls (remember the movie “The Mission”?), walk the vineyards in Mendoza, eat an Argentinean style barbeque (asado), and enjoy a big Malbec with your asado?  I’ve been to Argentina, and had a chance to do many of these things.  Argentina is a big, beautiful…

The Grand Taste is the last, and biggest event for the Taste of Tulalip.  I was amazed when I saw how long the line up was for people to enter this event.  If you’ve been to the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, this lineup was at least that long or longer.  Represented at the Grand Taste were 66 WA wineries,…

Meyer Family Vineyards goal is”crafting single vineyard wines of excellence“. This is my fourth review of their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines and each year their wines get better.  More complexity, more balance. For this review I received a bottle of the following wines: Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay, McLean Creek Road Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, 2010 Meyer Family Vineyards Tribute Series…

November is always a special time for tasting new wines at the Import Vintners and Spirits Association (IVSA).  It’s just one month away from the Christmas and New Years holidays.  And that means lots of sparkling wines to taste.  So with this in mind, I spent almost all my time at the IVSA tasting bubbles.  And my picks are here…

When people hear Napa Valley, they think big Cabernets.  Which is true, you can get some huge Cabernet Sauvignons there, but they also produce other wines, such as Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Noir.  Did you know that the Napa Valley is one-eighth the size of Bordeaux and produces just 4% of California’s wine grape harvest, and 95% of its wineries…

I really do enjoy finding wines that excite me, and I think you will also like. I’ve been to a Mark Anthony Brands Portfolio tasting and really enjoyed it. There were wines from all price points, and styles from red, white, dessert, fortified and bubbles. So when I was invited to their latest Portfolio tasting, I couldn’t wait. White Wine…

I’ve been told that over the past two decades, the Wines of British Columbia have truly come of age.  Wines are produced in the Okanagan, the Similkameen, the Fraser Valley, the Gulf Islands and on Vancouver Island.  Cool climate to desert conditions let us produce a wide range of wines and wine styles.  At the BC VQA Wines Fall Release,…

What is a Portfolio Tasting? If you have never been before, it is a wine tasting held by a wine agent of all, or many of, the wines that they represent.  It is a great place to taste many different wines, typically from different countries, and learn a bit about the style of wines that they carry.  Are they focused…

Two countries down: Chile and Argentina.  Did you try to pick up any of the wines I mentioned?  Hope you do have a chance to see what Argentina and Chile have to offer. Now, let’s talk about South Africa in this second part of Signature Grapes and Icon Wines of the Southern Hemisphere.  I decided to put South Africa on…