MyWinePal

This long weekend I went to a friend’s house for dinner and I brought a bottle of Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley, France that I purchased last summer while I was on vacation. When I picked out this bottle to bring to the dinner party, I remembered going to the winery, my discussion with the person in the tasting…

My last visit to Lotusland Vineyard in the Abbotsford area, Fraser Valley, was September 2010. I thought coming up to September 2012 that I should make another visit and see what is new at Lotusland.  The lady at the winery I met today poured me their Enigma 2004, Merlot 2003, and 2 Cabs. All wines are under screwcap. When I…

What is nuance? By definition, nuance means ” A subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation” according to freedictionary.com. I received two bottles of nuance wines to try; a Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec blend, and a Sauvignon Blanc / Pinot Grigio blend from South Africa.  I do like South African wines.  They tend…

On Friday night, Dianne Chow and I were invited to sample some of the new menu items at Hurricane Grill (1137 Marinaside Crescent) in Yaletown. Hurricane Grill is situated in a beautiful part of Yaletown facing the inner harbour lined with sailing boats. Sitting on the patio, sipping a glass of wine is probably a past time of many of…

As a reminder the Tulalip Resort Casino’s award-winning food and wine aficionado event “Taste of Tulalip” will take place on November 9 & 10, 2012.  I attended last year’s event and was so impressed with the exceptional quality of the food and wine at it, that I really strongly encourage you to attend this year’s event.  The Big Bottles (Magnum)…

Have you ever attended ChefmeetsBCGrape before?  It is a great event where you get to try BC VQA wines, and wonderful food produced by top BC chefs.  The dishes prepared are from Ocean Wise partner restaurants, which is good IMHO as I want to support ocean-friendly seafood choices. This event is held in Vancouver. When you check the list of…

Aloha! Have you ever travelled to Hawaii?  Most people go to Waikiki to start, and then venture out to the other islands, like Maui.  I rediscovered Oahu staying on the west coast of the island in Ko Olina.  With my new perspective on Oahu, here are my 5 top reasons to like, and to visit Oahu, and Hawaii in general….

Yesterday evening was beautiful and sunny. Perfect to try some vodka drinks made with Absolut Vodka and paired with appetizers by the Teahouse in Stanley Park.  Jacob from Absolut Vodka told us a bit about how the vodka is produced using winter wheat and how it differs from spring wheat.  Also he noted that all the natural essences applied to…

I first met Bill Knutson, Proprietor of SpierHead Winery during the Spring VQA wine release in Vancouver.  We talked about their wines and Bill promised to send me a bottle of the new wines that would soon be released.  Fast forward to last week and two bottles showed up at my door.  The SpierHead Pinot Noir 2010 and the SpierHead…

Last night was a Media preview of the new food menu at the Establishment Lounge in Kitsilano, 3162 W. Broadway (at Trutch).  The Establishment Lounge food is created by Executive Chef Victor Bongo.  Chef Bongo is the author of a cookbook titled: “The Excellence of Chef Victor Bongo“, which was published in March of 2009 by Xlibris Corporation.  The international…