MyWinePal

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…

I recently stopped in to visit Ed and Vicki Collett from Harper’s Trail Estate Winery in Kamloops, BC. Yes Kamloops!  I first met Ed and Vicki at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and then at a recent Media Trip to Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland, where Harper’s Trail wines are being vinified.  I was excited to see their vineyard…

In my earlier post, Growing Wineries with Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP), I introduced you to the vineyard management, wine making skills, and the growing list of new wineries making use of OCP. In this second part of this article, I will introduce you to these new wineries, and provide you with a few tasting notes on the wines I sampled….

Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) in Summerland, BC, has not yet been around for a year, but has already has an impressive list of up and coming wineries using their custom wine making services. On a recent Media trip to visit OCP, we were introduced to their winery clients, and learned more about OCP’s vineyard and wine making philosophies.  One of…

Pulling into Bill and Darlene Freding’s Ranch, in Oliver, BC, we were greeted by cowboys and cowgirls on horseback.  This would be the start of our cowboy welcome to one of the newest wineries in BC.  Bill and Dar, have been cattle ranching together since the late 1970’s in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.  Fast forward to 1998, they had purchased some land…

Being social has it’s privileges.  One such privilege is being invited to Marquis Wine Cellar’s Social Media tasting in downtown Vancouver.  A small, intimate affair with other social media wine and food bloggers; we get to try some new and exciting wines brought in by Marquis.  This year, I had my sights on two wines: 1) Josko Gravner Breg Anfora…

Last week was the first, Vol 1, of Vancouver Foodster’s Food Talks.  It was held in the W2 Media Cafe downtown.  To warm us up, we were treated to an array of Indian inspired non-alcoholic drinks and appetizers, and red & white wines from Misconduct Wine Company from Penticton. There was a wide range of speakers this evening.  Two chefs,…