Tag: argentina

Have you tried any wine from Brasil before?  Did you know that there are wineries in Brasil?  You may think of the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema in Rio de Janiero, but if you go to the cooler climate in Southern Brasil you will find vineyards that were started by European settlers in the 1500s and continues today. I received…

Malbec is known as the signature grape of Argentina, but can it age?  We found this out, at least for our bottle sampled, during my Bodega Norton wine maker dinner earlier this month.  Bodega Norton’s Chief Winemaker, Jorge Riccitelli brought 3 bottles of their 1974 Malbec from Argentina for us to try.  Now this was not their Reserva level at…

Having dinner with the Wine Maker of the Year for 2012 is quite an event.  The odds of having a chance to meet and talk with the wine maker of the year, is slim, with so many great wine makers from around the world.  For me there is also a dash of synchronicity happening as I one week before reviewed…

About Bodega Norton Bodega Norton started in 1895 when Edmund James Norton arrived in Mendoza, Argentina. He founded Bodega Norton, south of the Mendoza River, planting vines he imported from France.  It wasn’t until 1989, almost 100 years, before Gernot Langes-Swarovski from Austria bought Bodega Norton. Through his efforts, in 2006, Wine Spectator nominated Bodega Norton as one of the…

Argentina is a country with Old World roots, yet produces wines that are definitely New World in style. Most wine drinkers have probably heard about their signature red grape “Malbec“, but there are also other hidden treasures for you to discover, like Torrontes (their signature white grape), Bonarda, Syrah, and Pinot Grigio.  The Celebrate One Night in Argentina shows us…

Wow, the Vancouver International Wine Festival was sure busy for me. I attended a dinner, a lunch, a seminar, and visited the Festival Tasting room 3 times. I was able to speak with many winery principals from California, which is always interesting. They can tell you background information about the winery or a particular wine they are pouring for you. Some…

The first time you walk into the International Festival Tasting Room can be intimidating, with 175 wineries pouring 3 or more wines each, you have at least 525 wines to try.  But over time, you become a wine tasting veteran like me, setting up a strategy, checking out the background of some wineries you may not have heard of before,…

This is not a New Years Resolution. It is too late in January for that.  What this is, is a suggested list of wines, or styles of wines, that you may want to consider trying.  Maybe you have never tried wines from Argentina? Why not?  With my list below, I give some reasons you may want to try these wines. …

I hazard to guess how many wines I tasted over the past year, but every year I find several gems that I pass along to you as I taste them.  Getting ready for the holiday season, you may be considering buying wines to take to parties, or serving wines at your parties.  What to buy? Here is a list of…

From the Fall through Spring, the Import Vintners & Spirits Association (IVSA) hosts a regular tasting of importers latest wines, beer and spirits.  The kick-off for the fall was last week, and it was very busy.  Again too many wines to try, so I went table by table trying to find wines of interest, or completely new wines/wineries I have…