Tag: chardonnay

While I was Grinch-like in awarding 5 stars to only three wines I tasted in 2024, I was more Oprah-like with the 4.5-5 -star wines.  Plus, there are many quality wines, so it should not be a surprise.  This year there were 13 BC wines, 18 Italian wines, 4 French wines, 2 Californian wines, and 4 wines from New Zealand…

In 2024, I wrote 190 articles, with most of the articles reviewing at least one bottle of wine.  From a quick calculation, I wrote about 493 wines on mywinepal this year.  Wines submitted to me through the year ranged from to wines, but I usually only post wines that were at least .   5-star wines are the wines that I…

BC’s Hester Creek Estate Winery made two delicious wines that would go well with your holiday dinners.  Both are elegant, flavourful, not heavy-bodied. I received their Source Collection Chardonnay 2023 and Syrah 2022 to review.  The Source Collection represents a source of inspiration, these wines represent the treasured qualities of their rare Old Vine vineyard and that of their select…

When you buy wine in a BC Liquor store, you don’t think about how the wine was selected for the shelves.  Behind the scenes are many wine agencies that search for wines from around the world, to build their portfolio, and have some of their portfolio sold through BC Liquor stores with the remaining wines, usually specialty wines, sold in…

Kevin Judd from the Greywacke winery in Marlborough, New Zealand, may not sound familiar to many readers, but Kevin is one of the pioneer winemakers in Marlborough.  He was born in England and raised in Australia where he studied winemaking. In 1983 he moved to New Zealand and was the founding winemaker at Cloudy Bay, which all New Zealand wine…

Wineries change hands as the original owners decide to either retire or otherwise move on.  The new owners then have to live up to or surpass the reputation of that winery.  I was invited to a winemaker’s dinner at Provence Marinaside with the winery being BC’s Fairview Cellars. Fairview Cellars was taken over by husband and wife team, Danielle and…

Let’s welcome J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines to the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2025 and enjoy their wines from the Paso Robles region of California. Here is some background to the winery and a list of the wines they will be pouring at the International Festival Tasting Room.  Enjoy. About J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines,…

You may not have heard of Jean-Claude Mas but his family began growing grapes in the south of France in 1892.  Jean-Claude gained experience in the wine business and education around the world, coming back to the family business when he inherited his father’s vineyards in Pézénas of 35 hectares.  In 2000 he created Les Domaines Paul Mas from these…

Monte Del Frá, from the Verona region of Italy for the past 60+ years has produced wines from indigenous grapes; both red and white grapes. Verona is a province within the Veneto wine region in Northeast Italy. They make two fun wines I’ve written about in the past, but bringing it up again as they are fun wines, easy to…

Hillside Winery on the Naramata Bench was the last winery on my wine-tasting tour.  The founders of the winery were Vera and Bohumir Klokcka who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1979, buying the property but did not plant the first grape vines till 1984.  Although no longer owners, I’m told that winemaker, Kathy Malone, still talks with Vera, who is…