Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
I finally had a chance on a recent trip to Victoria to make a side trip to the Cowichan Valley to visit Unsworth Vineyards and Blue Grouse Estate Winery. Unsworth is a bit closer to Victoria, so it was the first stop on my wine tasting day. The winery grounds look beautiful with a modern-designed tasting room with lots of…
Have you ever heard of a sparkling wine called Charme de l’ile, Island Charm in English? It is not a wine from France. It is from Vancouver Island and can only be made on Vancouver Island using Island grapes. Just like Champagne can only be made in the Champagne region of France. Charme is also a nod to the method…
This week we had a trade event featuring the latest BC white wines, many from 2024, as well as some red wines. In 2024 we had a terrible winter freeze that killed most of the grape vines in the interior of BC, so BC wineries were given permission from the BC government to source grapes from outside BC. Many winemakers…
The wines of BC and the rest of the world, excluding the USA, were the last of the wines I tasted at the International Festival Tasting Room during VanWineFest 2025. Read through my wine tasting notes below and if you find some wines that spark your interest, check out your local BC Liquor store, some private wine shops,…
The Fall release of BC VQA wines was in late September. Due to skytrain issues getting to the venue, I did not have as much time to taste the new wine releases, so I concentrated on white wines. There were also red wines, but not enough time to taste. There are a few sparkling wines on this list, which you…
To start off the Vancouver International Wine Festival, I attended this masterclass which featured 11 British Columbia wines from across the province, “Defining the Root of BC Terroir“. Our panellists, the winemakers at the wineries, discussed the unique growing conditions of their vineyard and terroir of the area. There was also some discussion on what BC winegrowers are doing in…
Today I tasted Pinot Gris two ways from Enrico Winery. The two wines I tasted are their Shining Armour Pinot Gris 2018 and their Celebration Charme de l’ile 2019. The latter wine is a sparkling wine, made with the Charmat (tank) method. Charme de l’ile (Island charm) is a term for this type of sparkling wine made by some wineries…
Riesling, Pinot Gris and Viognier were prominent in this BC VQA Spring wine release tasting. It is not surprising as white wine releases are more common in the Spring while more red wines are released in the Fall. Viognier though I think made a bigger showing this year than in past years, and showed well. Lots of fruit flavour and…
Tucked away on side roads across southern and mid-Vancouver Island, you can be surprised by a family-run winery. Enrico Winery is one such winery, located at 3280 Telegraph Road, Mill Bay, B.C. A cool climate region, this winery has forged ahead growing very interesting hybrid grapes by Valentin Blattner, a Swiss grape geneticist. Several of Blattner’s grape hybrids are grown in…
Video Guide Uncorks the Story of British Columbia Wines. Buy Now.
