Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
How many of you save bottles of wine to taste many years later? Some of us do this on purpose while others forget about a bottle in the back of a cabinet and discover it after the wine has aged many years. I do keep bottles to age on purpose. One bottle from the French Languedoc is Chateau Notre Dame…
I recently attended a lunch at Social Corner in downtown Vancouver paired with a selection of Côté Mas wines from Domaines Paul Mas in the Languedoc in southern France. Two years ago I had a wine pairing dinner in Vancouver with Jean-Claude Mas, introducing me to several of their range of wines. In this lunch, I met with Jean-Claude Mas’…
Sometimes two different wineries or wine families get together in partnership to form a new winery, such as Almaviva, which is a joint venture established in the late 1990s between Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and the Guilisasti/Larrain family, theowners of Concha y Toro. Another example is Chateau Ste. Michelle of Washington state and Ernst Loosen of Germany, creating Eroica Riesling. …
I recently decided to review two French red wines that are blends. Blends have the benefit that two or more grape varieties together fill in the weakness of the other grape. For example, one grape may be fruity but lack tannins, while another grape has plenty of tannins but lacks much fruit character. Putting the two grape varieties together makes…
The FIFA World Cup starts June 11, 2026, with Canada’s first game on June 12th against Bosnia and Herzegovina. As we play and win games, which sparkling wine will you be drinking to celebrate our wins? Champagne Taittinger has been awarded the Official Champagne of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Their special edition FIFA Brut Reserve Champagne is available across…
Many people have taken an ocean cruise travelling up to Alaska or around the Caribbean, or maybe the Mediterranean Sea, but fewer people have taken a river cruise, as far as I know. I decided to go on a Rhine River cruise hosted by Avalon Waterways, travelling from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. It was an eight day trip and included…
French wines from the Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages AOCs are here to show a new generation of drinkers just how delicious and versatile these appellations can be. I have a rosé and 2 red wines from these AOCs to review: Louis Bernard, Cotes du Rhone, Rosé, 2024 Mas de Sainte Croix Tendresse d’un Climat, Cotes du…
We had another successful year at the Vancouver International Wine Festival for 2026. The Festival was a little smaller in size, I think, due to the ongoing political developments happening around the world. Hopefully, these events will resolve themselves before the end of this year so that next year will have more wines and wineries for us to enjoy at VanWineFest…
I started my wine tasting at the International Festival Tasting Room during VanWineFest 2026 with French white and sparkling wines. Below are my favourite white and sparkling wines. I noticed after making my list that almost all the wines are made from the Chardonnay grape. I am not sure how many of these wines are still available for purchase, but…
I spent Friday afternoon at the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2026 tasting French red wines. Here are my favourite French wines from the International Festival Tasting Room. There is a fairly even distribution of red wines from different regions of France (and therefore different varietals) in my picks below. Enjoy. My French Red Wine Selections Castel Frères Exclusive Aspirant de…
Video Guide Uncorks the Story of British Columbia Wines. Buy Now.
