Tag: france

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,…

The Wine Bar at Provence Marinaside in Yaletown has recently opened.  I received an invitation to experience the food, wine, and ambiance.  The Wine Bar entrance is through Provence Marinaside.  When you enter you are first beside the bar.  It is fairly narrow, but a good spot to sit at the bar and chat.  Beyond the bar there is a…

I made this original post 2 years ago, and have been updating it in subsequent years.  I think there is still an interest in having some fun for New Year’s Eve.  Sparkling wine paired with caviar I think fits that category.  I’ve added some additional text and champagnes for you.  Hopefully you will be able to find these more recent…

In my last post I gave you my list of favourite white and sparkling wines that I tasted in 2012.  Hopefully, you can buy a bottle or two for one of your holiday soirees.   My follow-up to that article is my favourite red wines.  With a special request from my friend Kalpna, I have a section for Pinot Noir, but…

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…

It is not often that you can enjoy a magnum of wine, unless you are having a celebration like a birthday party, wedding, etc. At the Taste of Tulalip, we did have the Celebration Dinner on the Friday night, so on Saturday we were treated to keep celebrating with some wonderful magnums of wine from around the world. Last year…

We have just a little over one month away before we are with family and friends, enjoying dinners, gifts, and of course celebratory wine.  And when we think of wines for celebrations, we think “bubbles”.  For some of you it may be Champagne, but there are many other sparkling wines, such as Cava, Prosecco, and Cremant.  I recently had a…

Looking back at the World Wars, I think about how many of our veterans are left.  So many sacrificed their lives for us.  And there are so few now.  I hope we can keep carrying our torch for them. The wineries in France helped in the World Wars.  The tunnels beneath the cities of Reims and Epernay in the Champagne region…

I sat up at attention when this email message showed up.  Oyosoos Larose produces very high quality red Bordeaux blends in the South Okanagan.  Wine maker, Pascal Madevon‘s top wine being the “Le Grand Vin” and then a second tier, but also very tasty, “Pétales d’ Osoyoos Larose“.  I have met Pascal many times at wine tasting events and he…

Every year Mark Anthony Wine Merchants have a portfolio tasting of their wines from around the world. Every year I am impressed by wineries that I know, and new wineries I have yet to try. This year I have tasty wines for you from sparkling to still red and whites. Sparkling Lanson Black Label, NV, France, ($64.99). Nice creamy, bready,…