Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
Inniskillin Wines near Niagara-on-the-Lake holds a significant place in Canadian wine history as the country’s first estate winery since Prohibition. The granting of their license on July 31, 1975, was a historic event, as it was the first winery license issued by the LCBO since 1929. The founders, Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser, are credited with starting the winery. Inniskillin began…
It’s time for our BC wines to be recognized by our peers. The results from the 2023 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards have been announced. Here is the press release. Pick up the bottles that won as soon as possible as they will sell out soon! ~~~ (KELOWNA, BC) – April 18, 2023: On April 3 through 5, 2023,…
I received an email from an agency with wine suggestions for Valentine’s Day. I picked three from their list that are from BC and available through BC Liquor Stores. The wine descriptions below come from the agency. ~~~ The Inniskillin Okanagan Pinot Noir is perfect for a classy candlelight dinner for two. This is a silky medium-bodied red with cherry…
When we think about red wines of BC we think of wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah grapes. But what about lesser known grapes such as Malbec? How much single varietal Malbec wines are made in BC, or is blended with other grape varieties to make a “Meritage” wine? Malbec is a Bordeaux grape that needs…
There are many devices on the market to help open up a wine, aka decant, so that it is ready for drinking. People usually decant a tannic red wine to soften the tannins and to get the aromatics in the wine to become more open. Younger wines tend to need more decanting time than older wines as the older wines…
This past year I tasted a tremendous number of wines from around the world, but some wines really resonated with me. It may have been the great balance of fruit, sugar, acidity for a white wine, or the fruit, tannins and minerality in a red wine, or something else. Something that made the wine stand above the other wines. Could…
As promised I have enclosed my tasting notes for the wines I sampled at the three International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration seminars. Many of these Chardonnay come from Ontario, but there are also wines from BC, California, Chile, France and more. My notes are not as detailed as notes I make from my structured tastings at home, but should give…
Canada should be proud of its recent wine history. We started getting serious about vitis vinifera in the 1970s. BC and Ontario started growing wine grapes and producing wines. Nova Scotia and Quebec have followed, and I heard, but have not seen, that there are also wines being produced in New Brunswick. Our climate since the 1970s has warmed up…
Who is Bruce Nicholson? Bruce Nicholson joined Inniskillin Wines, Niagara-on-the-Lake as Wine maker on January 1, 2007, after working for 20 years in the Okanagan where he was the first wine maker, and then became the Senior Winemaker for Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate in British Columbia. Half of Bruce’s awards in 2012 were for ice wine. Does he want to be…
Canada is a big country, with our wine grape growing areas on the limit of possibility, but at the edges of possibility is where you can make exciting wines, I’ve been told. In the Festival Tasting Room I spent many hours tasting wines from BC, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, and speaking with the winery principals in attendance. Below are the…
Video Guide Uncorks the Story of British Columbia Wines. Buy Now.
