Tag: italy

Standing before the sprawling shelves of a BC Liquor store, LCBO, SAQ, or local specialty grocer, deciding between dozens of Tuscan red wines and artisanal extra virgin olive oils can feel overwhelming. Labels boast enticing imagery, but how do you spot true regional authenticity amidst slick marketing? Enter Savor Quality from Europe, an EU-cofunded initiative spotlighting the rich provenance behind…

Recently I attended a dinner at Sopra Sotto on Commercial Drive that hosted the wines from Tenuta Cali in Italy.  Angelo Dalbello, the export manager, attended and talked to us about the wines we were about to enjoy with our Italian dinner.  There are actually two wineries, Tenuta di Capraia in Tuscany and Graffetta in Sicily, that together form Tenuta…

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…

The ship has sailed and I am halfway through this trip on the Rhine River with Avalon Waterways.  I saw many steeply sloped vineyards yesterday south of Koblenz as well as a few castles perched on hillsides. Today we passed by Heidelberg.  Here are my tasting notes for a few more wines I enjoyed during my dinners.  I have been…

Cruising on the Rhine River with Avalon Waterways cruise line, the wine list at dinner changes daily.  Here are a few of the wines I tasted from my first two dinners.  All wines from the cruise are European. Many are from Austria.  None of these wines are currently available through the BC Liquor store, but who know, they may be…

When I first read the label, I almost thought that this is an Amarone from Veneto.  But on closer inspection the label says Amorini.  There is no official tasting notes from the winery that I could locate.  I did find a few other websites that reviewed this wine and it appears that this wine is a blend of two or…

We have had some turmoil in Canada and in BC for wines in 2025.  Many BC interior wineries suffered from the 2024 cold snap causing them to either not produce any wine in 2024, or importing grapes from across the border, or from Ontario.  We also had the removal of USA wines from BC government liquor stores.  Overall, we had…

As we close out 2025, we like to look back at what we enjoyed and learned about, like Italian wine, and what we may look forward to in 2026.  Below is a press release from the Consorzio Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and APOT providing us a review of this year and what to expect from them in the New Year. …

You have probably had Balsamic Vinegar of Modena of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) drizzled over tomatoes and mozzarella cheese in a Capreze Salad.  And you know that this deeply coloured, thick vinegar, comes from Italy.  But there is an interesting story behind Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI.  I was with a few other select media members to learn about the…

I recently was invited to taste a flight of wines from Sicily and have them paired with a variety of Italian street foods.  The venue was Bar Corso on Commercial Drive.  The setting was casual with the wines poured in a leisurely manner and the Italian appies coming by quickly, giving us a good chance to try all the wines…