Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
With the changing seasons we have changes in menus at our restaurants. Last week Dianne Chow and I went to Beachside Forno in West Vancouver to have a sample of items from their new fall menu. We were greeted by manager, Andy, as well as Chef Jason Harris. This evening we were treated to 3 of the new fall items,…
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to interview Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, located in Kelowna, BC. One of the things Ezra told me about was a new line of BC VQA wines that they are producing called “Alive“, making both a red and a white wine. The wine labels really look alive too with pictures…
BC wines are continuing to make strides around the world. Last year BC wineries won more than 2000 medals in national and international competition according to the BC Wine Institute. BC has over 208 wineries today. We grow over 75 different grape varieties! Merlot is the most planted grape in BC, and Pinot Gris is the most planted white grape…
When you talk with visitors to the Okanagan, most will say they want to visit Summerhill Winery and see their pyramid, where they partially age all their wines. Some may say they also want to visit because it uses biodynamic farming methods. I sat down with Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill, and son of the founder, Stephen Cipes, at a restaurant…
I was happy to be invited for the second year in a row to the Select Wines & Spirits’ Annual Portfolio Tasting, held at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club. Last year I found several gems that I passed along to you, and you will read about my latest wine recommendations. You may want to compare to my last year’s…
I always appreciate seminars held with winemakers and winery principals to discuss their wines. In this case, it was with winemaker Severine Pinte and General Manager Rasoul Salehi from Le Vieux Pin in the Chateau Belair Boardroom of the Sutton Place Hotel. Le Vieux Pin is one of my favourite wineries in the Okanagan. They consistently deliver high quality red…
My last visit to Lotusland Vineyard in the Abbotsford area, Fraser Valley, was September 2010. I thought coming up to September 2012 that I should make another visit and see what is new at Lotusland. The lady at the winery I met today poured me their Enigma 2004, Merlot 2003, and 2 Cabs. All wines are under screwcap. When I…
Last night was a Media preview of the new food menu at the Establishment Lounge in Kitsilano, 3162 W. Broadway (at Trutch). The Establishment Lounge food is created by Executive Chef Victor Bongo. Chef Bongo is the author of a cookbook titled: “The Excellence of Chef Victor Bongo“, which was published in March of 2009 by Xlibris Corporation. The international…
I recently stopped in to visit Ed and Vicki Collett from Harper’s Trail Estate Winery in Kamloops, BC. Yes Kamloops! I first met Ed and Vicki at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and then at a recent Media Trip to Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland, where Harper’s Trail wines are being vinified. I was excited to see their vineyard…
Pulling into Bill and Darlene Freding’s Ranch, in Oliver, BC, we were greeted by cowboys and cowgirls on horseback. This would be the start of our cowboy welcome to one of the newest wineries in BC. Bill and Dar, have been cattle ranching together since the late 1970’s in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Fast forward to 1998, they had purchased some land…
