Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
This is Part 2 of my top rated wines for 2018. I earlier released my list of 40 white and sparkling wines for 2018, which you can read at this link. This red wine list came from Trade tastings with agents and BC VQA wineries, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, visits to wineries, and personal purchases. I categorized the wines below to…
Did you know that Spain’s wine heritage is at least three thousand years old? Yet, you may not know much about Spanish wine, except for perhaps Rioja red wines and Spanish Cava. Tempranillo is the best-known grape from Spain, being used to produce red wines from the Rioja region, as well as other regions in Spain. Tempranillo comes from the…
Spain has had a long history of winemaking, from classic Riojas, newer Mencia from Bierzo, to Cavas and more. During the Vancouver International Wine Festival, I and several other attendees joined Master of Wine, Barbara Philip to explore a wide range of Spanish wines and to listen to the forward-looking producers behind them. The winery principals speaking to us were: Fernando Gimenez…
About Bodegas Arráez Our family winery was founded in 1916 by local growers for the promotion of their own harvest, afterward becoming Don Antonio Arráez Garrigós’ property in 1950. It was in those years that sales of his wines, both in bulk and bottled, started. In 1980, under Don Antonio Arráez Ibanco, the company became incorporated and international and became…
Juan Gil Bodegas Familiares are a group of small wineries scattered throughout Spain that have been joining the family group since 2002. Juan Gil Bodegas Familiares has a wide portfolio of Spanish wines with different characteristics and backgrounds. All of them with a common denominator; produced with different indigenous varieties of grapes, a refined image and an unbeatable relation between its…
Definition of Impossible: Tasting all the great wines at Taste Washington. With 232 wineries attending, according to my count, and 4 hours to taste, it is a daunting task. I tried to divide my time about 40% tasting white wines, and 60% of the time tasting red wines, hoping that I would find some gems, which I did. Below is…
Although James Dean did not to the best of my knowledge make it to the Penedes region in Spain, it was through his association with Jean Leon, that we have the Jean Leon winery, as I discussed in Part 1. If you missed Part 1, I highly recommend reading Part 1 before continuing with Part 2, as it gives you…
Definition: Tapas – Small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar. The variety of tapas though is uncountable. Every bar or restaurant may have their own take on a Spanish classic, so you need to try them all. Recently on my quest to experience Spanish tapas, I was invited to Patria Restaurant in downtown Toronto. Walking into Patria,…
On the MyWinePal blog I posted my Spanish wine picks, sans reviews, but promised the reviews would come out here on the main MyWinePal website. As promised, I’ve had a chance to sit down in front of the computer going through my wine notes and entering them for you. I hope you find a wine or two of interest to…
