Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
While I was Grinch-like in awarding 5 stars to only three wines I tasted in 2024, I was more Oprah-like with the 4.5-5 -star wines. Plus, there are many quality wines, so it should not be a surprise. This year there were 13 BC wines, 18 Italian wines, 4 French wines, 2 Californian wines, and 4 wines from New Zealand…
While Italy has been known to produce robust, hearty reds, many of the country’s greatest wines offer a lighter touch without sacrificing flavour. This seminar, “Italy’s Lightness of Being”, led by Filippo Bartolotta and Michaela Morris, took us through sparkling wines, white wines with texture, and much more. Winery principals, Fabio Bosio, Tommaso Chiarli, Daniel Grace, Stefano Inama, Nicola Mazzella,…
71 Italian wineries presented their wines at VanWineFest 2024. With each winery pouring 5 different wines, we had 355 wines to sip and savour in the International Festival Tasting Room. I spent my Thursday tasting white and sparkling wines and Friday tasting the red wines. In this article, I cover my favourite white and sparkling wines. In some cases, there…
There will be several wineries from the Piedmont region that produce Barolo wines attending VanWineFest 2024. What do you know about this style of wine? I have some background information for you, followed by a list of wineries from the Piedmont region that you can visit at the International Festival Tasting Room. Cin cin. About Barolo Wines Barolo wine, often…
One of the historical wineries in Italy is Marchesi di Barolo and how they elevated the Nebbiolo grape to the status it now receives around the world. Read about their history and the wines that they will be pouring at the VanWineFest 2024 below. The information below comes from the winery. About Marchesi di Barolo Named after our own town,…
As I mentioned for my five-star wine ratings this year, COVID limited the number of events and thus wines that I could taste that came from around the world to BC. That being said, I am grateful for the BC wineries that sent me wines to taste, plus wines from wine agencies. There are many wines that fit into my…
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…
Top Drop is the last major wine tasting in Vancouver before the start of summer. Top Drop is meant to represent the best in terroir and winemaker craft. Nature and Nurture. Wineries from around the world are selected for the best of both, and we were not disappointed. In my 5 star wine rating, most wines were at least 4…
This is my second year attending Top Drop Vancouver, where small-scale producers from around the world show us their hand crafted wines. According to Top Drop, “Our focus is terroir-influenced, handcrafted wines, and the people behind them. W e believe in the importance in farming one’s own fruit and/or being constantly engaged with grape-growers to ensure sustainability and a high…
Sometimes the best wines around are the ones that are not generally listed in BC Liquor stores. They are known as Spec or Special Order wines. You can find these wines through some private wine shops, or you could order them through these shops, but you may need a minimum order size. I attended Select Wines‘ portfolio tasting and enjoyed…
