Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
Top Drop Canada is a premier wine festival held annually in Vancouver, showcasing a curated selection of terroir-driven wines from around the globe. The event brings together over 40 international producers, including renowned estates from regions such as Piedmont, Champagne, and the Okanagan Valley. 50+ wineries in total. None from the USA this year. Attendees have the unique opportunity to…
I received two bottles of Pinot Noir from the Maison Joseph Drouhin family. The first wine, Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2021 comes from Burgundy, while the second wine, Domaine Drouhin Oregon Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2022, comes from Oregon state. Some Background The Pinot Noir grape variety has a deep history in Burgundy, with the first plantings possibly dating…
Easter dinner is a time for togetherness and tradition, often centred around comforting dishes like roast turkey, baked ham, or perhaps even baked salmon. No matter what ends up on your plate, choosing the right wine can elevate the meal from simply delicious to truly memorable. Below are some wine pairings, including suggestions from our local BC wineries, that will…
When you pick up a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine, you may notice that some have a vintage year on the label, while others do not. The presence or absence of a vintage date can have a significant impact on the wine inside. But what exactly does it mean, and how does it affect the taste, aging potential, and…
Along with the Bourgogne seminar I attended, there was also a Trade tasting featuring 19 Domaines, Maisons and Caves Coopératives. Like the seminar, this Trade tasting featured village wines that too often go unnoticed. They reflect the terroirs that shaped them and offer an unbeatable quality-price ratio, not to mention wonderful tasting pleasure. Here are my favourite wines from this…
Did you know that Canada is a very important market for French, Bourgogne, wines? We are the third largest market in volume and sixth largest market in term of value. The Canadian Bourgogne market is weighted toward white wines, particularly from Chablis. Our seminar today introduced us to some Bourgogne wine regions that we may not have much familiarity, but…
The wines of BC and the rest of the world, excluding the USA, were the last of the wines I tasted at the International Festival Tasting Room during VanWineFest 2025. Read through my wine tasting notes below and if you find some wines that spark your interest, check out your local BC Liquor store, some private wine shops,…
At every Vancouver International Wine Festival, when I attend the International Festival Tasting Room, I have a plan for which wines to taste. Luckily, as an accredited media person, I can attend the International Festival Tasting Room several times. But each time, is different. For this one session, I visited the theme region, west coast USA, and tasted only red…
Pinot Noir Abides in Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley by Brent Gushowaty Sitting in the Southeast corner of Vancouver Island, the Cowichan Valley lies not far from the Salish Sea and is centered at one degree of latitude South of the Canada/U.S. border. The climate is classified as maritime Mediterranean. It sits in the rain shadow of the Vancouver Island Range, one…
Today we were able to taste California wines crafted on the edge – coastal cliffs, mountain tops, and rugged valleys – where adversity breeds greatness. This seminar at the VanWineFest 2025 showed us bold wines born from unforgiving terrains and regenerative farming. Our Moderator was Elaine Chukan Brown. Winery Principals to tell us about their wines: Kori Butler, Andrew Gouveia,…
