Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
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,…
Did you know that Giusti Wine, comes from the Valpolicella region of Italy, but is owned by a BC businessman, Mr. Joe Giusti? Mr. Ermenegildo “Joe” Giusti, was born and raised in Italy and moved to Vancouver, where he became a very successful businessman in the construction industry. With this wealth, he wanted to show his passion of Italian wine;…
Interest in enjoying sparkling wine on a regular basis has been increasing since people started buying prosecco. But there is still Champagne, Cremant, Cava, Franciacorta, pet-nat, and generally termed sparkling wines from the New World. How did sparkling wines capture Canadians’ interest in 2024? I created graphs for various sparkling wine styles using Google Trends. Let’s get into the graphs. …
When you buy wine in a BC Liquor store, you don’t think about how the wine was selected for the shelves. Behind the scenes are many wine agencies that search for wines from around the world, to build their portfolio, and have some of their portfolio sold through BC Liquor stores with the remaining wines, usually specialty wines, sold in…
I and other Trade individuals were invited to Discover Extraordinary Italian Wines. Some of the wineries at the event were searching for local representation, while other wineries already have an agent and their wines are in BC Liquor stores or private wine shops and restaurants. I’ve put a “*” beside those wineries that have local representation, so you should be…
The Vancouver International Wine Festival 2024 had lots of wonderful wines and events to attend. I spent most of my time in the Festival Tasting Room sipping Italian wines and speaking with the Italian winery principals. I did also attend some seminars and dinners. Below is a list of all the articles that I wrote for VanWineFest 2024. Have fun…
Although Italy contributes approximately 20% of the world’s wine, it remains a relative mystery to many people, due to unfamiliar grape varieties and wine region names. Wine journalist and educator Filippo Bartolotta led us exploring the rich history, modern innovation, and the renaissance of Italian classic wine styles shaping the current identity of this historical wine region. The winery principals…
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 Veneto region that produce Prosecco wines attending VanWineFest 2024. Prosecco has been a growing segment of sparkling wine and wine in general. But what do you know about Prosecco? I have some background information for you, followed by a list of wineries from the Venteo region producing Prosecco that you can visit at the…
Celebrate love this Valentine’s Day by indulging in a delightful experience of sharing sparkling or rosé wines with your significant other. The effervescence of sparkling wines mirrors the joy and excitement of love, making it an ideal choice for a romantic evening. The light and refreshing nature of sparkling wine and the delicate bubbles on your palate will enhance the…
