Tag: rose

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…

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,…

With Dry January almost finished, I tried two lower-alcohol wines from New Zealand’s Kim Crawford Wines.  I received their Illuminate Sauvignon Blanc 2023 and Rose 2023.  Both wines are bottled at 7% alcohol.  How did they get the wines down to 7%?  Most wines that are fermented dry are in the range of 11-14%.  From the winery, “‘Spinning Cone’ technology…

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…

The holidays are a time when many of us get together with family or friends to enjoy a meal together; hopefully with a glass of wine.  Here are a few last-minute suggestions of wines you can pair with traditional dishes for the holidays.  Enjoy. Wine Pairings for Roast Turkey – Chardonnay: A lightly oaked Chardonnay complements the rich flavours of…

Nestled on the picturesque Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley, Ruby Blues Winery offers a charming blend of exceptional wines and stunning vineyard views. In 2007 Prudence and Beat Mahrer started Ruby Blues Winery, after selling Red Rooster Winery.  Their goal is to keep the winery small and sell locally. I recently received two bottles of wine from Ruby Blues…

With the holiday season upon us, I was invited to the Iconic Wineries of British Columbia to check out their holiday cheer at The Kent downtown.  In addition to wines to sample and recommend for the holiday season, we were also treated to savour holiday-inspired canapés prepared by the talented Estate Chefs from CedarCreek, Liquidity and Mission Hill.  The wineries participating…

Wineries change hands as the original owners decide to either retire or otherwise move on.  The new owners then have to live up to or surpass the reputation of that winery.  I was invited to a winemaker’s dinner at Provence Marinaside with the winery being BC’s Fairview Cellars. Fairview Cellars was taken over by husband and wife team, Danielle and…

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…

Recently VinsAlsace visited Vancouver and brought a range of their Alsatian wines from sparkling, light-bodied and dry wines to full-body, thicker, rich-flavoured wines. They wanted to let us know in this Trade tasting that the variation in the rocks and soil brings different personalities to their wines.  The soils are quite varied with granite, limestone, marl-limestone, clay-marl, marl-limestone-sandstone, sandstone, volcanic,…