Enjoy Wine, Food, and Travel with Karl MyWinePal
Terry Nicholas Threlfall was announced as the 2012 Sommelier of the Year here in Vancouver, and with that a very interesting perk; to work with Okanagan Crush Pad to produce a limited production wine using whichever grape variety they want. For Terry it was Chardonnay, with a view back to Burgundy. The resulting wine, “TNT”, is the third wine release…
It is always a treat to have a chance to meet a winemaker pouring their wine and telling you the story behind it, the vintage, the winery, or themselves. Recently, I had a chance to meet Tim Heath, the wine maker for the New Zealand winery Cloudy Bay, on a sunny fall day. Cloudy Bay winery, located in Marlborough, is…
Have you ever heard of a portfolio tasting? Most people probably have not, unless you attend wine tastings on a fairly regular basis. A portfolio tasting is when a wine agency, like Select Wines & Spirits, pours their selection of wine (and spirits) in a casual (usually) walk-about fashion, where you can taste the wines and talk with the rep…
Have you ever felt like you have a daunting task, but persevere with the hope you will discover a few gold nuggets? I’m sure many BC prospectors felt this as they searched for gold in Barkerville and further north. This is also how I feel when I attend the Colour BC VQA tastings. There are so many BC VQA wines…
Vineyards surround Chile’s capital of Santiago. In the 19th century, Santiago’s rich moved to the valley around Santiago to try their hand as a landowner. They planted vineyards and built large estates. Despite Santiago’s growth and rapid consumption of arable land the Maipo Valley still thrives. It lies between the Andes and the coastal mountains, which keep the climate dry…
Chile is blessed with perfect conditions to grow grapes; a varied climate, warmer and drier in the north, and wetter and cooler in the south. A dry climate and soil types not conducive to the phyloxera louse allow Chilean vineyards to be grown on their own rootstock, not grafted. Some say that this allows you to taste the “true” flavour…
Recently I received an invitation to experience the food, wine, and music of Vancouver FanClub in downtown Vancouver. Loving all three things, I readily accepted. My guest attending with me was Dianne Chow, who is well known in the tweeting and blogging sphere here in Vancouver. Walking into Vancouver FanClub, I was transported to New Orleans, with the interior brick…
With every season, there is either grape growing, harvesting, vinification, aging, or bottling of wine. Recently I was happy to do some tasting in Vancouver of recently bottled wines from Le Vieux Pin and La Stella wineries. These two wineries from South Okanagan offer different styles of wines; Le Vieux Pin being produced in a more restrained French style, while…
Bartier Scholefield‘s slogan is “Wine is Narrative“, which I agree it is, at least maybe for boutique wineries, sourcing grapes from a small region. In my previous article, BC Has a Wine Story, I talked about the story that wine tells through the terroir that the vines were planted and the grapes ripened. Bartier Scholefield’s story comes from the Summerland…
The Vancouver International Wine Festival has come and gone, but memories of the event still run through my head. One event that I think about was the Chateau Olivier dinner at Le Gavroche downtown. If you have not been to Le Gavroche, it is a small 2 story building located at 1616 Alberni St. It has that small restaurant charm. I…
Video Guide Uncorks the Story of British Columbia Wines. Buy Now.
