Tag: spain

One of the world’s best vineyards, Marqués de Riscal lives by wine and lives for wine. I joined Brand Ambassador José Luis Maguro Jr. at this perfectly paired dinner dedicated to the shared love of wine. The evening began with canapés, followed by a four-course dinner exquisitely prepared by the team at Homer St. Cafe and Bar. Let me get…

Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (the Northern Spanish Wine Company) CVNE was founded in 1879 in the town of Haro in Rioja, Spain by two brothers. I opened two bottles of wine I received.  The first was CUNE Monopole White 2020 made from the Viura grape in Rioja; also known as Macabeo in other parts of Spain. This was the first…

The schedule for the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023 has been posted.  There are dinners, seminars, minglers, trade events, and of course the International Festival Tasting room where you will be able to taste the wines from all 151 participating wineries.  But which to choose?  I have a few suggestions for you. First, you should attend the International Festival Tasting…

The holiday season will soon be upon us.  When I turned on a local FM radio station today they were already playing Christmas songs.  It’s time to start stocking up on wines to celebrate with friends and family.  Sparkling wines are often associated with the holidays.  For some people, a nice fortified wine, like a port wine is also appreciated…

Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 10, 2022.  You may be making a list of ingredients to buy for your Thanksgiving dinner.  A traditional / historical dinner with turkey or ham, brussel sprouts, yam, and mashed potatoes with gravy.  Or you may go other ways with roast beef, salmon, Beyond Meat, or other meat substitutes.  I like to think of…

What do you know about certified organic wines?  Do you only have to not spray the grapes with synthetic pesticides and herbicides or is there more to it?  How do you know if a wine is made with organically grown grapes?  Your best method to figure out if a wine is certified organic is if there is a certification symbol…

It’s been two years since we last tasted wines from around the world at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.  During COVID grapevines produced grapes and wine was made but may have been a little harder than normal to get workers in the vineyard and in the winery.  Below are my Old World wine selections.  Most of the vintages are 2020…

Today was an eye-opening experience for me tasting wines from the Canary Islands.  I had never heard of wines from these islands, but I learned in this trade seminar by speaker Iain Philip, and agent, World Wine Synergy, that grapevines have been grown in this area since the 1400’s with vines brought from mainland Spain. There are 7 main islands…

This is my third article reviewing Canadian Wine Trends that happened over 2021.  My first two articles covered 1) Canadian interest in red and white varietal wines and 2) Canadian interest in wine styles, like sparkling and rosé wine.  In this article, I will review our interest in Old World (e.g. Europe) vs New World (e.g. North and South America)…

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…