Alberta wine buyers, often portrayed as the luckiest in the country thanks to their tiny, flat wine tax, were hit with a substantial increase this week as the provincial government, reeling from falling oil revenues, decided to up the ante on a more reliable
The Juno Awards may have scooped most of the media last weekend but it didn't hurt the crowds at the Playhouse wine bash. All three evening public tasting sessions were sold out as usual. It had to be a thrilling, if in some cases daunting week, for
The 31st Playhouse International Wine Festival wraps up this weekend with a number of sold-out events still to be consummated. If there is a story this week, it might be the search for high-quality wines selling at affordable prices. When I say affordable,
The wine world is in Vancouver this coming week for the 31st Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival and there will be plenty of discussion about the economy. With almost every wine producing country in the midst of its worst economic downturn
The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is still a couple of weeks out but sold out signs are beginning to appear all over the playhousewinefest.com site reminding us that in a matter of days there will be few if any tickets left for procrastinators. Year
Just as Eva Peron, the First lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952 catapulted herself from rags to riches, so too have the wines of South America's second largest country. Argentine wine sales are up nearly 40 per cent in North American markets and they
Six out of ten Americans are wine buyers according to a new interactive survey of wine drinkers from The Harris Poll. Not bad for a country that seemed stuck in wine drinking neutral most of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s. It seems wine is finally
During a recent trip to the Cape Lands of South Africa I was pleasantly surprised to discover a major shift in attitude and quality from SA producers. It's been a long road for some producers who felt that just showing up after the sanctions were finally
It's Valentine's Day and if you don't already have a reservation for dinner, traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year in restaurants, chances are you won't get one before 10 p.m. There's no need to panic there is still time to implement plan
At last some good news for the world's wine producers and from the most unlikely of places, Canada. Research released by the French behemoth wine fair VinExpo, and its U.K. research partner the IWSR, indicates the Canadian wine market is growing three
In one of those surreal moments in life I watched the American presidential inauguration from Cape Town, South Africa along with the rest of the Africa. In a troubled continent it seemed at least for a few moments that all of Africa shared the hope that
Viognier sales continue to struggle in this market with total varietal listings in government stores counting 23 labels or fewer than were available three years ago. Many point to its unpronounceable name but viognier, the experts say (vee-OWN-yay), should
It's now over four decades since Robert Mondavi began popularizing the notion of drinking varietal wine, striking a blow for simplicity in wine consumption. Mondavi and a handful of New World contemporaries focused on a series of single grape varieties,
The number one wine trend for 2009 is trading down. The theory is given the failing state of the economy you, the consumer, are expected to still buy wine but spend less money per bottle thus trading down your aspirations. It all seems
The great market meltdown of 2008 and the repercussions sure to follow has the wine industry wondering what price of wine will everyone be drinking in 2009? When I hear fashion mavens saying it is acceptable to recycle last year's party dress
Dinner and a bottle (or two) of champagne is a civilized way to bring in the New Year, but heading out to do that will likely set you back close to $500 before the babysitter and the taxi. If you are willing to do a bit of legwork, the same scenario
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