It's that time of the month when someone near and dear to you is going to say, "Make sure you pick up some wine for Christmas Day dinner." It is a request that can strike fear into the heart of a seasoned wine buyer let alone the casual tippler unless
Sparkling wine and the Holidays were made to get together but for whatever reason the effervescent drink designed to lift your spirits remains something of reluctant category in Canadian wine shops. Why we are so reticent to reach for a glass of bubble
Wine prices continue to soften globally as consumers move away from "expensive" wine in droves. To say there was some slack in high-end wine prices is an understatement and it is my contention we will all be better off when prices retreat to the point
Port producer Rupert Symington was in Vancouver this week for a brief early morning tasting that featured an array of fortified wines falling under the Symington Family Estates banner. I must say at the end of a tumultuous month of financial news, there
Among the thousands of new iPhone applications developed over the few months there is one that counts down the "sleeps to Christmas" - as if we require any additional stress in our lives to remind us to get our Holiday plans in order. In fact there are
Saving money is the current watchword in most households and when it comes to dining out and buying wine, it's almost becoming a mantra. For those of us who have been through these economic downturns before, it's clearly prudent to be cautious. The real
The Best of B.C. Fall Release begins today at Signature BC Liquor Stores and other select government stores where wine is a priority. This time around, the twice-annual release of hard-to-find labels is focused on high-end reds, many as you will note
If the last time you visited the Okanagan Valley was in summer or early fall, then no doubt the sun was shining, the air was warm and grapes were ripening in front of your eyes. Now, today, head outside and pretend you're a grape. Stand and face
It's been some time since I tasted the wines of Veramonte. The original Chilean project was launched with little fanfare back in 1990 when Agustin Huneeus Sr. purchased a piece of land in the Casablanca Valley some 45 minutes to the west of Santiago.
A week in southern Ontario checking out wine stores has me anxious to return home to British Columbia. It could be the proximity to Bay Street and the doom and gloom emanating from the towers that line Toronto's financial district but clearly, for the
What a difference a year makes. At this time last year expensive wine was selling like hotcakes. There was no end to price hikes and seemingly no limit to what retailers could charge and what consumers might spend. All that is coming to a crashing
It's Bordeaux day in B.C. Liquor stores, so if you are an early riser do not be startled by the crowds queuing (hopefully peacefully) in front of some of the busiest wine stores in the province. By all accounts the 2005 vintage is the real thing and for
Could Northwest Pacific merlot have changed the mind of Miles Raymond, the tormented un-recovered divorcé and would-be novelist (played by Paul Giamatti) in the movie Sideways? In a now infamous scene (infamous at least among merlot grape growers), Miles
Today's picks are a mixed bag, at least in terms of their geographic origins, but more importantly they illustrate the emerging trend of how much more complicated buying wine in B.C. is today than it was a decade or two ago. Back then, you shopped in
Wine Access magazine has released a sneak peek of its 2008 International Value Wine Awards (IVWA) results held earlier this summer in Calgary, Alberta. The search for the best wines sold in Canada under $25 involved just under 1000 listings, tasted blind,
I'm not sure who it was who said, "Be careful what you wish for," but when it comes to wine, it may well be good advice. For decades, the wine industry has coveted primetime media coverage. While it put up with specialist writers such as Robert
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