A few days in Australia can be most revealing to a seasoned wine buyer. It's utterly amazing how many producers there are whose wines never make it to Canada and conversely how many Australian wine labels we have on our shelves that the aforementioned
Have you noticed a renewed interest by your friends and neighbours in aromatic B.C. wines? Riesling ehrenfelser, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, muscat are all gaining attention led by today's theme gewurztraminer. In some ways, there is a "perfect storm"
How long should I keep this wine? It's a reasonable question. The problem is coming up with a sensible answer. Nowadays the most popular wines are usually the most immediately appealing. In other words, if it's drinkable at a young age, so much the better.
There's a new a wine sheriff in town and its name is the B.C. Wine Authority. After years of squabbling among themselves, British Columbia wineries have a new master they will have to answer to, and a whole new set of wine laws to obey. New standards
I've always believed that eventually the casual wine consumer would arrive at a point where they would ask a few questions about their favourite wine, such as: Who makes it? Where does it come from Which grapes are in the bottle? But the two questions
I'm sure there is an elegant economic model that would explain why wine prices are ridiculously high in British Columbia but it's clear to me it's all about lack of competition. Sure we have hundreds of private wine shops but they don't really compete
Now that most of us have accepted screwcap closures on our wine and the sky hasn't fallen, could there be hope for other alternative wine packaging? I'm thinking in particular of bag-in-the-box and Tetra or Prisma Paks. I'm not betting on any
There are more new wines to discuss today under the BCLDB (British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch) Featured New Wines program, which highlights additions to its portfolio every 90 days or so. The concept is to focus on interesting new wines and after
After a full week of tasting nearly 1,000 wines blind, I'm ready to take the weekend off. The second International Value Wine Awards competition has concluded in Calgary and we now await the results. The contest, open only to wines that sell for less
Last week I returned to the Hitching Post II restaurant, in Buellton, Calif. It was my first visit since the restaurant made its silver screen debut in the Oscar-nominated movie Sideways. On that Monday night the parking lot was filled with cars, and
We head to France today, for an update on Chablis. Although often linked to the entire 25,000 hectare Burgundy region, Chablis with its four official appellations or classifications, has managed to maintain its status as a unique sub-region and a fine
Warm weather is on the way and that should signal a move toward lighter, brighter wines -- the type capable of jumping out of the glass to grab your attention on the patio. In the case of sauvignon blanc, today's topic, it's all about freshness, flavour
Multi-tasking with the help of a computer is about the only way a freelance writer can survive these days and even then the computer can be as dangerous as it is helpful. Today's column is about malbec, although the first piece I composed has disappeared
The first long weekend of summer is here. Okay so it's still spring, but who really cares? It's the extra day off that counts and more than that, it is the unofficial kick-off to the barbecue season. We West Coast types like to brag that we barbecue year
Just when you thought Australia had peaked in this market, the wineries of Western Australia show up with another story. The producers of WA, as it is widely known -- or Western Eh! as this writer prefers -- are about to tour the Western United States.
If you are looking for something different today to occupy your time, head for Granville Island and take part in the first annual Spot Prawn Festival, sponsored by False Creek Fishermen's Wharf and the Vancouver Aquarium's Oceanwise program. The six-
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