Every year over 175 wineries come to the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Some come prepared to blow you away with special wines, and new releases, and we pour over the spreadsheet in advance to see who is bringing the goods. This week we chose
Cava, the second largest bottle-fermented appellation in the world, is undergoing an identity crisis. Unlike Champagne, firmly rooted within a highly mapped and delineated place in northern France, Cava production rules do not restrict the wine to any
You don’t often get the chance to taste first growth Bordeaux. To have it served with Chinese food is even rarer here in the west, but that is exactly what is planned for March 12 at Mott 32 Vancouver. Aurelien Valance, deputy general manager
Today we continue our pre-festival study of the Iberian Peninsula with our Top 10 Portuguese Reds. Though they share the Peninsula, Portuguese and Spanish wines are completely different in style, grapes, profile, taste, and tradition. What they do share,
Tempranillo runs as prolific as the bulls in Spain. The dark blue-black grape is as ancient as winemaking in Iberia, dating back to the Phoenicians. The name is the diminutive of the Spanish temprano, early, and refers to the grape’s early ripening
Following a wet year in 2016, the winter was drier than usual, raining 22% less than the 30-year average. Although January was particularly cold, budburst occurred earlier than usual on the 10th March. The warm and dry month of April set the scene for
Have you ever heard of the Doe Bay Wine Company? I hadn’t until this week when they sent me note asking how they might be able to help the BC Wine Industry sell some wine during the Alberta boycott and beyond. Every cloud has a silver lining, I
Spain and Portugal pack a powerful punch right to the wallet. That is, they consistantly provide exemplary value for money spent. We've been tasting many Spanish and Portuguese wines in advance of this month's Vancouver International Wine Festival, and
In deepest, darkest winter it is the perfect time to stay home and have a relaxed raclette dinner. Plan a get together with friends and everyone can help themselves. There’s not too much work for you to do and not too much preparation, which sounds
Some swear by it, others swear off it. But if you select the right wine to complement the right chocolate, you can create a cupid-sent match. Most agree, chocolate and wine are two of life’s greatest pleasures. Alone,
If you follow the Duero River as it courses west from the high altitude plains of Ribera del Duero, it will cross the Portuguese border and turn into the Douro River, continuing its journey out to the Atlantic ocean. The river is essential for the region’s
One of the pillars of North America's longest running wine show, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, is that each winery sends a principal to the show. This may sound like a small thing, but in reality it's important. It provides tasters, trade
Every time I travel to Portugal I am struck by the bright, alluring white wines. Skilled winemakers seeking freshness are planting indigenous grapes (there are more autochthonous grapes per hectare in Portugal than anywhere on earth) where the vines
If you are a follower of British Columbian wines you’ve likely noticed a growing number of producers and winemakers wanting to get up close and personal with their vineyards, focusing in on individual blocks and even rows of vines. What’s
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