"2016 is the first vintage in more than a decade from which we will not produce any Vendange Tardive or Sélection de Grains Nobles". After three years of extremely low yields, we can at last say 2016 has been a generous vintage! Unlike most of
The people of the Bourgogne wine region like a story with a happy ending. The wines of the 2016 vintage have granted this wish, exhibiting a quality that was quite unexpected given the difficult start to the year. Climate events in the spring took a severe
Germans have a lot of Sekt. Sekt, of course, is the German term for sparkling wine, and last year (2015) Germans drank more than 305 million litres of it. But their taste for fizz is not just limited to their own production: Germany is the world's largest
It’s been a long time coming. I’m thrilled to see an increasing number of interesting, modern and fresh South African wine landing in our BC market. For too long, most of the selection sold in this province has nothing to do with what is actually
The 2016 California winegrape harvest was early, with a mostly normal yield of exceptional quality fruit throughout the state. A relatively even growing season followed welcome winter rains that helped to alleviate the drought. “It’s been
It’s that time of the year when hope springs eternal inside wineries. The 2016 harvest is well underway thanks to another early spring and a mostly warm growing season, especially in the Okanagan Valley. There is no way to know how it will
First time pinot noir drinkers usually succumb to its silky, juicy fruit while veteran swillers simply admire the concentration and depth of flavour that springs from this mysterious red, as fickle as the wind. But ever since we met would-be novelist
I well remember my first wine class. Not more than twenty years old, knowing next-to-nothing, and practicing things like pronouncing gewürztraminer and spitting in public. Everything was blurring together in a sangria of names and soils and fruits
Last year I caught up with Lake Breeze winemaker Garron Elmes in a Vancouver Sun BC Winegrowers video where we covered a number of topics regarding the Naramata Bench winery. In view of the recent Lake Breeze performance at the WineAlign National Wine
The numbers are in. The standings are out and the results impressive for the 2016 National Wine Awards of Canada. Let’s look at the maths: 230 wineries across the country entered over 1500 wines, all of which were tasted blind over 5 days by 23
July 1 marks more than our nation’s birthday. It’s the unofficial kick off of summer holidays, a pretty-much-promised stretch of warm sunshine, and for Anthony and me, the signal that we’ve emerged intact from another National Wine Awards
Quebec has a long and formidable history of cheese making that has the rest of the country working full out to catch up. Despite a long legacy of production and cheese styles, Quebec cheesemakers are not just sitting around idlely watching while the rapidly
I thought I would write about one of my favourite cheeses. Abbaye de Tamié is a medium-textured washed rind cheese, which is a typical style of the Trappist cheeses made throughout Europe. This cheese is anything but typical though. The Abbaye
Our first 2016 report from the Okanagan Valley is nothing but good news. All across the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valley bud burst is underway. The unfurling of the leaves signals the start of the growing season, one that now looks as if it will
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