In June, Quails' Gate Estate Winery in West Kelowna, British Columbia, hosted a blind tasting featuring well-known international chardonnays and three of its top chardonnay labels to be assessed and benchmarked by a wide-ranging panel of Canadian wine
Aurelio Montes's business card reads Chief Winemaker Montes Wines but also includes the title "Guardian of the Spirit." It's a tribute to Douglas Murray, a co-founder of Montes Wines in 1987. He came up with the title after emerging unscathed from a severe
When someone mentions tango, gaucho, pampas, or asado, it’s easy to think of Argentina. However, when the wine is the subject, malbec is the word that best elicits modern day Argentina. Today malbec accounts for approximately 40 percent of red grape
The new year has us looking for possible wine trends and new directions. It is safe to say the drink of moderation is under attack. Indeed it is being hammered on all sides by refreshment cocktails, beer and liquor, all of which have smartly transformed
A key part of the Sicily story is its indigenous varieties, many of which are distinct to the island. Red Varieties Nero d’Avola The heat-seeking Nero d’Avola thrives across Sicily, and is the island’s most planted red variety.
On the first morning of judging at the 2022 National Wine Awards Canada (NWAC), my panel tasted two Chardonnay flights and awarded gold medal scores in both cases. It's indicative of the strength of the category, proven by an outstanding four Platinum
Canada only just finished its 2020 vintage over the past month after successful icewine harvests on both sides of the country. Even though the frozen grapes were harvested in 2021, they are still classified as part of the 2020 vintage. Anthony caught
Climate change is a hot button topic worldwide and, as you might have guessed, also in the wine business, which is essentially farm-based and at the front lines. We reported in The Vancouver Sun on an important announcement made last month in response
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arriveé. It's the third Thursday of November, when humble gamay is on full display. Today millions of folks around the world celebrate this youthful wine and signifies the end of harvest. This baby bojo novo is speedily
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
There are a few long-lived misconceptions in the wine world that seem harder to eradicate than leaf-roll virus. "All riesling is sweet", is one of these untruths. More than 90 percent of the wine consumed in Germany today is dry (trocken). Unfortunately,
On the eve of International Sauvignon Blanc Day, we caught up with one of the original plantees of sauvingon blanc in New Zealand, Bill Spence, co-founder of Matua Wines. Spence shares his thoughts on the rise of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc worldwide,
Few grapes incite as much emotion, or admiration, world wide as pinot noir. Last week a small group of Vancouver sommeliers to taste through a dozen Mornington Peninsula pinot noirs. The wines aren't available in the Canadian market (yet) but were selected
Next week the wine world will gather in Wellington, New Zealand to focus on Pinot Noir NZ 2017. Pinot Noir NZ 2017, held every four years, is a must-do event for pinot-philes, uniting 115 wineries and more than 600 wines to showcase to some 600 industry
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
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