Articles
Travels in wine countries
around the world
Australia The Wine
Tour and Reviews 2009
New South Wales
posted May 19 2009
McLaren Vale
posted June 2 2009
Barossa
Valley posted July 28 2009
Clare Valley
posted August 26 2009
Adelaide
Hills posted September 24 2009
Yarra Valley
posted October 14 2009
California
Sonoma Valley
posted March 11 2009
Napa Valley
posted April 6 2009
(Re) Discovering
Chile
An introduction
posted January 7 2009
You can never really get
lost in Chile, the magnificent Andes Mountains are always within view, and are
always east. And, if you head west, into the sunset, you’ll find yourself at the
Pacific Ocean...
read more
(Re) Discovering Chile - the Valleys
Aconcagua posted
January 8 2009
Errazuriz
is a multi-layered producer. Besides being an highly regarded name
world-wide and an important piece of Chilean history, it now encompasses a
growing number of labels and sustainable vineyard sites...
read more
Maipo posted January 15
2009
The Maipo valley, although nowhere near the largest
DO in Chile is certainly the most densely packed with wine producers. The region
is anchored by the capital city of Santiago, which depending on what day and
whom you ask,
Read more
Portugal is knocking- Beiras, Estremadura &
Ribatejo
posted November 13 2008
I suggest we answer.
Douro and Port are familiar in our wine vocabulary – for good reason - but what
about the rest of Portugal? What of Bairrada and Dăo, Estremadura and Alentejo,
Algarve and Ribatejo? Diverse and distinctive each...
Read
more
Portugal part 2- Alentejo
and Terras do Sado
posted Dec 3 2008
Alentejo was my greatest
surprise and my biggest crush of this trip. The wide open spaces, gently rolling
landscape, the arid, savannah-like geography. The oak cork trees dotting the
roadside constantly drew my attention, as the sun warmed me during that end of
October excursion. The sunsets in Alentejo are stunning – ranging from burnt
orange to brilliant fuchsia while the wines are bold and sometimes as untamed as
the Alentejo terrain.
Read more
South
Africa
- my heart remains and my palate praises
Pinotage
IPosted October 2 2008
It’s a new country
to those of us who talk on the grape vine yet it was witness to the birth of
civilization. Traveling through South Africa affected me on a visceral level
unlike almost anywhere else I have travelled. The geography is rough and
powerful, rocky and sweeping and stretches as far as the eye can see. Unlike our
Rocky Mountains which seem to strike the sky with enthusiastic authority the
mountains...
Read about South Africa &
Pinotage
Read
about Cape Wine 2008 - tasting notes from around the festival
Read about Glen Carlou, KWV and Nederburg -
visits and tasting notes
Read SA wine reviews by WineDiva
Tuscany -
Sienna and Arezzo
Posted
August 28 2008
If you were offered
a romantic getaway to any Italian wine region of your choice, which would you
choose? I’ll bet the vast majority of you would say Tuscany.
Read about wines from Sienna and Arezzo...
Tuscany
- Maremma
(Livorno and Grosetto)
Posted
September 11
So what is the Maremma?
In Italiano – Mare - of course tells you it’s by the sea. But to
be more a little more specific...
Read about wines from Maremma...
A New
Riesling Generation
It's time to experiment.
Traditional or modern styles of German Rieslings?
It's all good!
Part 2
- Rheinhessen, the Pfalz and Nahe
Posted July 31 2008
Part
1 - The Rheingau
Posted July
17 2008
Does the
thought of drinking Riesling for a solid week make you pause?
Or does it
make your mouth water in anticipation - even knowing its acidity will have your
palate waving the white flag in surrender?
Wine Weenies love Riesling. Why?
and an additional insight into
German wine labels...
Drinking Italy -
part 2 the south
Sicily, Campania, Sardinia and Puglia...
Posted June 11 2008
I have Sicilian family, so I
grew up thinking that Italy was Sicily.
When you grow up in the middle of the Canadian prairies having Sicilian
relatives makes for a far more interesting childhood than most. My uncle Vince
(Vincenzo) made regular trips into Winnipeg to find items as close to home as
possible...
Drinking Italy - part 1 the north
Posted - May 15 2008
They walk a little slow, they drive a little fast, they arrive a
little late but oh dio mio they make good wine.
Si-si, the Italians.
Tasting my way through countless wines during a recent trip to Italy didn’t tire
me out so much as fire up my engines for more...
Articles
A month
of tasting June 2009
Some Young Punks - Clare Valley, Australia
Caliterra - Colchagua Valley, Chile
Vińa
Morandé - Chile
Louis Latour - France
Stag's Hollow- Okanagan Falls, BC
Boekenhootskloof - SA
and a bevy of SA Shirazes...
Tinhorn
Creek - BC winery celebrates 15 years - posted May 6
2009
2005 Bordeaux release another vintage of the century?
posted September 2008
Longshadows
new wine reviews and story - posted August 20 2008
Sauvignon Republic
-
making me a believer
Posted May 29 2008
“Wow, what great labels.”
That was first comment I made to John Ash – award winning Chef and partner in
Sauvignon Republic Cellars during his recent stop in Vancouver. The second was,
“So why of all varietals - Sauvignon Blanc?"...
Regional Hero - The Punt &
The Rebel
posted April 29 2008
In a time when competition for shelf space and consumer attention
is at an all time high, how are individual wine producers supposed to stand out?
Every winemaking corner of the world wants to sell their wine. Some sell it
locally - out of the cellar door – and some only within their own country. But
many want to sell their wines internationally, to grab the attention and appeal
to the palates of wine drinkers everywhere. But it’s not possible, we only have
so many wine stores, and there's only so much square footage that can be filled.
Five days,
3900 wines, black teeth
posted April 9 2008
Have you ever wondered
exactly how a wine competition is run?
What are the processes, who are the judges, what are the qualifications for a
winning wine? Is there a secret to winning or a style that stands out to a
judge’s palate?
Well, I’ve certainly wondered about all of those things. Small competitions
aside, based solely on local wines, how does a commission of tasters decide what
the best wines are when comparing wines from all over the world?
Read more...
When this Royalty Comes to
Town they Bring Wine!
Posted March 18 2008
Each year an elite group of “wine royalty” converges on a different city in the
world. This elite group consists of the planet's premium wine families.
The Primum Familiae Vini (the first families of wine) produce internationally
recognized wines known to represent tradition and history in the world of wine.
It’s a wine weenie’s dream team.
Read more...
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary – ‘young turk’ radical; one
advocating changes within a usually established group….
Read more...
Welcoming Italy with Open Arms
posted March 2 2008
Your
imagination is not working overtime. And it’s not just your own personal
discovery…Italian wines are popping up all over the place and they’re certainly
becoming more important to Canadian consumers each year.
Read
more...
Pacific Breeze
Winery
Posted March 5 2008
Few know that in a
small industrial park in New Westminster BC there is a winery. Just minutes away
from the Quay and historic downtown New Westminster sits the tasting room and
winery of Pacific Breeze.
So, in a province where we can’t get enough of our own wine, we drink it
incessantly and we travel to wine country given any opportunity - is so little
known about this gem?
Read more...
Take a Quaff on the Green Side
Posted March 10 2008
There are certain words synonymous with freshness when one refers
to wine.
The three blancs - Pinot, Chenin and Sauvignon, and of
course…Vinho Verde.
Beyond a general
understanding that Vinho Verde translates to green wine few understand
what and where Vinho Verde is...
Read
more...
A
Chilean Icon
posted March 11 2008
There’s been a lot of buzz
about Chile lately - almost like that long sliver of land suddenly reappeared on
the map. We get the impression that perhaps it’s been reinventing itself while
we were face first in our bowls Aussie Shiraz. Or maybe it’s that interesting
bottles of wine from Chile’s smaller producers are finally finding their way
across our borders and the premium offerings from large established Chilean
houses are the new media darlings.
Either way, its good news for us all.
Lungarotti
posted March 12 2008
Where Wine Meets Art
A few weeks ago someone
mentioned the name of an Italian wine producer that I instantly recognized, but
I couldn’t remember why. It suggested to me that the name was established enough
that I’d become familiar with it in the past and yet I hadn’t seen a bottle of
their wine for quite a while. The logo and label escaped me.
So, when I was introduced to Chiara Lungarotti...
Read
it all...
