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International Chardonnay Day was established by Rick Bakas in 2010. Rick Bakas was the first director of social media in the wine industry, teaching wineries how to cultivate and maintain successful social media strategies. International Chardonnay Day is always the Thursday before Memorial Day, so mark your calendars. Chardonnay is a green skinned grape that…
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Do you know that there is a winery in New Westminster? Before you ask where their vineyard is, they don’t have one; Pacific Breeze Winery is Canada’s first “garagiste” (garage) winery. Do not dismiss them though just because they don’t have a vineyard of their own, there are plenty of wineries in the Okanagan that…
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crag·gy /kragē/ adjective full of crags. rugged; harsh; rough. Craggy Range is located in the winegrowing region of Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand. It began in 1993 as an idea that Terry and Mary Peabody had to leave behind a legacy for their future generations. Their family’s love of quality wine created a desire within…
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International Sauvignon Blanc Day takes place on the first Friday in May and today marks the 8th annual celebration of this aromatic and refreshing varietal. I’m still not entirely sure why the creators of this event chose the first Friday in May, but I figure they must have had their reasons. Sauvignon Blanc is the…
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Just before Easter we came across an old bottle of Summerhill Cipes Brut in my Father-in-Law’s wine cellar. Cipes (rhymes with pipes) Brut is a sparkling wine that Summerhill produces using the traditional Champagne method (methode champenoise). Before I get too much into discussing Summerhill and Cipes Brut though, I want to briefly explain what…
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One rainy Sunday, a few weeks back, I was headed out to Mission in pursuit of a pair of antique sconces I found on Craigslist, when out of nowhere I came across a sign for a winery tasting room – so of course I had to stop by. Singletree Winery is owned by the Etsell…
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World Malbec Day began in 2011. It is a day created by Wines of Argentina, who were tasked with establishing Argentinian wine as a worldwide brand, and Malbec has become their “global ambassador”. April 17, 1853 is thought to be the day that the president of Argentina, Domingo Faustino Sarmienot, sent Michal Aime Pouget (a…
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It’s amazing what you can justify when you commit to a year of wine education! I’ve been wanting to attend the Vancouver International Wine Festival for years, but I always found the cost prohibitive – not this year though! Canada as the featured country was just the icing on the cake! Prior to attending the…
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Ever since watching the documentaries SOMM and SOMM: Into the Bottle (available on Netflix) I’ve been very curious about what very old wines are like; are they really that incredible!?! On a recent visit to a wine store I happened upon a magnum (1.5 litres) of Portuguese wine from 1997 for around $60. I knew…
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This is the last class of the course, and it is also exam night, but before the exam there are eight BC wines to try whilst learning about food and wine pairing. Let’s begin! The lineup of wines included Wild Goose ‘God’s Mountain’ Riesling 2015; Joie ‘En Famille’ Gewürztraminer 2014; Noble Ridge Reserve Chardonnay 2012;…