Sam The Wine Teacher 
There is something to be said for travelling in the shoulder season. The crowds are smaller, the pace is calmer, and rates are often far more appealing. With birthdays falling in late March and early April, my wife and I decided a short getaway would be the perfect way to celebrate both occasions. We … Read more
NV Brut Reserva Segura Viudas Torrelavit, Spain $16.99 Segura Viudas is well-known for delivering good-quality sparkling Spanish wines (cava), and this modestly priced Reserva proves the point. Straw coloured with medium-light intensity. Baked apple, citrus, brioche, wet stones, and dried tree fruit with undertones of yeasty lees on the nose. Good balance with mouth-filling mousse. … Read more
In addition to the weekly wine review and the various other, usually wine-related, articles I write for My Van City, I am going to include a new one that will appear from time to time. I’m calling it, ‘From the Cellar’. It will be similar to the wine reviews, except that it will feature wines … Read more
2022 Blanc de Blanc Fort Berens Lillooet, BC $39.99 Are you an ‘any day is a good day for bubbles’ person like I am? If so, you’ve got to give this one a try. This traditional method, wine is made from 100% estate grown Chardonnay and was aged ‘sur lie’ for 24 months. Lees aging, … Read more
In addition to the weekly wine review and the various other, usually wine-related, articles I write for My Van City, I am going to include a new one that will appear from time to time. I’m calling it, ‘From the Cellar’. It will be similar to the wine reviews, except that it will feature aged … Read more
When most people think of Australian wine, they picture sun-drenched vineyards and powerful reds. There’s truth in that image, but it’s incomplete. The country’s most important wine regions are clustered in the cooler southern half of the continent, often close to the ocean or at higher elevations. Those moderating influences help preserve acidity and aromatic … Read more
It’s only now that I can tell this story. Time has passed. Therapy has helped. There are moments in a wine lover’s life that test one’s character. This one of them. It was a year ago, the day before Valentine’s. We had just got back from a trip to the coast the day before and … Read more
In addition to the weekly wine review and the various other, usually wine-related, articles I write for My Van City, I am going to include a new one that will appear from time to time. I’m calling it, ‘From the Cellar’. It will be similar to the wine reviews, except that it will feature wines … Read more
A friend recently mentioned he was going to be opening a special bottle he had been saving: a 2010 Grange. When I asked him to tell me more about how he came across this wine, he said, “We have a lifelong friend of my wife’s who lives in Sydney. She bought the bottle quite a … Read more
In addition to the weekly wine review and the various other, usually wine-related, articles I write for My Van City, I am going to include a new one that will appear from time to time. I’m calling it, ‘From the Cellar’. It will be similar to the wine reviews, except that it will feature wines … Read more