Sam The Wine Teacher 
2013 Malbec Eau Vivre Cawston, BC $23.00 Not a classic Argentinian style Malbec (why would it be?), but a darn good wine and a great example of what BC can do with this grape. Garnet red in colour with a medium-deep intensity. Black pepper, black berry and blue berry aromas on the nose. Well … Read more
Vancouver Foodster Tasting Plates Marpole I’ve been on several of these walkabout dining tours and this one was particularly nice because everything was so close and I got to know an area of Vancouver I had only previously driven through. All the locations were within a block or so of each other and some had … Read more
What could make over forty people line up outside of Adanac Street’s Wise Hall, in the cold and dark and rain on one of the windiest nights of the year? Well a chance to sample some of Vancouver’s best craft brews of course. This was the fourth annual East Side Beer Fest (ESBF), sponsored by … Read more
Christopher Lay and Diana McKenzie opened Callister Brewing in 2015. Located on Franklin Street, just off of Clarke, Callister operates as a custom brew facility, renting space and equipment to three other brewers. The line up changes year to year, but this gives people interested in pursuing their passion an opportunity to hone their … Read more
At the invitation of Liam Peyton, Beer Ambassador for the Donnelly Group, I headed down to the Butcher and Bullock on West Pender, just east of Burrard, for their ‘Smoregasboard’ beer event. The crew from Parallel 49 was on hand to tap their cask of a special brew. The background here is that a Knob … Read more
The 126-year-old Yale Hotel, a long time staple on the Vancouver blues circuit, closed its doors in 2011. This Vancouver icon, at the corner of Granville and Drake has seen it’s fair share of legendary blues musicians over the years, including Jim Burns, BB King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Johnny Winter and … Read more
I am a night owl and there are not many things that would tempt me to roll out of bed early on a rainy Saturday morning and head into Gastown, but that is exactly what a friend and I did in order to take in the Gastown Brunch Crawl. After checking in at Prado Café … Read more
Taste BC is an annual event to showcase the best of BC beer, wine and spirits as well as tasty bites from local suppliers and restaurants. There are also prizes and a silent auction with items such as luxury items, local experiences, destination packages and much more. This event marked the 22nd anniversary of Liberty … Read more
A few of us were lined up at the registration desk in Lonsdale Quay early on Saturday morning, waiting for the 9:30 countdown so we could get our Tasting Maps for the North Vancouver Brunch Crawl. After a quick look at the menu sheet, we headed off. We started this North Van adventure up the … Read more
The theme for the night was Carménère Once again I was fortunate to be invited to fill in a spot with a tasting group that has been running for thirty-eight years. The theme for the night was Carménère. Carménère is a very interesting varietal. It all but disappeared in France after the Phylloxera outbreak in … Read more