Sam The Wine Teacher 
The 26th Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards just took place at the Sheraton Wall Centre. It was a wonderful afternoon of sampling bites prepared by the best of Vancouver’s chefs as well as sampling great BC wines to accompany them. Vancouver is home to over 500 restaurants and half of these were nominated for awards. … Read more
Mediterranean? Mmmmmm, my favourite cuisine. You can’t go wrong when you cook with olive oil, lemon, garlic, parsley, fresh seasonal vegetables and seafood all prepared simply with a focus on flavour. Miradoro takes its inspiration from the traditional simple dishes of Italy, Portugal and Spain. These dishes are paired with the best wines the Okanagan … Read more
2011 Gamay Noir Mount Boucherie West Kelowna, BC $15.50 Bronze Medal The 2011 gamay is lighter and brighter than the 2010. Cherry red in colour with medium-light intensity. Earth, smoke and tangy red cherries on the nose. Good balance with medium body. Clean and bright on the palate with flavours of cherry and red currant. … Read more
Evolve Visionary design – dream and ask yourself, “What if . . . ?” Look at things in a new way and try to be kinder to the environment at the same time. Evolve. Rather a good name for this development as the design challenges us to change preconceived ideas about living spaces. How can … Read more
You must eat here when in Osoyoos. I’d been told about how good Campo Marina was during previous visits to my favourite Okanagan town, but hadn’t had the opportunity to visit it until now. We stopped by at about 6:30 on a Wednesday evening in late March and were surprised to see so many cars … Read more
The IVSA, or the International Vintners and Spirits Association, hold events throughout the year to showcase new products to those in the industry. This last week, I attended their most recent New Product Salon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver. The theme for the event was ‘Springtime Flavours and Innovations’. For three hours, I … Read more
2011 Chardonnay (Reserve) Pacific Breeze New Westminster, BC $29.99 Gold Medal Rich lemon yellow in colour with medium plus intensity. The nose is complex with aromas of caramel, tropical fruit, honey, toast and butter with a hint of citrus. Very well balanced with unctuous mouthfeel. The flavours echo the nose. A long, lingering finish with … Read more
I dropped by the Tap and Barrel the other day after attending a function at Science World. I was hungry and wanted to grab a bite before hopping on the Skytrain and heading home. I’d been there once before, in the summer and enjoyed sitting out on the upper deck. Tap and Barrel is a … Read more
Trends vs Terrior, an event sponsored by Wines of BC, was held recently at Science World to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Vintners Quality Alliance. David Scholefield was the emcee for this educational and entertaining evening. The esteemed panel for the debate included Christine Coletta, owner of Okanagan Crush Pad, Sid Cross, Honorary … Read more
2013 Garnacha (5G) Torres Campo de Borja, Spain $17.99 Bronze Medal Garnet red tinged with purple and a medium-deep intensity. The nose shows aromas of cherry, plum, forest floor, earth and cocoa. Good balance. Pleasing fruit on the palate with a medium-long finish. 2011 Riesling Zeller Peter & Peter (Feinherb) Mosel, Germany $12.59 … Read more