earthly pleasures and heavenly delights
One of my favourite things about the Canadian wine industry is the little pockets of the country that are on the very fringes of wine country, where a few pioneering wineries are continually testing the limits of what they can grow and make. These area …
I have basically given up on wines under $20. That sounds dreadfully snobby of me – and it is – but it’s also a reflection of the cost of wine in Alberta. When I first started in the wine industry, something like 18 years ago …
If this wine is any indication, Maynard James Keenan does indeed know shit from Shinola. I’ve been exploring the world of celebrity wines again recently. Most of them are pretty crap, but occasionally you find one that’s actually quite good. Without fail, these are always …
I just finished writing a story for Edify about celebrity wines. The story will be in the September issue; I’ll share the link here when it’s out. Celebrity wine was one of the first topics I wrote about way back when I started doing a …
A little while ago I had the opportunity to try a few Okanagan wines that are part of the portfolio under Encore Vineyards: TIME Winery, McWatters Collection and Evolve Cellars. Encore was owned by the late Harry McWatters, one of the OG pioneers of BC’s …
My latest story in Edify is a deep(er) dive on natural wines. I really wanted to dig into this topic further and explore what’s going on with natural wines in Edmonton particularly. I spoke with Erik Mercier of Juice Imports, Alberta’s first natural wine import …
Tonight I’m enjoying a unique wine from Ukraine. That’s right, Ukraine. This is the first wine I’ve ever tried from this country, which has a pretty tiny wine industry. The winery, Kolonist, is new to the Alberta market. I had been tipped off about these …
We are already well into February and the New Year seems like it was a million years ago already, but I’ve been meaning to post about the lovely bottle of Grower Champagne that I drank to ring in the New Year: Baron-Fuenté Grande Réserve Brut. If …
It’s probably a dumb idea to make predictions about anything these days (says the woman who’s studying astrology), but I gave it a shot in my latest piece for Edify. I took a look at the wine trends I think we might see in 2021, …
Just a quick post today, on this last day of 2020, to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I hope you are all raising a glass of something delicious tonight whilst wishing 2020 a very merry fuck you. I also wanted to share my …
I recently picked up a case of wine from Color de Vino. In the last few years, they’ve really honed in on the natural wine zeitgeist. I was interested in dipping my toe further into natural wine after finishing my last freelance wine story of …
I first learned about qvevri in Alice Feiring’s 2016 book For the Love of Wine. In this book, she recounts her experience visiting Georgia and discovering the wines from this region, many of which are made in qvevri – giant egg-shaped terracotta vessels that are …