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Public Events
There are many more complete wine and food calendars on the web but our goal is to post those events that appear to over-deliver for the ticket price. The key factors that affect our decisions (having spent over 20 years attending such events) include attending principals, the quality of the food and wine, the location and the chance to learn something new.
May 18, 2013. Welcome back to Gismondi on Wine. The Spring is shaping up to a busy quarter topped off by the new WineAlign 2013 National Wine Awards of Canada to be held in Niagara this year in mid-June. In the meantime wines on our tasting radar at GOW are: fresh whites, rosés and cool, juicy reds. Look for new reviews and new content under ‘Article Archives,’ and we will continue to update most of our major reports including ‘Top Imports Under $15,’ ‘Harvest Reports,’ the ‘A to Z of British Columbia's Best Labels’ and more. Don’t forget to check out the BC videos we shot in the Okanagan Valley last summer under the Vancouver Sun on the Road banner to the right of this column. Thanks again for taking the time to visit our site where the scores are about the wines, not the reviewers. ag @TheSpitter
The wine business is full of the arcane and the unrelated, which is probably why wine is so appealing to such a broad spectrum of drinkers. This week, we look at several unrelated events that make the wine world go around ... incessantly. full article...
People who grow grapes, a.k.a. viticulturalists, do not get a lot of media exposure. Although in fairness to most, they are not the type who seek the limelight. It is my experience that grape growers are happiest in the vineyard where they seem oblivious to the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the big city. Frankly, who can blame them? A vine-covered slope in the Okanagan, Similkameen or Cowichan valleys can be a very enticing place to work, and clearly nothing like the hotel ballroom where we convened last week. full article...
Wait a minute; this is a wine column, what does a Canucks goal in Vancouver, disallowed from a replay booth in Toronto, have to do with a wine column ? Well, now that you mention it, quite a lot. You see the score is not always what it should be and the further away from it you are, the less likely you are to interpret it correctly. Cue the wine. full article...
Malbec will take to the streets of the world April 17 to celebrate ... itself. The powers that be in Argentine wine have organized some 70 events (in 60 cities and 45 countries) to pay tribute to its flagship grape that first arrived in South America from France more than 150 years ago. full article...
The international wine and spirits community were in Germany this week attending ProWein, one of the biggest trade shows on the planet. More than 40,000 visitors passed through the doors, and on the eve of the big show the German Wine Institute (DWI) updated the world on the state of German wine.
After a long year of tasting and travel we are always proud to release our own personal “Top 100” list. In short, we like these wines a lot and in most cases we will likely enjoy them for years if not decades. Not every wine will be available at retail; some will already be buried in private cellars while others will be on restaurant list. You r job is to drink anyone you come upon. Good hunting.
Dan Kosta is a gregarious, forthright fellow, whose good fortune in the wine business is not lost on him. “We started out thinking we could make a few barrels of really tasty wine, if things went well. We never really thought of it as becoming some kind of cult thing.” Napa’s cabernets have the market cornered on that, but still, the kind of exotic, fulsome, fully expressed pinot noir Kosta Browne produces is in batches too small to slake the collective thirst. full article...
Late in the summer, Newfoundland’s star executive chef Jeremy Charles of Raymond’s restaurant in St. John travelled to West in Vancouver where executive chef Quang Dang was waiting as host. Charles brought a small brigade, food and wines featured on his list and they even brought some iceburg chunks, to cool the water at table. It was a fascinating look at the bounty of two oceans and two parts of Canada. full article...
Grappa as most people know it is a fiery spirit, clear, hard, and better taken with an espresso or strong coffee, where it is called in Italy, correto. The English connotation there is also appropriately evocative: it “corrects” not the coffee, and not the rough-hewn spirit, but the digestive system. full article...
New Year’s Eve evening is a great time for lingering over snacks with friends, before dinner or heading out to a party and there are certainly a number of cheeses that pair well with bubbles. We have been busy in the store all week selling our favourite matches so for any last minute shoppers here are some of our best bets. full article...
Do you know your guests well? If you are having close friends to your home, there is a good chance you may already know the kind of cheese they might enjoy. When you are entertaning people you hardly know and you know even less about thier tastes, it is always good to choose a more general selection. It is fine to push the envelope a bit, but you want to make people feel welcome in your home, not scare them! full article...
Having admitted that I don’t love all goat cheese and have been known to describe some as very 'goat-y' and 'barnyard-y', there are some that I like much more than others. I find that the more aged cheeses from the Loire Valley are some of my favourites, as well as some firmer goat cheeses like Queso de Cabra al Vino from Spain. full article...
The most important ingredient in Roquefort besides sheep milk is Penicillium Roqueforti. This mold is the secret that makes the taste of the cheese unique. The mold is specifically grown in special large loaves of rye bread. The bread is left in natural caves in the area until the centre has turned almost entirely to mold, and then the loaves are cracked open and the mold is ground for addition to the cheese curd before it is pressed. full article...
The most common Pecorino available in North America is Pecorino Romano. It is substantially saltier and much stronger than most of the other pecorinos we see. For me it lacks all the subtle fruity flavours that are the very reason I love sheep’s milk cheese. For cooking a robust flavoured dish, where a strong flavour is needed Romano is great, but for a table cheese it isn’t as appealing. full article...
Tasting wine takes you to many places, both hotels and restaurants - some good, some great and some bad. In response to many requests I will begin posting some basic details on where to stay and eat in wine country or wine friendly cities but only if I have first hand experience. Take it for what it is: a personal opinion but one that is based on many years of travel.
A 16 at 2355 Chestnut in the Marina area is named after a road in Italy. Expect delicious Naples-style thin crust pizza and light ricotta gnocchi as well as wonderful wood-fired cooking of Italy’s south. full article...
Four Seasons Resort Whistler's 273 guest rooms, suites and townhouses are generously sized and capture the spirit of a luxurious mountain residence. full article...
The Ritz-Carlton Santiago opened in June 2003 debut and immediately raised the standard of Chilean hotels. The hotel is set in Las Condes in the heart of the central business district. full article...
Cold, harsh winter weather has always benefited wine growers in this country if only because it acts as the perfect, natural pesticide but today freezing temperatures that blanket our vineyards each winter yield a much richer reward - icewine. full article...
May 18, 2013. Welcome back to Gismondi on Wine. The Spring is shaping up to a busy quarter topped off by the new 
