Sub Categories in Wine Experiences

Category of: Wine Experiences

Florence: the art of the aperitivo

February 11, 2016

Feature B&W  image above used with special permission from the Ruth Orkin Photo Archive, American Girl in Italy, 1951, Copyright 1952, 1980 Ruth Orkin. Italian food culture is very seductive. It lures you with its rituals and once you are hooked, it’s hard to turn back. And why would you want to turn back anyway? One of the rituals that we engaged in while travelling in Italy was the aperitivo and Florence in particular raised this ceremony... View Article

Tuscany off the beaten path – a weekend at Palazzo del Duca in Tavernelle

November 28, 2015

After beating the path to many of the well known destinations in Tuscany (posts coming) we wanted to explore the road less travelled and booked a weekend at Palazzo del Duca in Tavernelle. The town is located in Northern Tuscany’s “land of the moon”, Lungiana, known for its chestnuts and DOP honey. Travelling off season we were going to be the only guests at the palazzo and the owners Mirella and Francesco drove up from... View Article

Summerdine with Les Dames Escoffier

August 15, 2015

How would you like to attend a dinner prepared by your city’s best chefs, paired with award winning local wines and served in the most beautiful and unique settings this summer? Look no further. On Wednesday this week culinary professionals, amateurs and food enthusiasts gathered across British Columbia at 30 different venues concurrently for the most anticipated culinary event of the year. The aptly named Summerdine is Canada’s largest concurrent dinner fund raiser organized to... View Article

Road trip Days 10 – 12: great find in Port Orford, dune buggying on the Oregon Dunes, Oregon’s Willamette Valley wineries

July 12, 2015

So you think there was no adventure left in me after 10 days on the road? think again. On our way down the Oregon coast we passed through the vast Oregon sand dunes. We had no time to stop there on the way down but there was no way in Timbaktoo that I was going to pass up driving a dune buggy on the magnificent dunes. We planned our drive back with another stop in Oregon... View Article

Hops, Grapes and Grub at Tinhorn Creek – #SpringOKWineFest

May 11, 2015

Tinhorn Creek Winery hosted one of their sold out long table dinners during the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival that I was recently invited to attend. Tinhorn Creek is well known in the valley not only for their wines but also for their fabulous events, from long table dinners at Miradoro restaurant to cooking classes, movies under the stars, open air concerts and this year dinner and dance in the vineyard (watch their website for details).... View Article

Artisan grilled cheese and wine pairing #SpringOKWineFest

May 9, 2015

Okanagan Wine Festival offers many opportunities to educate your mind and palate by tasting local  foods, wines and cheeses. One such opportunity presented itself the other night at a grilled cheese tasting paired with local wines, presented by Dairy Farmers of Canada. The event took place at the upstairs room at the Eldorado (affectionately referred to as the El by locals). The room was set with linen covered  round tables for 8 and each guest... View Article

Mission Hill Winery: Legacy Series Culinary Class

April 22, 2015

We are very fortunate to have Mission Hill Winery in the Okanagan. Situated on top of the hills in West Kelowna overlooking the lake, Mission Hill has been a prominent winery in the valley, contributing not only world class wines abut also food, art and music to the local cultural scene. Architecturally it is a stunning estate reminiscent of Tuscany, complete with a loggia, a bell tower and gorgeous views, spanning the vineyards, lake and... View Article

BC Wine Information Society Sensory Centre

September 26, 2014

On Wednesday this week I was among more than one hundred guests from the culinary and wine industry here in the Okanagan invited to celebrated the official opening of the BC Wine Information Society  Sensory Centre at the Okanagan College Penticton campus. The $650K centre was built thanks to a grant of $300K by the Wine Information Society that was matched by the Jim Pattison Foundation and was built at no cost to the college.... View Article

BC Pinot Noir Celebration – “purity and weightlessness” in a bottle

September 6, 2014

  Do you know the Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the Princess and the Pea? That’s the story of Pinot Noir. An aristocratic grape, requiring royal treatment in the vineyard and the winery. Nothing short of an aristocrat could be as sensitive as Pinot Noir. However, when provided with the right growing environment and handled with care, it can produce some of the best wines in the world. Pinot Noir is an ancient grape whose... View Article

Painted Rock Estate Winery alfresco summer celebration with Joy Road Catering

August 3, 2014

John Skinner stood me up before we even met:). Laura (the culinary travel guide) and I attended the chic Visa Infinite dinner a couple of weeks ago and the name tag for the seat  across from me and beside Laura was John’s and he was a no show. Fortunately he sent a stand in, Painted Rock 2011 Red Icon, who proved to be spectacular company that evening, so we forgive John for his absence. I... View Article

Quail’s Gate Visa Infinite Dinner Event – It Takes Three

July 26, 2014

  On July 19th I was invited by my friend and fellow blogger Laura of The Culinary Travel Guide to join her at the sold out Visa Infinite event at Quail’s Gate winery. This was the place to be that night for culinary and wine enthusiasts and the place was packed.  Visa Infinite holds more than 60 events across Canada throughout the year featuring anything from dinners to wine country events to hotel collection and... View Article

Gougères (Cheese Puffs) – and Okanagan wine trivia

July 13, 2014

I consider gougères the ideal appetizer to serve with drinks. Gougères (or cheese puffs) are light and flavourful (it’s the cheese) and lend themselves to various flavours using herbs, spices and different cheeses (caveat: only dry cheese type). They are made from the same pastry as  eclairs but you make it savoury instead. They are easy to make and even if something goes wrong you can still serve them. What can go wrong? the most common mistake is... View Article