You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘wine tasting’ tag.
Saturday May 19: 1-5pm
at
Bowen Island beer and Wine Cellar, 103-996 Dorman Road (under the Ruddy Potato)
Chenin Blanc is one of the under-appreciated white grapes. It can be made into stellar dry white table wines, delectable sweet wines and smashing sparklers. Its spiritual roots are in France’s Loire Valley where it has been grown for nearly a 1,000 years.
This tasting will focus on table wines suitable for a long and, hopefully, hot weekend on the patio or deck. Expect a line up of quality wines, including a couple of Chenin blends, from BC, France, California, and South Africa. Working on adding a sparkling Chenin into the set as well.
Like this:
Thursday 1 September is International Cabernet Day. Around the world, people will be opening up Cabernet based wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and blends with Cabernet grapes like Bordeaux) in celebration and comparing notes over different social media platforms.
We are going to open two Cabernet Sauvignons for an EVENING tasting starting at 5pm until late so drop in on the way home from work to join in the celebration. We’ll be live tweeting from the store with a screen up for you to see what the rest of the world is tasting too.
Cab 1 will be the best selling Cabernet in BC – J. Lohr 7 Hills from California
Cab 2 will be a new import from Chile from Vina Arboleda. This is a new winery owned by Eduardo Chadwick, the master winemaker behind the very well regarded Errazuriz winery.
Look forward to seeing you all
Please join us this #BowFEAST weekend to celebrate eating and drinking locally. This is our 4th annual BC wine fest featuring FREE samples of great BC wines. Wines will be poured over 3 days starting Friday at 2pm.
Tasting session times:
Friday 2pm-6pm
Saturday 1pm – 5pm
Sunday 1pm to 5pm
On Saturday shop the #BowFEAST Farmers market from 9am to Noon. Have a nice lunch in the Cove, then mosey up to our new store on Dorman Road under the Ruddy Potato and taste some great BC wines to go with your fresh, local food for dinner.
While we end formal tasting at 6pm, if we have wine left you are welcome to come in later and try what’s still open
Big line up this year with totally different wines each day:
Participating Wineries and wines. Tasting order is yet to be determined but over the 3 days we’ll be opening wines from among the following:
The View - Frizzante, Gewurztraminer, Pinotage
Quails Gate - Rosé, Chenin Blanc
Tinhorn Creek - Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay
Stoneboat – Pinotage, Pinot Gris
Ganton & Larsen Prospect winery – Sauvignon Blanc, Unoaked Chardonnay
Lake Breeze - Pinot Blanc, Meritage
Dirty Laundry – Gewurztraminer, Merlot
Hester Creek – Cabernet/Merlot blend
Black Cloud – Pinot Noir
Tantalus – Riesling
8th Generation – Sauvignon Blanc
Blasted Church – Hatfields Fuse (white blend)
Fairview Cellars - 2 Hoots
Plus on Saturday ONLY – Red Roof Okanagan cider
To celebrate our new location, please join us on Saturday June 11 between 1pm and 5:30pm to sample sparkling wine from BC, Spain and Italy.
With our expanded store opening we will have:
- Much larger selection of beers, ciders and coolers including Budweiser 8 pack cans on special at LDB price (while stocks last), upgraded selection of BC craft beers and ciders
- New wines from BC and around the world plus wine specials at $9.47, $19.47 and $29.47
- Expanded spirits section with all the necessaries for the “Cocktail Cabinet”
Lots of events being scheduled too in over the summer including:
- Wine and Indian Food with Qui Café
- Sherry tasting
- Port & Chocolate with Cocoa West
- Riedel glassware – taste the difference between Riedel and other glassware
- BC wine fest (August in conjunction with BowFeast)
- Unusual Grapes #3
- Howe Sound Brewing beer tasting
- … and more
Hope we’ll see all our regulars and lots of new friends too.
1pm-5pm
Malbec is the HOT varietal in red wine. Taste Malbecs from Argentina, Australia and Chile.
Last year’s Malbec tasting was a blind tasting of two Argentinian and one French, we all had a great time and the Argentinian’s came out on top – so let’s see if Australia or Chile can take the crown this year.
If you follow me on twitter you’ll know that I’ve been having fun voting for Riesling in the great #marcmad wine vote-off. Riesling emerged as the winner of the white wine category and is in the final today against Pinot Noir. To celebrate (and to compensate you for the volume of tweets) I’ll open a bottle of Riesling for tasting Friday 8th April between 3 and 6pm and all Rieslings are 10% off all day.
We have just received 5 Spanish red wines from Castilla la Mancha. This is Don Quixote country near Madrid -but we`re not tilting at windmills with these super value, high quality wines. Click on the links to see a short video on each prepared by the importer.
Come and taste these wines between 17-23 December – see previous blog post for schedule.
A region brought to fame by Miguel Cervantes’ seventeenth century masterpiece The Adventures of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote of La Mancha, Castilla-La Mancha has since developed a serious reputation for producing wines of exceptional value while maintaining a playful association with its fictional forefather. The region is known for its expansive plains ringed by inhospitable mountain ranges, extreme seasonal temperatures, and high exposure to sunlight, all of which combines to create a dynamic viticultural formula. Representing more than 50% of the nation’s wine country, Castilla-La Mancha encompasses the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo. Boasting the most vineyards per region in the world, this birthplace of Don Quijote includes dynamic Denominaciones de Origen such as Manchuela, Jumilla, Almansa, and La Mancha, to name a few.
Reds
2008 Finca La Estacada, Roble, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (Tempranillo – 6 Months in Oak)
2006 Finca La Estacada, Crianza, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (Tempranillo – 12 Months in Oak)
2008 Bodega López Mercier, Cal Y Canto, Full Red, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (Tempranillo 80%, Merlot 15%, Syrah 5%)
2009 Bodega Unión Campesina Iniestense, Señorío de Iniesta, Tempranillo,
Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (Tempranillo)
2008 Finca Los Aljibes, Castillo de Morante, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon)
You are invited to come down and celebrate Global Zinfandel Day this Friday. From 4pm we’ll have two sample bottles open to showcase this grape varietal.
One will be a Californian Zin from Cline Cellars and the other will be Canaletto Primitivo. It was long thought that Zinfandel was indigenous to California but genetic testing has proved that it is the same grape as Italian Primitivo that is grown mainly in the Puglia region (the heel of Italy).
In the spirit of a “Global” celebration, we invite you to compare wines from the two regions most associated with this varietal.
Second in Unusual Grapes tasting series will feature three wines from Greece (two whites and a red). Drop by and try something that is NOT Retsina!
