After years of anticipation and planning, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards opened a new restaurant at the winery on April 1 The restaurant, aptly named Miradoro, roughly translates to “Golden View” in Portuguese. This originates from Miradoro restaurant partner Manuel Ferreira’s (of famed Vancouver’s Le Gavroche) Portuguese background. Miradoro will serve market cuisine in a relaxed fine dining atmosphere. It seats 65 people inside with a 65-seat patio offering superb views of the scenic South Okanagan Valley. Ferreira has secured two exceptional individuals to run the restaurant whose knowledge and experience will make Miradoro a destination restaurant for tourists and locals alike. […]
Soup’s on! Cool summer soup paired with a zesty riesling, pinot grigio or sake
By Pat Anderson Summertime, and sometimes it’s just too darned hot out to eat a hot meal. Soup and salad makes a great combination, especially if it’s a creamy cold soup that you’ve made in advance, and only needs to be poured from a pitcher in the fridge into bowls! Vichyssoise is an adaptable cold soup. The original recipe calls for using leeks, those long mild onions Welshmen wear on St. David’s Day, but I’ve modified vichyssoise to use whatever interesting fresh greens are at the market. Mid-May, that means wild ramps. End of June or early July, the farmers […]
Explore BC Trip Ideas for Wining and Dining
British Columbia is one of the best places to spend a vacation filled with sipping local wines and sampling homegrown food. Check out BC trip ideas, which will tempt you to have a wonderfully indulgent summer. Here’s a snapshot of the trip ideas you’ll find: • Stop and taste award-winning Gewurztraminers along Corkscrew Drive near Penticton. • Try a blackberry port-style wine at a First Nations–owned winery on Vancouver Island. • Go on a chef-led tour through Vancouver’s Granville Island Public Market, where its stalls are filled to the brim with fresh fruit, vegetables, local meats and cheeses. Don’t miss […]
Top 5 Red and White Wines: July 9 Vintages Release
July 9 Vintages: Best Wines to Buy Top score wines, 90 plus points Affordable sparkling wines Dry rose and white wines Big red wines from Argentina, Chile and Australia Best wines from Niagara and the Okanagan Here are some of my top picks and best value wines from the July 9 Vintages Release. You’ll find all 57 wines here that I’ve recommended from a wide range of price points, scores, food pairings, regions and styles, including red, white, sparkling, rose and dessert wine. Make sure you have some back-up choices in case some of these are sold out. You can […]
Tinhorn Creek Canadian Concert Series Pairs Wine and Music in Harmony
Every summer Tinhorn Creek Vineyards hosts the Canadian Concert Series. These concerts feature up and coming Canadian talent over the summer months and close off the season in September with a highly recognized Canadian performer. The first concert of the season kicked off with an amazing performance by up-and-coming indie/jazz singer Ali Milner. At only 19 years of age Ali Milner delivers pure sound and amazing vocal depth, with a modern edge for a classic genre that has been described as shades of Sam Cooke and Nora Jones rolled into one. Watch a short clip of her concert […]
Marqués de Murrieta – A Ghost in the Bottle
The longer you spend exploring the subject of fine wine, the more familiar you become with the concept that there are no great wines but only great bottles, and that with every great bottle, comes an even greater story. I have one to share… For my wife Jacquie’s 40th birthday celebration last year, I bought two bottles of the 1970 Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay, Gran Reserva. The Spanish claim that 1970 was their vintage of the century and those who are fond of this region also recognize that Castillo Ygay is the flagship of Rioja. I have read […]
Wine Festivals for the Seasons
By Michael Fagin Fall colors and the wine harvest, spring flowers in wine country, or soaking in the summer sun, food, wine and the beach. These were the hard choices that my wife and I had to ponder when Tourism Kelowna invited us to attend one of their seasonal wine festivals. We made the decision to go to the fall festival and were very pleased with so much to do between the 110 wineries that participated, the winemaker’s diners, as well as wine and cheese tasting events. And let us not forgot one of our favorites, pairing chocolates and wines. […]
Top 5 Wines for Canada Day: Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sizzle beside the Grill
Here are my top 5 wines for Canada Day … be sure you’re well stocked up! Cheers, Natalie [table id=9 /]
Best Wine Books – Summer in a Glass
There are lots of terrific wine books you can enjoy this summer, including my recent discovery: Summer in a Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes by Evan Dawson. Evan is managing editor of the New York Cork Report and morning news anchor at WHAM-TV in Rochester. He’s penned a terrific account of one of the fastest growing wine regions in the U.S. by telling the stories of the winemakers, characters who leap off his pages. I love this approach to learning about wine rather than the encyclopedias and guide books … you don’t even realize […]
Enjoying Kelowna’s Stately Wines
By Michael Fagin What does Michael Fagin have in common with both Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama? We all like British Columbia white wines. President Obama sipped the Quails’ Gate Okanagan Valley Chenin Blanc in Ottawa and my wife and I sipped Quails’ Gate Estate wine in Kelowna. And Queen Elizabeth II? She also sipped Okanagan wine in the 1980’s. This was, incidentally, about the same time that a Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom at Buckingham Palace and stole a half bottle of wine (type unknown). It needs to be clarified here that that Michael Fagan […]
