My wife is an excellent chef. She makes some wonderful meals. However, she has never made Yorkshire pudding. My Grandmother was an expert at it. Her roast beef dinners with all trimmings along with the most delicious Yorkshire pudding were the Sunday highlights of my early years.

Over my lifetime I have been invited to many a home for dinner and until last Tuesday only one has ever served Yorkshire pudding. My dreams came true on Tuesday as new friends provided the perfect dinner.

We started with a few appetizers and a California wine not worthy of mention.  The aromas coming from the kitchen were amazing. Once seated at the table we were present with slow-cooked roast beef, mashed potatoes, mashed turnip and carrots and gravy. To my surprise a heaping plate of perfectly made very delicious Yorkshire pudding.

The wine Black Hills Nota Bene 2015. I was in heaven. Good food, good wine and awesome company. I gave the first star to the pudding second star to the main course and the final star to the wine.

If you follow this blog you will know that that I have not posted in several weeks now. I ran into a few health issues that prevented me from enjoying the numerous fine wines produces by the Candian wineries. Three Kidney stones and 2 gallstones preventing me from attending the Vancouver International Wine Festival.

I mention the medical problems only to offer an excuse. That's right an excuse for the Okanagan Falls wines.  I attended their Spring release and have to say I was disappointed in the wines. Maybe this was the result of too many medications taken in the months before the event maybe not.

Who did not disappoint and once again stood out was Wild Goose Vineyards. Their consistency over the years has been amazing.  Try their 2017 Gewurtztraminer. Absolutely is full of mouth-watering peach and apricot flavours.

Liquidy Wines Ltd also impressed. The complex blend Collage was extremely good. This winery should impress you in 2019.

The winery with one of the best locations in the Okanagan  Kraze Legz also impressed with a good cellar of wines.

The family owned  new  Nighthawk Vineyards showed a great deal of potential. The owners are Danial and Christ Bibby with Dakota Bibby been the winemaker.

Visit the website and help support our 29 year adventure by advertising on site.

I will be back in mid-April some health issues to deal with plus a move.
Thank you

Winter brings snow which I do no longer care for! But what it also brings is the perfect conditions for icewine. Grape growers in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario are jumping for joy.

Icewine is a rare gift from a magical Canadian winter. Picked at the coldest moment of a winter's night, each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine. One smooth rich, luxurious drop. Peller Estates

One of nature's most exquisite gifts one of the world's most luscious and celebrated wines. It is one of the most difficult and challenging processes for the winemaker. (1)

Canada is the world leader in producing amazing Ice Wines.

When harvesting, the grapes must be in their natural frozen state ideal temp -10 to -13 C  in Ontario with similar standards in all provinces.

I tasted my first icewine back in 1999 when an Ontario winery sent along a bottle of icewine to try. I did not care for it. It was thick like syrup. Perhaps damaged in shipping.

It was not until 2004 when visiting Inniskillin Winery in Ontario when I was asked to give icewine another try by Debra Pratt. This time it was sensational and I fell hard for this exotic beverage. Inniskillin co-founders Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser played a major role in making Icewine synonymous with Canada. The winery began producing icewine in 1983. In 1991, they won one of the world's most distinguished wine awards: Le Grand Prix d'Honneur Vinexpo, Bordeaux for their 1987 Icewine.

For additional information on Icewine visit Winesofcanada.com http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

For information on Debra Pratt http://www.winesofcanada.com/womenofwine.html

Hester Creek Vineyards located on the Golden Mile in Oliver, British Columbia has a unique dining room.Terrafina is a gorgeous Tuscan style restaurant nestled amongst the vines of Hester Creek.

Hester Creek is properly best known for its icon red The Judge . Although the winery is among the Okanagan's oldest it has a new wine shop and tasting room for visitors to enjoy. There is a relaxing patio and a guest villa. Also a new 23,000 square foot state-of-the-art wine producing facility. The 35,000 case capacity winery for crush 2009 is partially buried in the hill to take advantage of the natural temperature control of the earth and thereby reduce the need for energy. The cellar room is completely underground and the site’s natural vegetation has been restored on the top of the building.

Terrafina is small a larger indoor seating area would be nice. On our last visit to the Okanagan the temperatures where in the low eighties so my dear wife and I dined on the patio. A most relaxing setting.

I had the  Cavatelli Bolognese, slow cooked, beef, veal and pork parmesan Evoo. I enjoyed this dish with their Pinot Gris. Barbara chose a Naples style thin crust pizza along with a Cab Franc.

The hospitality and service was five star. The cuisine was delicious! The wines amazing!

We went home with a bottle of Trebbiano. To me its a must try wine.

Your French Fries and Wine.

Truth Been Known I would never consider ordering French Fries and wine together. 

French Fries can be defined as strips of potatoes deep fried until brown. They are an extremely popular dish. One often considers what wine they will order with their meal based on the main component of that meal, pasta, steak or fish. Seldom do we consider the side food that goes with our meal when ordering the wine.

French Fies are perhaps one of the most common "sides" on almost all dishes.

If you are having a simple dish of French Fries the best wine to have with the fries would be Champagne or sparkling wine. According to Vinepair the high acid, bubbles, and yeasty flavours of Champagne complement the salt, fat, and carby goodness of North America’s favourite side dish.

Now if you like to dip your fries in Mayonnaise try a Sauvignon Blanc.

There is also the classic fries and gravy  The gravy removes much of the greasy and salty taste (best not to have salt added but most restaurants do so).  I am going to suggest a  Gamay or Pinot Noir. The gravy changes everything.

Tater Tots are one of my favourite side dishes or an evening snack. A nice light wine like Riesling or Ortega goes well with these.

When in doubt you can always serve Chardonnay.

Advertise here

Port  ~ No  NO not in Canada

Canada reached an agreement with Europe and Portugal.  Only wine produced in the Douro region of Portugal may be called Port or Porto. (Canadian producers, under CEWSA Article 12(1), will cease using geographic indications (GIs) Chablis, Champagne, Port, Porto and Sherry effective December 31, 2013.)


Port is a fortified wine. Fortified wines are made by adding a proportion of grape spirit, or brandy, to the wine at some point during the production process. Port is arguably the greatest of all fortified wines and its paramount expression, Vintage Port, ranks alongside the finest produce of Bordeaux or Burgundy as one of the great iconic wines of the world.

Vinho do Porto, Porto

Fortified wine is most commonly associated with Portugal. The name comes from the harbour Porto this harbour is located in the City of Oporto . Some say Port was named after the city. The original wine region from which Port first came is called Douro. Today port wine is made in numerous countries; Canada is building a reputation for fine Ports.

Port is a sweet red wine with about 20% alcohol (as opposed to table wine which is usually about 13%) and rather low acidity and tannin. Ideally, a good port should have a rich spicy flavour and in spite of its 20% alcohol, taste very smooth. Port is created in a unique way that captures the fruit and flavour of the ripe grapes in wines that possess extraordinary longevity. During fermentation, prior to reaching the point where all of the natural grape sugars have been converted into alcohol, high-proof brandy is added to the vats to stop the fermentation. This leaves a wine with great depth of colour and a high natural sweetness.

Port is usually divided into two categories casked aged and bottled aged. Port can also be classified by other factors such as whether red or white grapes are used.

Tawny Ports are wines made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels, exposing them to gradual oxidation and evaporation. As a result, they gradually mellow to a golden-brown colour. The exposure to wood imparts "nutty" flavours to the wine, which is blended to match the house style. Tawny Ports are sweet or medium dry and typically drunk as a dessert wine. A Tawny Port from a single vintage is called Colheitas. Instead of an indication of age (10, 20...) the actual vintage year is mentioned.

Bottle-aged ports receive limited maturation in cask, cement, or stainless steel before bottling. They are intended to mature in the bottle, usually, after you buy them. The less expensive bottle-aged ports—Ruby, Reserve, and Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) are intended for consumption soon after purchase. True quality vintage port, on the other hand, is bottled without fining or filtration and will need decades to properly mature. These are among the world's longest-lived wines and will always require decanting.

Ruby port is the cheapest and most extensively produced type of port. After fermentation, it is stored in tanks made of concrete or stainless steel to prevent oxidative ageing, and preserve its rich claret colour. The wine is usually blended to match the style of the brand to which it is to be sold. The wine is fined and cold filtered before bottling and does not generally improve with age.

Vintage Ports are wines which age briefly in wood and then spend years maturing patiently in the bottle. Vintage port is made entirely from the grapes of a declared vintage year. The grapes may come from different vineyards. Single Quinta Vintage Ports are wines that originate from a single estate

There are more than 80 different grapes allowed to be used in the production of port.

Officially, real port wine comes only from Portugal, very much the same way that true Champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. In time wine growing regions outside of Douro cannot name their fortified wines port. That is why Sumac Ridge is called Pipe and Stoney Ridge is called Forte .

To me Port or Porty Style wines go best with darl chocolate of Pecan pie
Tawny ports go well with traditional desserts such as almond, apple or cream tarts, or creme brulée.

Cheese works too..