December is a busy month for dinner party planning for a lot of us. This is the time of the year a lot of us are starting to think about our Christmas dinner and the wine to pair with what we are going to celebrate the season. This piece is by no means exhaustive, but I am hoping to help you start thinking about the wine and food pairing, whether it will be a traditional pairing or are you going to venture a bit outside the ordinary. Turkey Turkey is probably the most common

Tasting Chablis at the top of a vineyard overlooking Chablis Grand Crus. My wife, Goretti, and I spent a three-week vacation in France in October 2025.  Two of those weeks were with the Vinfluence Group for a wine tour of Burgundy and Rhone.  Then we spent an extra four days in Provence on our own in a small historical town named Arles.  We finished off in Paris for another two days before returning home to Calgary. My regular readers would have noticed that this is my fourth

My tasting notes on the wines which impressed me the most during this trip. Read about my trip here! In Champagne At Tattinger 2014 Comtes de Champagne Grands Crus – Blanc de Blancs Golden colour.   Very fine fizz.  Nice complex and attractive nose of honey, toast, yeast, citrus and stewed fruit.  Surprisingly youthful for its age.  Still opening up.  Nice long finish. However, this is a quite expensive wine at 250 Euro. At Tienot 2015 Cuvee Origine Pale straw colour.   Nice

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Tara Glumac Dear Friends, As summer’s golden glow gives way to the crisp embrace of autumn, I hope this message finds...

PROLOGUE I was born and raised in Hong Kong when it was under British rule.  Wine is not part of our culture nor in my family upbringing....

Albania may not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking about wine, but that’s changing—and fast. Nestled in the heart of...

Last Friday night we hosted a very special dinner at our place with some very special wines from our cellar and those of our guests. That...

In my almost 5 decade of wine exploration journey, I have come across a few confusions. But none took more time than the three below to...

Hey Doug! How do you do ‘festival-style’ tastings like the FOV BBQ? First - with lots of wines, pre-arranging transportation home is...

PAST-PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Ray Todd As I reflect on my time serving as President of Friends of the Vine for the last two years, I am filled...

Last weekend was Mother’s Day.  Since both daughters-in-law are now mothers and their husbands want to celebrate with them on the actual...

I just realized that I have not written any Wine Ramblings since November of last year.  I have been busy with the renovation of our home.  This is probably my last renovation of this house and perhaps the last renovation in my lifetime.  Part of the renovation is the building of a proper wine cellar for myself and my wine collection.  The wine cellar was not the main intention of the renovation, but rather the accidental consequence of having to rebuild the basement and to m

I recently returned from a wine tour in Argentina. I am very excited to report a new age of wines is dawning in Argentina. But let me...

Tasting notes of some of the 38wines we tasted at this years FOV Plates & Palate's event.

List in the order of the tasting. Les Bulles de Caillou, Cremant de Bordeaux Brut NV $44.99 (reg) $35.99 (FOV) This wine was not on our...

For many of us who were around in the seventies and early eighties, you would likely remember the Italian restaurants back then and the...

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Friends, We hope this newsletter reaches you in good health. The impact of the pandemic has been far reaching,...

SPARKLINGS NV ADERNATS CAVA RESERVA BRUT NATURE TARRAGONA, CATALUNYA, SPAIN Straw colour. Nose of green apple, citrus, and a hint of...

Bordeaux, being the benchmark the world uses to measure all things related to wines, has been doing “En Primeur” every year since the...

The AGM this year was held on May 7, 2024 at the Flight Museum on McKnight Blvd just south of the airport. It is an interesting venue...