About a year ago, I worked with Yukon Artists @ Work on a project called “Canvas Confidential,” a fundraiser to help Yukon artists if illness prevented them from working. As part of this event, we hosted a wine tasting, and had very specific criteria for the chosen wines. First, we had to order wines from …
The best wine experiences that I have enjoyed have been dinners with friends, often under unexpected circumstances. There was a night in the mortuary of the English Cemetery in the middle of a traffic circle in Florence, Italy, where I drank wonderful, local Tuscan reds with an Anglican nun as we shared a potluck, candle-lit …
Julia Child, the late, great American cookbook writer and chef, was profoundly moved by her first French meal when she and her husband arrived by ship, in Rouen, France, in November of 1948. She wrote: “We began our lunch with a half-dozen oysters on the half shell. Rouen is famous for its duck dishes, but, …
With the drop in temperatures, the shorter days and the recent snowfall, I am reminded that we are headed into the holiday season. Few places give me more of that happy feeling, of the anticipation of Winter Solstice, Chanukah, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Years … the whole stretch of holiday celebrations and events, than the …
Christmas and New Year’s are fast approaching us here in the Yukon, and this weekend reminded me what a beautiful and magical place we live in. If Whitehorse was not beautiful enough, I just came home from driving 500 km through low-angle sun and fresh fallen snow to Dawson City. The Klondike Institute of Art …
Over the coming months, I hope to explore some new wines that I have not tried before, and also make a concerted effort to look at wines by country. A recent dinner I had with friends in Tagish was the perfect opportunity to explore some wines from Chile. When invited to dinner, I always ask …
Last week I was cornered by someone who asked what her options were for taking wine along on a paddling trip. For me, part of the experience of enjoying the outdoors is to end a day with friends by setting up camp with a great view, a good dinner and a glass or two of …
Several weeks ago, I had the happy opportunity to explore a significant portion of the range of Gary Monk Estate wines. A friend of mine who helps organize the annual Rotary Club Wine Festival represents the Gray Monk Estate Winery, and invited me and several other Rotary Club members to taste their wines. Gray Monk …
The third Thursday of November, chalkboards across France announced, Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé! (literally, “The new Beaujolais has arrived!”). This annual event is the first opportunity for wine lovers to taste the first wines made from the 2011 vintage harvest, grapes picked just six to eight weeks earlier. I always look forward to this …
Most Canadian wine drinkers are pretty familiar with California wines. Their Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays have been celebrated in such movies as Sideways and Bottleshock, and their top-of-the-line Cabernet Sauvignons, like the 2007 Screaming Eagle Cab, can command prices of $2,400-3,400 a bottle (US pricing)! A visit to the Yukon Liquor Corporation (YLC) will yield …
I was reminded again recently of the role that sharing wine can have in igniting enthusiasm and making new friends. As I mentioned in my last column, I had been invited by the staff of the Yukon Arts Centre to help them offer up a wine tasting as part of the launch of their new …
Love of (and interest in) wine has opened wonderful doors for me in my life. Tasting wine has been the lens through which I have experienced lessons in history and geography. Friends have mailed me bottles from places such as Malta, and I have had the chance to sit with vineyard owners and chat over …
