Read the details on the link above about the Wine Vacation For Two Giveaway!!! : )
And Thank YOU For all YOUR SUPPORT!
Poplar Grove Penticton Gets Lt. Gov. Award + Naramata TailGate
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Urban Winery Opens In Vancouver
Vancouver Urban Winery Brings Wine-on-Tap to BC Consumers
July 17, 2012 - Vancouver, BC - Vancouver’s first commercial urban winery, Vancouver Urban Winery, has officially opened its doors in the historic heart of the city’s Railtown district. The multifunctional 7,700 sqft open-concept space boasts a tasting bar equipped with 36 taps serving a rotating selection of wine-on-tap, a creatively curated retail store, and a fully operational winery that packages, imports and distributes wine for a multitude of brands.
THE TASTING BAR
36 wine taps line the 24-foot custom crafted Douglas fir tasting bar in Vancouver Urban Wineryʼs historic 1920s high-ceilinged building. Staffed by a keen team of wine lovers and sommeliers alike, the tasting bar offers a continuously rotating selection of wines that highlight both international selections and the best of British Columbia.
Special to Thursday and Friday evenings (or anytime when called ahead) guests are able to enjoy local artisanal food and wine pairings, with each selection being announced via social media on the preceding Wednesday. Wines on-tap are priced at $10 for five one ounce pours, and food and wine pairings are priced between $17 and $25 for five wines paired with five bites. And for those that want to take a taste of the experience home, a creatively curated shop lies within the walls of the Vancouver Urban Winery venue.
THE TASTY SHOP
A uniquely local experience, Vancouver Urban Wineryʼs retail shop offers a creatively curated selection of artisanal gourmet products, artwork and all things wine. Shoppers can expect to find Beta5 chocolates, Urban Bean coffee, Sea to Sky salts and spices, Fey and Hobbs antipasto and drunken olives, Okanagan Vinegar Brewery selections, as well as bottles of the Vancouver Urban Winery’s own wine label, Roaring Twenties Wine Co. vancouverurbanwinery.com
FOOD NEWS:
1. Beware of California’s Foie Gras Police!
Today, July 1st 2012, California’s ban on Foie Gras comes into effect. That means you can be fined up to $1,000 for eating or serving foie gras in the State of California.
Absurdly misplaced “good intentions” or ethical food legislation?
A very controversial issue after the bill was passed, the matter of force fed ducks is not so clear cut. Veterinarians say it is not a form of animal cruelty. Foie Gras consumers say WTF? And on-the-fencers wonder if this is just the beginning of outlawed foods in California?
Add your comments below or join us on LinkedIn at Group: Local Food And Wine and offer your thoughts to the discussion there.
The Wine Yacht
“We wanted to put our own unique spin on traditional food and wine pairing concepts” says Chef Natasha Harris. “Clients who book the yacht will be able to show their guests Vancouver from a new perspective, while learning about interesting wine and food combinations using local ingredients. It’s a great opportunity to showcase our city and what we are privileged to have here.”
Created by Sunset Bay’s ISG accredited Executive Chef Natasha Harris, The Wine Yacht’s interactive group tasting sessions are designed to provide clients with an informative and unique custom tasting event while on board the “Sunset Bay II” private yacht. Each tasting station features premium wine varietals from BC and around the world, paired with small plates inspired by the corresponding wine’s region.
Available for groups up to 275, The Wine Yacht’s tasting packages range in style and variety, and offer something for everyone from wine tasting novices to experienced wine connoisseurs.
Featuring local products like Nicola Valley Beef and Venison, Maple Hills Free Range Chicken, Ocean Wise® sustainable seafood and fresh organic produce, The Wine Yacht’s flavorful combinations are sure to be a hit.
The Wine Yacht sets out to combine the popular art of food and wine pairing with the exclusivity of a luxury private group charter experience.
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Natalie MacLean’s Unquenchable!
From The Nat Decants Newsletter:
I’m so excited about the amazing cross-country tour Random House/Doubleday has planned for the launch of my second bookUnquenchable! There are events planned across the country … all of them include wine tasting and some amusing stories from the book: Vancouver, Okanagan, Whistler, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Niagara, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, St. John’sTickets went on sale yesterday and are going very quickly. I hope you’ll join me at one of these events … there are others planned across the country as well.Unquenchable has now been #1 wine book on Amazon for three weeks thanks to your pre-orders.Today’s wine picks feature terrific pinot noir and riesling for turkey dinner, as well as a wide selection of buttery-great chardonnays and one of the funniest wine labels I’ve seen that’s also a tasty red wine.To help you get ready for Thanksgiving next weekend, I’ve also posted my top five tips on choosing gobbling good wines! 
FreeTheWine.ca
This was posted on BC Wineries.net
Hi BC Wineries friends,
…you may have seen on Twitter that Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Dan Albas (@danalbas) is introducing a Private Members Bill next week to amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act. The IILA is the 1928 post-prohibition federal law that prevents wineries from shipping directly to their customers in other provinces (see Mark Hicken’s websiteswww.winelaw.ca and www.freethewine.ca for more detailed info). In fact, it could be introduced as early as Monday. Throughout the bid process for the North American Wine Bloggers Conference (June 7-9, 2013 in Penticton, save the dates!) Dan and I had several conversations about the IILA and I know he’s been in touch with a number of organizations, including the BC Wine Institute and the Alliance of Canadian Wine Consumers. Public support will be needed in order to change this legislation, and Dan has asked me to spearhead a social media blitz (this shouldn’t surprise anyone, should it??). On Twitter, please follow Dan @danalbas and myself @allisonmmarkin, and tag your tweets #freemygrapes for info and to join the conversation. There will be a Facebook presence up shortly as well. I’ll be providing an update on WBC 2013 at the next Eat.Drink.Tweet. event, and hopefully there will be some good news to report on the ILLA front. Cheers,
Allison [Markin]
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Gwyneth Paltrow’s Book Of Recipes
Gwyneth Paltrow’s book of recipes for “Family and Friends” was released by Marabout Books in May. It is a delightful book filled with basic dishes, healthy and flavorful, that will gather your friends around you as you putter in the kitchen.
The dishes are good go-to recipes for “Mothers of The Family,” as well, as there are no refined sugars used. Following the foreward by Mario Batali, Paltrow lists two full pages of essential ingredients to have on hand and stocked in the refrigerator. These include: Dark Agave Syrup, Light Agave Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, Maple Syrup, Honey…
Illustrations include beautifully photographed prepared dishes alongwith family photos of Gwyneth as a child and a baby, and then as a mother herself with her own children. Wonderful summer dessert recipes await you at the end of the book such as Seasonal Fruit Crumble and Fresh Red Fruits With Caramelised Cream.
Paltrow founded the site Goop.com and also wrote another foodie book, co-authored with Mario Batali, Spain, A Culinary Road Trip. Read More on Local Food And Wine.
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Beka’s 100% Chef Eco Logic
by: Paige Donner
After taking a series of cooking classes in Paris last Winter, I realized that it was time to have some dinner parties chez moi to show off my new masterful (!) cooking skills. So when I realized that my one pan large enough to fry one egg in wouldn’t suffice for my dinner guests, I went shopping for new pots and pans.
The first thing I noticed was that since I’d last scoured the market, a whole new line of cookware had made its presence known on the store shelves. The most intriguing of these are the ceramic-lined cookware. I first did some window shopping in various department and specialty cooking stores and then placed my order with Beka whose Eco Beka line of 100% “Chef Eco-logic” line of ceramic-lined pots and pans had merited the 2009 prestigious Design Plus Award.
To really test the efficacy of the both products, I ordered one pan the identical size of the one pan I already had. My old pan was teflon-lined steel - not a cheap version but just last generation pan. The new shiny white pan from Eco Beka came lined with a beautiful slate gray ceramic.
It heats super fast, the hollow handle, metal, stays cool when cooking, I use a tiny drop of oil for non-stick and to steam vegetables I only use a 1/3 of the water.
What makes Eco Beka so efficient not to mention aesthetic?
- 100% environmentally friendly and worldwide exclusive treatment of eco hardened aluminum surfaces.
- PTFE and PFOA-free thanks to the water-based ceramic coating.
- No release of toxic substances - neither in production, nor when overheating.
- Natural color of the pan is preserved: no chemical dyes used
- Hollow, thermal handle: Fewer materials used which benefits the environment (this keeps the handle cool, unless used in the oven).
- Beka makes a whole range of Eco Beka. Take a look at the line of pots, pans and casseroles online.
And two more things: Super easy cleanup of the nonstick surface. Also, I swear that the fact that they sponsor the Top Chef TV show had no bearing on my decision to purchase Chef Eco-logic 100%. After all, I’m not a Top Chef, I just pretend to be one when I’m cooking at home.
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Ultimate July 1 Barbecue with a New Wine Mobile App
Game-changing technology allows you to instantly scan 150,000 wines in the liquor store
Toronto, May 12, 2011 – A new free mobile application will change the way Canadian wine lovers find, buy and enjoy wine this summer. The Natalie MacLean Wine Picks & Pairings app lets you use your smartphone camera to snap a picture of any bottle label bar code in the liquor store. With one click, you get tasting notes, scores, and food pairings.
“You’re in the liquor store wondering if you should buy the bottle with the castle on its label or the one with the fluffy squirrel,” says Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine web site at www.nataliemaclean.com. She created the tool to make buying wine easier for consumers.“Now you just point and click to find out if that shiraz actually is a good wine to go with your pepper steak, or if the sauvignon blanc would work with your grilled veggies. No more guesswork based on castles and critters.”No more shopping lists either since you can scan the wines right in front of you in the store. The app’s key features allow you to:- Instantly access tasting notes, scores, prices, recipes and food pairings- Search 150,000 wines at the LCBO, SAQ, BC Liquor Stores and other liquor retailers across the country- Get real-time stock for every wine at the store in which you’re shopping- Check the number of bottles in stock at nearby stores via GPS real-time inventory search- Track your purchases in your virtual cellar with just a few clicks- Create a wine journal with your own wine notes and pictures in the app- Share your favourite wines and pairings on Twitter and FacebookThe new Wine Picks & Pairings app is the next generation of Natalie’s mobile app, which was selected among the top five food-and-wine apps by both Computerworld Magazine and the New York Times. It’s the only one featured on Apple’s iTunes store under App Essentials for both “Food & Wine” and “Date Night.”Fans use Canada’s most popular wine and food app to get more than 700,000 wine picks and food pairing suggestions a month—the number of users has grown 230% over the past year. The app, designed by Fluid Trends, bundles a suite of 10 wine apps including reviews, cellar journals, recipes, food pairings, articles, blog posts, a wine glossary, a bi-weekly newsletter, a directory of wineries around the world and excerpts from Natalie’s bestselling book Red, White and Drunk All Over.A certified sommelier and winner of the World’s Best Wine Writer award at the World Food Media Awards, Natalie wrote and vetted all the pairings and wine reviews in the app rather than relying on computer-generated algorithms and crowd-sourced material.Natalie’s Top 10 Well-Done Wine and BBQ Pairings:1. Juicy Steak and Shiraz2. Grilled Salmon and Pinot Noir3. Seared Tuna and Gamay 4. Flame-Broiled Hamburgers and Zinfandel5. Grilled Portabello Mushroom and Rosé6. Herbed Chicken and Syrah7. Lobster in Butter and Sparkling Wine8. Grilled Veggies and Sauvignon Blanc9. BBQ Pork Chops and Chardonnay10. Roasted Marshmallows and Tawny Port
About NatalieNatalie MacLean is a Canadian wine journalist and author of Red, White and Drunk All Over.She connects with more than 123,000 wine and food lovers who get her free e-newsletter. Nat is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d’Escoffier International. More bio here: www.nataliemaclean.com/bio.
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