Uncorked

Cono Sur? Connoisseur? Itâ��s just a Chile sip away

Get Chardonnay bang for a way smaller buck

Killer Brazilian cocktails shake up the afternoon

Going boldly into Okanagan where blends mix and mingle

Find the right mood music to accompany your wine

Barbecue vintages put on their best behaviour

Robust barbecue reds jockey for grillmarks

Cono Sur? Connoisseur? It’s just a Chile sip away

By Jurgen Gothe

If you buy one of each from this Chilean producer's portfolio of seven wines available in B.C, you will have barely spent $85 and will have a terrific wine-tasting, food-matching adventure ahead of you.

Get Chardonnay bang for a way smaller buck

By Jurgen Gothe

Jurgen Gothe took price as the prime consideration and tasted both the cheapest and most expensive wines. His conclusion: go for the $8.49 bottle.

Killer Brazilian cocktails shake up the afternoon

By Jurgen Gothe

It's love at first taste for two specialty white spirits now found in B.C. liquor stores. Enjoy these simple recipes for sugar-cane juiced caipirinhas and mojitos that will quickly become your favourite summer sippers.

1 comment · Read more

Chardonnay paves the way for summer sips

By Jurgen Gothe

Here's a few Extreme Chardonnays: the cheapest, the costliest, the sticky sweet, and the ultra-dry. Take your pick, says Jurgen Gothe, there’s something for every taste and every wallet of the world's preferred white wine.

Vodka stays the world's favourite white spirit

By Jurgen Gothe

Summer seems to be the season for vodka, with more than 100 types flowing through government stores. Jurgen Gothe sips through some of the latest, including “the world’s first eco-friendly luxury vodka”.

Going boldly into Okanagan where blends mix and mingle

By Jurgen Gothe

Quite a few of the world’s best substances are the result of good blending: tea, perfume, and wine. Here are a few from the wine valley in our own provincial back yard for you to sip and savour.

1 comment · Read more

Find the right mood music to accompany your wine

By Jurgen Gothe

Syrah gets Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma”, Cabernet Sauvignon sits well with the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women”, and Merlot goes with everything from Lionel Richie to Otis Redding, according to a new study.

Barbecue vintages put on their best behaviour

By Jurgen Gothe

Last week’s lot was cheap and cheerful; this week’s raises the bar a bit. There’s nothing here under $20, for all those capitalized Barbecue Situations. As always, prices—and vintages—were correct at the time of acquisition. The government adjusts these monthly.

Robust barbecue reds jockey for grillmarks

By Jurgen Gothe

The mercury is rising at last so it's time to fire up those barbecues. Jurgen Gothe sifts through the new reds and finds wines for burgers, short ribs, applewood-smoked Cheddar, or perfect Portuguese grilled sardines.

A fruit bowl full of fine summer wines

By Jurgen Gothe

Fruit wines often don’t get the respect they should, but when you add a skilled winemaker to the equation, there are endless palate delights you can savour from stuff that isn’t Vitis vinifera.

This spring's sipping is love at first white

By Jurgen Gothe

Jurgen Gothe's sifts through some heady and fruity Sauvignon Blancs, a delicately balanced Riesling, and an unusual Gewürztraminer that had a hint of salwater taffy in his quest for the best new whites.

Chardonnays to bring out the sunshine

By Jurgen Gothe

The first in a two-part toast to late spring with recently arrived white wines from around the globe gets your tastebuds ready with Chardonnay, the world’s favourite white wine.