Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape - Bordeaux Futures?
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
August 24, 2007

If, like me, you are just starting to collect wine, you are probably used to buying a bottle and drinking it that very night, or within a couple days. It takes some self-control to get used to the idea of buying wine to drink further in the future. An even more difficult concept for those of us just starting out is buying wine futures.

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Tour de France

Fishman the Grape - Tour de France
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Tuesday, August 7, 2007

In honor of Team Discovery Channel and Alberto Contador’s victory in what was a very exciting, if somewhat controversy riddled Tour de France, I decided to host my own Tour de French Wine

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Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape - WSET Level 1
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Tuesday, July 24, 2007

I recently had the opportunity to take the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Foundations course, an introductory wine course for people employed in hospitality or simply interested in wine.

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Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape - Wine Touring in Santa Barbara
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

If I think back on my whole life, one day stands out has the funniest, best, most hilarious day ever. It was the day after Slope Day 2005, in Ithaca, NY, and a group of about 15 Beta alumni and friends went wine touring in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

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Cedar Creek Tasting

Cedar Creek Tasting at Taylorwood Wines
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Friday, July 13th, 2007

I recently stopped by for another of Taylorwood Wine’s Thursday tasting sessions, this time featuring the wines of Cedar Creek Winery. I should point out one of the nice things about Taylorwood, if I haven’t already, which is that all of their wine comes at BC Liquor Store prices, so at least you know that you aren’t getting ripped off (or at least, ripped off any more than normal—you have to hate the liquor taxes in this country).

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Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape - Village VQA Tasting
By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Thursday, July 12, 2007

I stopped by Village VQA recently for their weekly tasting featuring a changing assortment of BC wines (the only wines they stock). I also met the store manager, Michelle, and hope to sit down and talk about BC wines and wine retail in the near future.

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Interview Series Part 3. Brent Hayman
Raincity Grill (map)
1193 Denman St
(604) 685-7337
homepage

A Chat with Brent Hayman
a wine blog / interview series joint feature

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver Writer
Tuesday, July 10th, 2006

I recently sat down with Brent Hayman, long-time general manager, and of interest to me, sommelier for Raincity Grill on Denman Street. Raincity was given an Award of Distinction from Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2005, as well as Awards of Excellence from Wine Spectator every year from 1997-2005, among other awards. When I arrived Brent was in the middle of a tasting, and I was lucky enough to get to try them. For what it’s worth, I preferred the Bogle Chenin Blanc, although the Cline Viognier was also pretty nice.

Brent also shared with me some of his own background, his opinions on wine at Vancouver restaurants, and a bit about the business considerations that go into his wine list decisions. One of the things that interested me most was the fact that multiple restaurants and retailers often get together to order larger quantities of wines from the U.S. in order to save on shipping costs. Perhaps this explains why it seems like the same wines seem to pop-up everywhere at the same time. We also discussed whether or not BC wines have been increasing in quality as quickly as they have been increasing in price. Finally, Brent echoed the voice of my own wine instructor, urging people to trust their own tastes as opposed to the opinions of experts in the media. What follows is a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and to disguise my awkwardly worded questions.

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Fishman the Grape

Part 3 Firefly Tasting - Don Miguel Gascon
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Monday, July 9th, 2007

I stopped by Firefly Fine Wines and Ales on Friday night for their Don Miguel Gascon tasting.

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Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape pt. 2.1 - Taylorwood Cab/Merlot Tasting
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Friday, June 29th, 2007

As promised, here is the rest of Post #2, about Thursday’s tasting at Taylorwood Wines in Yaletown. Taylorwood offers free tasting almost every Thursday and Sunday, check them out here. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately to some, they sell only BC wines. This week it was Cab/Merlot blends. This is probably my favorite catagory of wine, though I don’t think BC’s generally stack up well against those from France or California. One reason for this may be that most of these wines are referring to Cabernet Franc as opposed to the expected Cabernet Sauvignon that is the principal grape in many (though certainly not all) Cab/Merlot blends.

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Two BC Wines

Fishman the Grape pt. 2
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Friday, June 29th, 2007

Well, the wine blog is off to a roaring start, as I had a very interesting interview with Brent Hayman, sommelier at Raincity Grill, who was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to meet with me. I am planning on having that up for next week’s column.

In the meantime, the chairman and I tasted a few wines last night, so I thought I would put up a teaser (more to follow). One administrative note: I have decided to hold off on numerical ratings of any kind until I have had a chance to taste a lot more and see how consistent I am.

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