International Canadian Blended (ICB) wines have very little to do with Canada. Some of them are in fact 100% foreign fruit while others have a minority percentage of Canadian grapes in the bottle. So why do they carry the “Canadian” label? ICB wines, formerly known as Cellared in Canada wines, are the means by which […]
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Bordeaux, Bergerac, Beaujolais, & Australia This year at Opimian has seen the introduction of several new suppliers on each Offering as the scope of the offerings has been expanded. C250 has a few new suppliers as well, but is mainly a showcase for some of our oldest and most reliable partners. I have enjoyed many wines […]
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Spain, Portugal, and Mâcon Opimian’s most recent catalog features many favourite producers from the Iberian peninsula as well as the reliable Paul Sapin. Several new suppliers are also introduced with this offering, extending the selections from Spain and Portugal with some attractive price points. Here are my observations (based on my taste preferences) from previous vintages […]
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March 14, 2017
Australia, France, Germany, Opimian Society, South Africa, Spain
The local chapter of the Opimian Society hosted a wine tasting and education session recently at the NLC’s tasting facility at Howley Estates. Hosts Dave Conway and Courtney Escott welcomed participants with a glass of South African Kloof-en-Berg Chenin Blanc 2015 before we sat down for the event and the wine discovery activities. The offerings […]
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Jean Philippe Turgeon was in St. John’s last week to present wines from three estates in Provence, France at Dialog Wines‘ “Yes Way, Rosé” event. Six rosés, two reds, and one white wine were on the tasting menu. This ratio of pink to red to white roughly corresponds to the overall production of wine in Provence […]
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Chablis and Italy Opimians has been ordering wine from the Lamblin family of Chablis for more than 40 years, and for good reason! Italy produces the most wine of any country in the world, and is similarly popular with Opimians. I have sampled earlier vintages of some of the wines on this offering over the […]
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December 20, 2016
Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Opimian Society, Other Countries, South Africa
The Opimian Society’s most recent offering catalog is just out and reaching mailboxes around the country. As a long-time member of Opimian I have had some experience with many of the wines and suppliers, and even visited some of the wineries. Some current (or prospective) members might find my comments helpful in making their own selections […]
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“Burgundy is easy!” is how Nicolas Dewe of Bourgogne de Vigne en Verre started each of his two tasting events this week at Merchant Tavern and Raymond’s. The region has a reputation of being hard to understand, with many sub-regions and tiny appellations, and labels dominated by village names instead of domains and producers. Nicolas […]
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Gold Medal Plates rolled into St. John’s on Friday past with its culinary and wine competition, entertainment, and fund-raising efforts. Proceeds from this and similar events across the country, and the national final, support the Own the Podium program for Canada’s Olympic athletes. The focus of […]
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The local chapter of the Opimian Society hosted one of its wine tasting events this past Saturday night. Area Representatives Dave Conway and Courtney Escott were our hosts for an intimate gathering featuring wines from one of the Society’s long-time Australian suppliers – Wines by Geoff Hardy. Wines by Geoff Hardy has four labels: GMH, […]
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Steve Delaney
June 26, 2017
Canada, France, South Africa, Spain
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