paul mitchell

Thanks for the replies. Most appreciated. I suppose Keith Talent hasn't tried Black Hills Nota Bene or Poplar Grove's Cab Franc / Merlot A Pity. Paul

Best Drunken Meal: At 4am 40 dungeness crab split between three of us in remote coastal Pacific Northwest camp after hour and a half boat trip through gale force winds coming back from the bar in town. I told my buddies it wasn't right to refill the traps with beer cans. They held me over the side.

Well I thought that because there seemed to be a rather large contingent of Vancouverites posting here that I might get some interesting responses. I live on Vancouver Island and we have some very good wineries such as Godfrey Brownell or Venturi Schulze. Godfrey Brownell has a dynamite 2001 Chardonnay which sells for $50. Venturi Schulze's 2001 Pinot Noir goes for $45. Not that price exudes quality by any means. Anyone can go onto a wineries web page and see what they're selling. It's different though when you visit a place and learn about the techniques they're using, the blends they're planning and the story behind that labour of love. For instance I went down to the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island to buy wine presents for christmas. At Cherry Point vineyards I bought a couple of bottles of a blackberry port. Through a little chat with the winemaker I found out that a fellow down the road made an incredible cheese with the same port. So I went and bought some. On my way home I stopped into a First Nations arts and crafts store that sold native carvings and sweaters. The lady there saw my bag from Cherry Point and laughed and told me the story of how her family picked all the blackberries for the port on their reserve and then sold them to the vineyard. In one short afternoon I saw the full circle of a community. Those are the threads about the BC wine industry that I'm interested in.

Anyone have any favorite picks for bc wines? Anything unusual? New blends? Thanks Paul

Tofino Top Five: 1) Stay at the Tofino Swell Lodge. Ask Betsy the owner where to get fresh seafood. Barbecue in the backyard which is on the waterfront. Sit in the hot tub. A perfect day. 2) Shelter: Hopefully Jeff the Chef will come back for the summer of 2004. Jay the owner is a great guy. Simple locally sourced products. 3) Tough City Sushi. Kinda pricey, not the most exciting sushi but the owner Crazy Ron is worth the visit. Ask him to 'hold up' a table. The patio on the back is best place to watch the sun going down. 4) The Wick - I like going in the afternoon after a long walk on the beach and eat weathervane scallops wrapped in smoked albacore. A couple of Stellas and some people watching. 5) I also work out at Clayoquot Widlerness Resort and we have an unbelievable dinner cruise / barbecue on Saturday nights running through the summer. I'm not necessarily trying to flog the place but it in my mind it is an incredible deal as they are aggressively trying to showcase the resort. www.wildretreat.com You get picked up in Tofino and then enjoy a 30 minute boat ride out to the resort. The barbecue is in our authentic native longhouse. We do smoked rib eye steaks, dungeness crab, salmon that smokes around the fire, roasting oysters in the fire and a myriad of other unique buffet items. We also serve high end bc wines and always bring in a band. You can also come most any night of the week and do our 5 plus course dinner in our dining room.