Vino Loco

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• Gustavo Brambila says:

  2/19/2022 11:04:00 AM - Looking forward to meeting you at Lucky's

• Gustavo Brambila says:

  2/13/2022 11:28:00 AM - Did you see the Lucky's Black Hills Estate tasting? It's on March 28th. We did the it last year, they did the Note Bene vertical. We really enjoyed it. This year they will be doing the Petit Verdot with 8 vintages. Let me know if you can make it.

• Canoehead says:

  9/10/2021 8:20:00 AM - K - I sent you an email re: postponing the Sep18 wine tasting. I'm looking at a couple of dates later in Saturday. Let me know what could work for you.

• Canoehead says:

  8/9/2021 12:06:00 PM - Vino Loco, hope you're having a good summer. I wanted to let you know that our wine group is beginning to plan a tasting on the afternoon of Saturday September 18. The theme will be 2015 Meritage & Bordeaux red blends of high quality. There are two conditions of attendance, you must bring a wine that fits the theme category and you must be fully vaccinated. I will be hosting at our home in Victoria and there will be nibbles provided. Let me know if you're interested in attending. We're trying to keep this to a manageable group of 6-7. You'll need to ensure you drink responsibly and have arranged for safe transportation.

• hjjvr says:

  1/13/2021 9:30:00 PM - My email is: hvr@keemail.me. I tend to favour old world wines.

• Vino Loco says:

  1/11/2021 8:43:00 AM - Hi @HJJVR - welcome to Nanaimo! If you send me your email and what type of wines you're looking for I'd be happy to send you a more detailed guide. Vancouver has a far better selection, particularly for the mid to high end wines. Victoria has an okay selection and would be happy to send you some ideas if you're heading there. The wine stores around Nanaimo tend to cater to the crowd - mainly $10 to $30 wines (J'Lohr is for special occasions, Open is a common favourite). Quick heads up that while the staff are incredibly friendly at most stores and want to help, their recommendations tend to not work out. My quick rundown: 1) Cascadia Nanoose - smaller store but decent selection, although the store is always way to hot and not sure if that is damaging to the wine or not (they have a fantastic scotch selection too). The Landing Liquor Store (close to Ferry terminal) has a great selection. Mid Island Liquor in Coombs has a surprisingly good selection. If you're buying BC VQA wine, Save-on-Foods in Parksville is 10% off and $12 off if you buy a case - it's often cheaper to buy wine from Save-On than direct from the wineries. The best BCLQ is "Nanaimo Terminal PK" at 1533 Estevan. I order wine from Everything Wine (free delivery, but they don't seem to care what vintage they ship you which can be frustrating depending on what you've ordered) or Zyn.ca (Alberta based, pay for shipping). Would be great to meet to share a bottle once we're allowed.

• hjjvr says:

  1/10/2021 2:24:00 PM - Greetings Vino Loco. Thanks for reaching out to me; I meant to respond earlier. Being relatively new to the island, I am curious to know what wine shops you frequent in the area. How is the Cascadia store in Nanoose? Hope to meet in person in the not too distant future.

• Gustavo Brambila says:

  12/31/2020 2:48:00 PM - Vino Loco, thanks for reaching out. I am always excited to meet a fellow Island wine enthusiast. I see we have several wines in common. I have hopes to one day meet face to face for a glass or 3. Happy New Year!

• Vino Loco says:

  12/31/2020 1:58:00 PM - Thank you for the note @Canoehead. Totally agree re: Schreiner - anything less than 89 points = paint thinner. IMHO, professional critics should be required to taste blind. It would be better if they had to actually pay for the wines too, but know that's not going to happen anytime soon. While I am also a huge supporter of BC wineries, giving all wines 90+ points is not helpful, and may even give some of these wineries a false sense that they are producing decent wines, when in fact they're not. Speaking of blind tastings, I'm looking forward to a battle of the 2016's tonight to bring in the NY. Road 13 5th Element, Noble Ridge Reserve Meritage, Burrowing Owl Meritage, and something French to keep things interesting. HNY to you as well, and look forward to joining your tasting group, hopefully soon!

• Canoehead says:

  12/31/2020 12:35:00 PM - totally concur re: BC wine critic ratings although I think they come at it from two different bents. Gismondi has become more old world leaning in his ratings. He's liking the higher acid and more food-oriented wines. He dismisses the bigger bodied reds and the oakier Chards. Schreiner is an unapologetic cheerleader of the BC industry and sometimes his ratings are a bit pumped up. Doesn't take much to get a 90 from John but beware of any wine that scores 88 or less.. This is why i like CT, its more of "the wisdom of the crowd" application. Glad to be connected on CT and hopefully post-pandemic you can join our little wine tasting group here in Victoria for a Sunday afternoon tasting that happens on a regular basis. Happy NEW Year!