Two Wine Experts Step Up to the Hard Supper Plate

We are delighted to announce that Anthony Nicalo of Farmstead Wines and Paul Watkin of A Good Drop have joined the HSC Oenological Division.

The two Vancouver-based wine professionals will be lending their expertise — and wine — to several Hard Supper Clubs events, starting with the شدي العشا Hard Supper Club at Le Marrakech Bistro in Gastown, Vancouver on July 6th.

Anthony Nicalo will showcase an exceptional Austrian white — Martin Arndorfer's Gruner Veltliner Strasser Weinburge 2006 — at Le Marrakech, while Paul Watkin will be pairing three premium wines from the Naramata Bench — Poplar Grove Reserve Red 2003, Poplar Grove Chardonnay 2006, and the Poplar Grove Monster Vineyard Rosé 2007.

Anthony Nicalo, a wine expert and accomplished chef (his culinary talents were showcased at a special Barbara Kingsolver event at Barbara Jo's Books to Cooks last Friday) who moved to Vancouver from Chicago in 2006, has also generously offered to oversee wine pairings at the Hard Greenpoint Supper in Brooklyn, NY on July 13th.

Farmstead Wines works with small-scale winemakers in Europe who produce hand-crafted wines exclusively from grapes grown in their own vineyards. All wines bearing the Farmstead Seal are made by family-run producers in France, Austria and Italy on their farms — not in the lab — using natural and traditional methods.

Paul Watkin has been a central figure in the Vancouver wine scene for nearly two decades, most notably during his tenure at West Vancouver's Dundarave Wine Cellar and as Dining Room Manager and Service Instructor at the prestigious Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. He is an active member of the Society of Wine Educators and Cellar Master for the South World Wine Society. A wine educator, consultant and writer, Paul organizes tailor-made wine events through A Good Drop.

Thank you Anthony and Paul!