The 34nd Annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival wrapped up last Sunday after seven days of non-stop wine dinners, seminars and tastings. The highlight of the festival was the International Festival Wine Tasting Room, which was the temporary home to almost 180 wineries from 15 countries serving up an astounding 791 wines, this was an extraordinary opportunity to taste some of finest wines on the planet. This year also marked my 26th consecutive year attending.
While the majority of wines were arranged by country then alphabetically around the massive ballroom of the Trade and Convention Centre, the wines of Chile, which were the regional theme for 2012, were situated right at the front allowing for easy access to the almost 35 wineries pouring 500 wines. If there was ever a place to try a broad selection of great Chilean wines, it was here.
One of the busiest festivals I have ever been to, Friday and Saturday night were sold-out with very few tickets left for Thursday, which meant that trying reach a table and sample any particular wine sometimes required a five-minute wait at least. Obvious, a lot of people had not adhered to any form of wine tasting etiquette.
While the Tasting Room is definitely the highlight, there were numerous events held throughout the city and I had the privilege to attend a few of those.
One of my favourite venues for the Wine festival is the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. The event was billed as “You’ll Tell Two Friends…Social Media Symposium” and moderating this very informative discussion were Vancouver Sun Wine Writer and Wine Access magazine Editor-in-Chief, Anthony Gismondi and Rick Bakas, marketing and social media guru. The object was not so much as to tell everyone what to do or how to do it but to discuss the impact of Social Media, from Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn and a new one, Pinterest on the wine and hospitality industry.
One of the hot tickets is the Trade Days lunch, which is the ultimate power lunch for the wine and hospitality industry in BC. Vancouver Trade and Convention Center Executive
Each table (and there were hundreds) include two or more representatives of the 183 local and international winery attending the festival who presented their best wines at their respective tables. At our table, I was seated between iconic Aussie winemaker, Jane Ferrari from Yalumba Winery and Miguel Torres Jr. from the Chilean arm of the Spanish winery, Torres. BC wine drinkers will immediately identify with Sangre de Toro, one of the leading brands of Spain if not the world. Miguel, who is the 5th generation of the Torres family, mentioned that this wine was originally made by his grandfather Miguel A. Torres in 1954.
After lunch, everyone headed downstairs to the Tasting Room floor for the Trade Day Tasting. This is an excellent opportunity for the Wine and Hospitality trade to meet, exchange business cards, taste wine, develop new relationships with industry personal and renew old ones.
Some of the highlights of the Chilean section of the Tasting Room were:
- Viña Morandé Reserva Pinot Noir 2010
- Santa Carolina Reserva de Familia Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
- Castillo de Molina Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
- Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
- Tamaya Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2011
- Cordillera Chardonnay Reserve Privada 2011
The rest of the festival tasting room featured wines from around the world, literally an A-Z of wine. Some of these wines are not readily available but quite possible will be as the festival is also a venue were new wines are debuted. A few of the wines that stood out on the international side were:
- Masi Brolio Campofiorin Oro 2008
- Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella 2008
- Perrin et Fils “Les Christins” Vacqueyras 2009
- Domaine Roger Sabon Cotes du Rhône 2010
- Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz 2010
All-in-all, it was a great show that brought the wine world and more to Vancouver. Cudos and accolades to everyone involved and especially to all those who volunteer their time to this very worthy cause.
Wine News:
While it’s still 8 weeks away until the start of the 18th Annual Okanagan Spring Wine Festival and the release of new BC vintages, now is the time to start planning on the events you will want to take in. The festival brochure is on-line now here so take a look. One of the quicker sell-outs is the WestJet Consumer Tasting held at the Laurel Packinghouse on May 4th and 5th. Tickets are $65 and are available at www.selectyourtickets.com.
Wine Festival Wine Picks:
The 2009 Chono Reserva Syrah ($18-$21) from Chile has been called the closest wine to Cote Rôtie and I would have to agree. Aged in new French and American oak barrels for 6 months barrels, this wine displays an intense, opaque purple/violet-red colour, intense aromas of toasty oak, creamy vanilla, cassis, blackberry, plum, black cherry, roasted meat/dry-rub spices, licorice, dark chocolate and tobacco leaf. The palate is full of powerful flavours of candied black fruit, rich chocolate, soft, velvety acidity and silky tannins that lead to a full, concentrated finish. One of the finest Syrahs on the market, its enjoyable now or over the next decade.
About to be released very soon, the 2009 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($69-$75) is a big, full bodied wine. This is loaded to the brim with smoky blackberry-like jam, cassis, black cherry fruit, plum, roasted coffee, saddle leather, tobacco, and chocolate pudding and vanilla. The palate is rich and hedonistic with its multi-layered complexity of ripe black fruit, spices, toasty oak, soft acidity and firm tannins. A fantastic wine, cellar this 10-15+ years.
A stunning example of what 30 year old vine Syrah from Lodi can produce, the 2010 Michael David 6th Sense Syrah ($25-$29) is a deep, rich colour, loaded to the brim with tons of blackberry, cassis, and black plum jam-like fruit. With hints of chocolate, licorice, tar, roasted meat, sage, smoke, menthol and vanilla, the palate is rich, lush and spicy with lots of black fruit, spicy pepper, crisp, smoky acidity and full-bodied tannins. Sourced from a single vineyard located near Lodi California, the wine is aged for 12 months in French oak. It drinks exceptional well now but will improve with further aging. Enjoy now for its youthfulness or cellar another 5 years.
The 2008 Tommasi Amarone Della Valpolicella ($60-$69) is a powerful wine, aromas of blackberry, raspberry and black cherry-like liqueur with hints of chocolate, dried raisins and prunes. Extremely concentrated on the palate with flavours of blackberry syrup mixed with dark chocolate liqueur, the texture almost sticks the gums together with its intensity yet is harmonious and silky on the palate. The finish is utterly seductive and extremely long. Has the stuffing to age two decades.
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