The planning committee didn’t wish to hold the wine festival so close to the Olympics, and I think that we can all agree that we will need a drink once they’re over.  Traditionally the festival is at the end of March, so be sure to mark off your calendars for April 19th to 25th.

I am very excited about the global focus: Rosé .  Rosé is left on the skins for only a couple of days which gives it its pinkish colour.  The most common varietals are Pinot Noir and Gamay, but there are other varietals out there such as Cabernet Franc and Shiraz.  It will be really interesting to compare different varietals and styles of Rose around the world.  I love a good pairing, and the one thing that gets me wound up in a ball of excitement about this style of wine is it’s flexibility with food pairings.  No doubt there will be some events that showcase and challenge this wine’s repertoire.

The next big news is the TWO theme regions: Argentina and New Zealand.  The consolates shared their excitement over the similarities and differences between them and our region and between each other.  Wine is part of Argentina’s every day life and they produce oodles of it and only export a relatively small percentage of their wines.  The festival gives them an opportune chance to show off what they do so well.  New Zealand is often overshadowed by it’s neighbour, Australia, but it puts out some great Sauvignon Blancs that are fresh and lively.

After watching their cultural performances, I am very sure that we can expect a lot of passion, pride, and sexiness.  As we draw nearer, I will cover more about these regions and the global focus. I must be off to the final night of consumer tasting, after which I will fill you all in on the wines that blew my mind, confused me, and made me spit (no, not really…I am just learning to spit like a good wine drinking lady).  Oh yes, and maybe I WILL run into Gismondi….