Wow!  This week has been incredible and now that it is Sunday night I am going to try to sum it all up for you.  There were some great wine highlights, food, and interesting encounters.  This will be a longer post than usual as I am attempting to cram in most of my week.

I attended more consumer tastings in this week, than I have attended period.  I have only been to a few years of Playhouse Wine Fests and thinking back to my first, I have come a long way… especially because I had my gall bladder removed 3 days earlier and I didn’t have enough sense to spit.  A little wiser now, I still didn’t spit very much but I tasted with more selectivity and restraint.  I am slightly ashamed to admit that I wore a white and black coat on Thursday night (mostly due to lack of time to change beforehand) and managed to avoid any spillage.  If you follow me on Twitter, you will occasionally hear about my unsightly, bib-requiring eating habits.

I focused Thursday’s consumer tasting mostly on, you guessed it, whites.  And bubblies.  A few BC whites grabbed my attention such as Cedar Creek’s Ehrenfelser (highly aromatic with nice residual sweetness), Road 13 Jackpot Chardonnay (I finally got to try it, and you should too), and Twisted Tree Viognier Roussane.  My (short) attention was distracted by the ’shiny’ bubblies and I managed to try some knock-yourself-out-blow-your-mind-deep-pocket sparkling wines.  Topping my list is Champagne Deutz 1998 Vintage Cuvee William.  At $175.99 a bottle, I couldn’t pass up sampling this one and going back throughout the week to sneak a few more.  I adored the honey, nutty, and breadiness.  I ran over to try out Piper Heidseck 2000 Vintage Brut when a friend mentioned that it was like butter popcorn.  I love popcorn.  I loved Piper Heidseck.

Some interesting BC sparking wines were Elephant Island’s Pink Elephant which is very much like a Kir Royale,  Township 7’s Seven Stars Sparkling with pear and apple notes, and Blue Mountain’s Brut Gold Label.

Friday’s trade tasting proved more conducive to sampling and chatting with the winemakers, principals, and exhibitors.  I took the opportunity to try out some BC wines that I hadn’t quaffed before and was not disappointed with what I found!  One of my favourite wineries from Friday is Stoneboat Vineyards who was showcasing their pinot-rific wares.  Upon visiting with the owners and growers of this 3 year young winery, I learned that they are not as new to the scene as their label is.  Lanny Martiniuk has been growing for large wine producers since 1983 and his tennure shows in the quality of his wines.  The pinot noir is a full bodied, spicy, fruity, contender; but once you try the Pinotage you will find out why they call it, “a pinot on steroids”.  The pinotage packs a wallop.

After the trade tasting and then pouring in the hospitality suite, I had a bite to eat with some colleagues and dragged my aching body home to get a little rest before Saturday.  Drinking wine is serious business and not for the faint of heart, but insoles and jetted tubs, I determined are very necessary.

Saturday morning, I rushed out to the press conference and then took a very entertaining cab ride to Dockside at Granville Island for the Aussie Barbie.  By entertaining, I mean the driver sang to me, and told me stories that I shant repeat here or anywhere else for that matter.

I found the perfect wine to pair with Kangaroo.  No lie.  Bleasedale Frank Potts Cabernet-Malbec-Shiraz-Merlot Reserve was a perfect match. It made me return a few times for more and for some of their Sparkling Generations Reserve Shiraz.  Oh yeah, and I did I mention that I ate kangaroo?  Seriously.  Lean like elk or bison but not as gamy and reminded me a little of a tender jerky.  I don’t know where you can find the stuff, but if you can find a place that cooks it just right let me know!

I was fascinated by the differences in a Cabernet Sauvignon from the western coast of Australia and the more fruit forward Peter Lehman Cabernet Sauvignon from the south eastern region.  By the way, if you didn’t get a chance to meet the winemaker, he is the friendliest most jovial man who was the only exhibitor to walk around with his wines to refill peoples’ glasses while they ate.  Another regional favourite is the Verdhelho by Tyrell Wines.  A portugese grape that is new to the region and has some lovely lemon and green apple notes and is also used in white port.  White port?!  That was my response.  I hadn’t even heard of it and now I am off to find some and read up on it.  I also took some advice to check out the Two Hands booth which was ‘hands down’ some of the finest Australian wines this year at the festival.

My final exposure to the consumer tasting was on Saturday night.  This was date night so I left my cell phone and any agenda behind and let my fiance do most of the leading with a little gentle backseat driving by yours truly.  He is a very sympathetic wine taster.  By that I mean that he seeks out the tables that look ‘lonely’ and feels that he has accomplished his mission when he leaves after a crowd draws up.  He did learn that sometimes, just sometimes, there was a reason why the tables were quiet, but there were a few really nice surprises.  Surprises like a wine that tastes like coffee (KWV Cafe Culture Pinotage 2008) because of the toasted barrels and the wood maturation.  I liked the uniqueness of it, and he didn’t care for a wine pretending to be something that it isn’t.  Another winery that we both really liked for its uniqueness was Galil Mountain & Yarden, the only Israeli wines featured at the festival.  We both really enjoyed the Galil Mountain Yiron Cabernet-Merlot-Syrah 2005; the characteristics of the fruits and cloves made for a refreshing blend.  We left just before 10pm and barely found the strength to drag ourselves back home, but before we left we stocked up on Terra Breads, Freybe meats, cheeses, Ritter Chocolates, and free water.

I have talked to several people about their impressions of the wine festival.  While most people raved about how much they love to have an opportunity to discover for themselves new wines and new regions, some people were confused by the alphabetical set up this year, and some felt that the prices for the consumer tastings are getting too high.  I do hope that people wishing to learn about wines take opportunities throughout the year to do so. I suggest attending informative events and tastings and also attend the smaller events during the Wine festival to get the most exposure.  Keep an eye out on my events page for local events to attend while you brush up in preparation for next year’s Playhouse Wine Festival.

It’s Wine Fest time in Vancouver!

This year, I have the unique opportunity to experience the Playhouse Wine Festival several ways: attending a press event, tasting at an industry event, pouring in a hospitality suite, and drinking at the large tasting event.  Although I am not able to attend any of the informational events, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to experience the festival in so many ways already.

Last night was the festival kick off at Earls Hornby: Get Uncorked.  I attended with fellow blogger Tiny Bites and we shared thoughts on the wine and food, while she snapped some great pictures of the event.  The event featured Inniskillin wines paired with Chef Reuben Majors delicious creations while wine maker, Sandor Mayer, shared about his unique wines.  He has produced some fantastic wine varietals despite the fact that Malbec and Zinfandel grapes are traditionally grown in warmer and drier climates.  We learned that Zinfandel was never intended to be grown in a Canadian climate.

The highlight of the evening was the incredible pairings!  My favourite pairing was the Scallop & Grapefruit Ceviche paired with the Chenin Blanc.  The way the citrus flavours exploaded in my mouth when I tasted them together reminded me of something I had heard at another tasting: A good pairing is born out of two enjoyable flavours that become even greater together.  I overheard someone asking for a jar of the candied grapefruit!

The Shortrib Crostini paired with Malbec was a close second. The lovely earthiness of the truffles in the canape surprisingly brought out the dark cherry in the Malbec and I adored the butteriness of the crostini.

The Marsanne/Rousanne was a real treat because of the limited release of this exciting varietal!

This was a fantastic prelude of what is to come this week and I hope you are as excited as I am to try out some great local and international wines.  Especially Pinots as they are this year’s theme varietal.  If you haven’t bought tickets yet, there are still a few available to select events.  I will do my best to blog about events as the week goes on, and please let me know what you think of events that you attend.  I would love to meet some of you, so if you recognize me, do come and say ‘hi’.

Buzz Bishop of Virgin 953 gives some great tips on his blog about how to survive the wine tastings.  There are some suggestions that I hadn’t considered, and there is the obvious tip (to me, because I am slob) to wear dark colours.  But, please, please, please, don’t wear any scents to tastings– we want to smell the wines, not you.

Also, and most importantly: Please make sure that you have a safe trip home planned from any and all events that you attend.  There are booths where you can get complimentary bus passes at the tasting events, and there will be lots of taxis drivers waiting outside.  Drink responsibly. Cheers!

Disclosure: Over the couse of the week, there will be some crossing of my two worlds: blogging and work related.  I am not in a sales position so my wine objectivity is based on my palate not a pay cheque.