The Dos and Don'ts of Wine Festivals

By Jordan Carrier from Everything Wine, River District

After a long drought, tasting season is once again upon us: Top Drop is doing its second night tonight and the Vancouver International Wine Festival is next week. Since many of us are understandably rusty at these events, I thought I’d repost a helpful list of Dos and Don’ts I wrote a couple years ago. I’ll be back soon with amazing new wines to show you, but until then: 

DOS AND DON’TS OF WINE FESTIVALS 

DO Explore. You’re here to explore and discover new wines, so don’t make a beeline to the stuff you already know. Even if you don’t care for a lot of the esoteric choices, 1) you didn’t have to buy the bottle and 2) now you know. 

DON’T Wear Fragrances. We can all smell amazing, but everyone came to sniff good wine, not perfume/cologne/aftershave. Nothing roils a wine geek more than finding that the Petit Sirah they’ve waited for weeks to try shows notes of Axe Body Spray. 

DO Spit. The spittoons are there to help. There are hundreds of wines being poured and you aren't magic. Remember that they can’t legally serve you if you’ve rendered yourself liquid, so staggering up to a booth saying “gimme moas shpensive one” won’t produce the desired result, and getting kicked out of Wine Fest isn’t classier than getting ejected from The Roxy. Or so I'm told.  

DON’T Sport Spit. We’ve all seen those dudes who can hit the spittoon from 20 paces away, like a llama. Please don’t try to do that. If you fail, it’s a disaster. If you succeed, it’s still bizarre. Get a new superpower. Try parkour. Anything.

DON’T be a Booth Hog. There are probably lots of folks behind you, so when you finally get up to your desired booth, it’s not the best time to start telling the winemaker about the time you went to this winery and it was great but there was this dog there and you like dogs but you saw almost the exact same dog earlier in the city with a white patch on the left eye instead of the right eye but come to think of it that could be because of the mirror. Get your glass filled and then step to the side to let others get theirs, and watch your karma grow and blossom into a karma flower. 

DO Have a safe ride home. No jokes here, get home safe, it is literally the most important thing you’ll do during Wine Fest. Both Skytrain lines end a 5 minute walk from the Convention Centre, where Wine Fest is. Find someone on the train who also has purple teeth and compare notes. 

That’s it! Have a great time, and Happy Drinking! 

Contact Jordan directly by email (JCarrier@everythingwine.ca) or find him in the Vintage Room of Everything Wine's Vancouver location River District at 8570 River District Crossing.

"France" and "Bubbly" for the 36th Annual VIWF

From the VIWF PR feed...

Vancouver, BC, March 27, 2013 – Canada’s premier wine show wrapped up March 3, ending its 35th year by announcing France as the theme for 2014. Next year, flutes are raised to Bubbly as the global focus. Oenophiles eagerly anticipate sips of the world’s finest sparkling wines, with corks popping from rare bottles and vintages during the effervescent week-long festival. With France in the spotlight, 2014 is certain to be an exceptional year, with a tantalizing selection of tastings, winery dinners, wine minglers, lunches and seminars. The 2014 Vancouver International Wine Festival, presented by The Vancouver Sun, runs February 24 to March 2 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West and fine restaurants and select venues throughout the city.

France is well recognized as a leader in the industry and has produced wine for two and a half millennia. One of the world’s most prolific winemaking nations, France’s nearly two million acres of vineyards yield over 7 billion bottles each year. The country is known for grape-growing regions synonymous with wine, including Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Loire, Rhône and South of France, and is widely admired for its diverse styles. France was last the theme region of the Vancouver International Wine Festival in 2006.
Our take...

So happy to see France return as the theme region as it remains the world wide leader in producing (and hyping) quality wine. We're certainly hoping that as the designated theme region that more producers from Bordeaux and Burgundy decide to attend. Representation from all of France's many wine-producing regions has been minimal in recent years with only Southern Rhone being reasonably well-represented by well-known producers like the Perrin Family.

We're not expecting any Bordeaux first growths or DRC to show up with samples to share, but a reasonable selection of recognizable and unheralded producers from Bordeauxe, Burgundy, Alsace and the Loire Valley would be welcomed by the wine-loving public of Vancouver. We can't wait to learn who will accept the invitation. Keep an eye on http://www.vanwinefest.ca/ for more information over the next 11 months.
 - Liam Carrier

Monthly Picks: March 2013

In honour of the recently completed 35th annual Vancouver International Wine Festival who's featured varietal this year was Chardonnay, this month's wine picks is dedicated to that classic Burgundian grape which has found many new places to thrive around the world. Long live Chardonnay!

La Frenz Winery 2011 Chardonnay - $20
Canada. At first impression the 2011 La Frenz Chardonnay seems to follow on the heels of the lean and tart 2010 edition, however, when given time to open-up in the glass the wine reveals a layer of rich orchard fruit beneath the crisp and tangy veneer which rounds-out the palate and compliments the light oak and MLF notes living up to the "Peaches'n'Cream" moniker.
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J Vineyards and Winery 2009 Chardonnay - $25
USA. This is the right kind of California oaked Chardonnay; big and buttery without the loss of balance. Melon, caramel apple and pear aromas greet you on the intense nose followed by similar flavours on the rich, textured palate with added white chocolate, lime rind and lychee notes.
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Painted Rock Estate Winery 2011 Chardonnay - $30
Canada. This is a tricky wine to get hold of now, but no Chardonnay list would be complete without including our Icon Wine of the Year for 2012. Delicate, complex and supremely well balanced.
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Silverback Vineyards 2011 Chardonnay - $55 (est)
USA. This beautiful Washington State Chardonnay was tasted last Summer as a barrel sample but is now ready to be released. A feminine, single-vineyard Chardonnay with layers of dried roses, orchard fruit, citrus and melon aromas on the clean, elegant nose.
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Antinori 2010 Cervaro Della Sala - $60
Italy. A curious selection from a country that mostly produces short-lived and spicy white wines. This is an age-worthy wine with gorgeous almond, crispy bread, orchard fruit and mineral characters aged in 100% new French oak that challenges where we expect top-notch Chardonnay to originate from.
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Champagne Lanson N/V Extra Age Blanc de Blanc - $114
France. A stunning Champagne made from 100% Chardonnay grapes sourced exclusively from Grand and 1er cru vineyards offering sweet brioche, floral and mineral characters. Fresh, clean and crisp, the house style avoids all secondary Malolactic fermentation leaving the natural acidity high yet completely balanced. Ultra delicate on the pleasing fine-bubbled palate.
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