Tag Archives: Event

A Week of Western Wines

Posted by on April 20, 2010 No comments

The past week in Vancouver saw both California and Naramata winemakers on a brief stop to present and promote their latest stars. It’s tough to make your way around a jam-packed hotel ballroom and get to know all that’s there, alas, I managed to narrow in on a few wines definitely worth mentioning. Tough days, indeed, tasting all these wines…

First up, the 30th Annual Canadian Tour of the California Wine Fair, put on by the California Wines in Canada association. This is a great event to hit each time it swings through town, usually each spring and again in the fall. You get to taste some stunning wines, a lot of which are not yet available in BC and some of which are on the very pricey side, so it’s great to be able to indulge while meeting some of the wines’ masterful makers.

The best tactic in my opinion at such an event is to have a tactic. There is no hope you can taste everything. I am heading down to the Russian River area in northern Sonoma County in May so I tried to zone in on a few wineries I could follow up with a visit.

If I listed and described all the wines I tasted or the winemakers or agents I met and enjoyed some time with, we’d be here all day, plus there is no way any one person can retain a wine overload list in a blog post, so here’s just one from Cali to put to memory:

Alexander Valley Vineyards:
Before getting to the wines, lovely people. Just lovely. I had a great time tasting and learning about some of the wines and the winemaking with John Wetzel, one of the family partners of the Wetzel Family Estate. What a difference it makes when you can taste the wines with one of the key players of the business. I’m very much looking forward to making a visit to their tasting room down south, which is nicely situated in the heart of the their winery, and getting into those infamous caves!
Known For: Sin Zinfandel. Check out their clever marketing on the “Wicked Weekend: 3-Pack of Zins” – Temptation, Sin and Redemption: crowd-pleasing zins.
Must Try: Gewurz! This is a grape not typically grown in this region but these guys have a beautiful crisp and spicy Gewurztraminer, sourcing the grapes from the Mendocino’s Potter Valley. The fruit is there, the spice, florals and minerality – a well balanced wine. They nailed it.

Vancouver was the first stop on this month-long tour as it makes its way across the country, ending in St. John’s and Halifax in mid May. Check out the full schedule and details on the calwine site.

And onto BC and the Naramata Bench…

Being from Vancouver, I am more and more familiar with the wines (and the faces!) of the infamous Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley, BC’s interior wine region. There have been some awesome wines that have come out of this region: Tantalus Riesling being one of my top favourites; Poplar Grove’s Pinot Gris is a big crowd-pleaser as well. It was doable to try everything in the room, but I have a small list of favourites that I’d recommend you get your hands on.

Winner of the Day: Van Westen Vineyards 2008 Viognier

Pretty stunning. This wine has the fruit right there to match the acidity and the viscosity is what you would expect from a viognier. There were only 120 cases produced, so good luck finding it, but keep an eye on this producer for this varietal. They knock it out of the park.

And better yet, I heard you can sit around their kitchen table and taste it with them when you pay them a visit – now that is personal treatment!

Also Enjoyed:
Township 7 Rosé – one of the few who succeeded in producing a typical southern French style rosé. You could polish this one off in one sitting quite easily on a hot summer day.
Therapy Vineyards 2009 Freudian Sip Proprietary blend ($19) – again, suited for patio time. The same could be said for their 2008 Pink Freud ($20). Chill these two crisp wines, sit back and soak in the sun!

I guess those last few picks means it’s that time of year again… next post: rosé all the way!

IVSA: So Many Wines… You Know The Rest

Posted by on November 12, 2009 No comments

Honeymoon In FranceSo *this* is where all the kids hang out. IVSA (Import Vintners & Spirits Association of BC) in Vancouver was a good time had by all at the Four Seasons downtown. If you are in the wine industry, you should consider joining the mobs of wine agents and buyers. If you’re not, you should find a way to get there next time around.

Roaming the room, taking it all in and chatting with familiar and new faces, you couldn’t help notice the serious on-a-mission tasters for wine columns, blogs, party recommendations, surrounded by the not-so-serious having a grand ol’ time, not spitting. Everyone was in great spirits and it felt a bit like Christmas in early November.

I met some lovely people, tasted some doozy wines, but there was no hope you could even dream of tasting half of the room in the 3 short hours, so I tried to stick to some bubbly plus a few bonus tracks for the holidays:

  • Bastianich Flor Prosecco – $19.99 – easy to drink and your fills the mouth with florals and light, lovely bubbles
  • Codorniu Pinot Noir Sparkling Brut, Cava, $19.99 – full of zest and soft mouthfeel, with a pinky-orange hue for all of you pink fans out there
  • Nicolas Feuillatte Particuliere Brut, Champagne, $59.99 – Gismondi 90 pts.
  • Champagne Moutardier Carte d’Or, $58.99 – unique 85% Pinot Meunier must try – 90 pts Burghound



    • Bonus Tracks:

  • Penfolds Grandfather Port, $84.99 – nutty and rich, melts in your mouth and hangs around for a long time, but not long enough!
  • Chateau d’Orignac Pineau des Charentes, $39.99 – Wow. Two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, one-third Cognac and ten years to produce – think thick, rich honey in a beautiful wine. Excellent value.
  • Blue Raspberry Vodka, $23.75 – And why not add a little fun bubble-gum-esque blue vodka into the Christmas stocking? Goes with every typical mix I’d imagine or on its own on the rocks.

Thanks to Catherine at Rare Finds and Risha at Select Wines for making certain I made it out.

My Week In France

Posted by on November 9, 2009 No comments

Honeymoon In France… in Vancouver.

What to do when you can’t jet off to France every other month? Seek France out in a hotel or community centre near you.

Last week I stopped into two local tasting events. The first, an industry tasting of Bordeaux reds and whites at the Roundhouse called Bordeaux Under One Roof. The second, the Rhône Valley at the Four Seasons Hotel at an event called Warm Winter Rhône – a benefit for the Children’s Hospital.

Great thing about my “afternoon in Bordeaux”: all wines presented were under $30. Beat that. Pretty decent value. It was a quiet room of just nine local agencies which made it easy to meet and greet and move around.

Before the tasting got started, it was optional to slip into the theatre adjacent to the tasting room and listen to an hour on Bordeaux from Montrealer and Bordeaux expert Nick Hamilton. It was a basic 101 on the region, terroir, grapes and wines, but served as very informative if you knew zero to very little.

Bordeaux wines are the true art of blending.
— Nick Hamilton

A Few Bordeaux Picks:

  • Red: Chateau Mayne-Vieil 2005, $27.99 – rich, full body, lovely tannins, balanced and drinkable now / Merlot, Cab Franc
  • White: Dourthe No 1 Sauvignon Blanc, $16.99 – Holy New Zealand! Very typical flare of a Sauvy B from NZ – citrus, grapefruit, fresh, zesty, yum – from France.
  • Best deal of the day: Chateau Loupiac Gaudiet 2003, $17.99 (375ml) – sweet gem you could sip on all afternoon!

Across town and two days later, my “evening in the Rhône Valley” was splendid. This night was a benefit for the Children’s Hospital, so wonderful to see a packed room with eager note-takers and the “occasional” no-spitters… always entertaining. It was an easy room to try most wines, and that I did, along with my very-happy-to-taste-at-anytime-fellow-wine-enthusiast Tracey. Definitely found it easier to taste with one other person along for the ride, rather than a solo trek or a +1 +1 +1 etc. You can block out some crowds and get down to the task at hand with a second nose and set of taste buds.

Treats From The Rhône:

  • Le Compagnie Rhodanienne 206 Les Combelles, $13.49 – easy drinking, light tannins and body with a nice balance – perfect entry into Rhône wine.
  • Chapoutier 2005 Muscat Beaumes de Venise – other than the small twang of *slight* high alcohol at 15.5%, really, really lovely.
  • Perrin Les Christins 2007 Vacqueyras, $26.99 – their marketing says it better than I: “rock-solid”.

Bringing Napa Home To You

Posted by on November 1, 2009 No comments

Vancouver played host to Napa Valley at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel this month as part of “Wine Arts”, an event hosted by Arts Umbrella. Lucky me got to join and transport myself from bad lighting and industrial carpeting to some of the Greats from Calistoga, St. Helena and Rutherford.

In speaking with some of the winemakers, winery owners and reps and local agents, the wines fell under categories of a. available in Vancouver, b. never going to be available in Vancouver and c. “We’ve been trying for years to get into Vancouver!”. So good luck finding them. Locally, try the private wine shops first. If nothing else, head down to Napa and try them all in person.

My Highlight Reel:

  • Trefethen 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – deep purple, dark fruits, beautifully balanced, long smokey finish.
  • 2006 Diamond Creek “Gravelly Meadow” Cabernet Sauvignon – most expensive wine of the night and one of the best.
  • 2007 Laird Family Estate Cold Creek Ranch Chardonnay – just the way you’d expect a full-bodied, toasty, buttery Cali Chardonnay. This one was a treat.
  • 2006 Quintessa (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, & 1% Carmenere) – A lot going on with this rich and beautiful wine with black fruits and plenty of spice. This one needs some meat or put it away for down the road.
  • Heitz Cellars Ink Grade Port – Holy Purple! This is one smoooooth porto. From Portuguese varietals Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Sausao, Tinta Cao, Tinta Bairada, Tinta Madeira, Tinta Amarela, Bastardo – These read something like Russian for the rookie, alas Heitz Cellars says it perfectly: “The perfect reason to linger over dinner.”.

Last Chance For VinoCamp CheeseCamp Tickets

Posted by on August 4, 2009 No comments

vinocamp cheesecamp
HV8X2914[Update: Wow! What a day – from all accounts, everyone had an amazing time, plenty of wine and cheese was had by all, we learned a ton, met new people and enjoyed a civilized ad-hoc afternoon. Thanks to all of our sponsors – check the Flickr Pool for photos of our day (thanks to one of Vancouver’s best photographers), our Tweets and tags and hash tags #vinocamp and #vccc09 for all the updates. Thank-you to everyone who helped (especially the MAG team) and to all of our speakers and participants. See you next year…]

There just might be RAIN this Saturday in Vancouver. We need it. But even if it doesn’t rain, I say after all of this heat wave, it’s the perfect timing for the perfect pairing and staying inside to taste (drink) fine wines, eat delectable cheeses, learn from the best in the business and, if you are so inclined on the “geekery” side of things, going tech with what you are taking in – blogging, flickring, tweeting all of your new wine and cheese knowledge and experiences, all day.
Check out the line-up of amazing Speakers and the Schedule and Sessions – including a few lightening talks in the breaks and a Live Twitter Tasting with Stag’s Hallow.

REGISTER HERE – tickets are going!

Hope to see you there – Keynote with Dr. Donna Senese begins at 12:30pm.

Follow @vinocampvan
Official Tags: vccc09 | vinocampvan09 | vinocamp | cheesecamp

Setting Your Alarm Clock To Drink Wine

Posted by on August 16, 2008 No comments

Vinocamp 2008 It’s 10:45am. I am tasting my first wine: a Sauvignon Blanc from Wild Horse Canyon – yes.

VinoCamp has commenced… the day started with a pick-up at 8:15 of fellow comrade committee guy, Boris, where the joke of setting your alarm clock to get up and have a day full of wine first got its legs (thank-you to the man/driver on this morning, who never fails to supply me with all my material).

We are in the beautiful Botanical Gardens at UBC, thankfully in a shady, breezy room on what is supposed to be a hot 33 degrees summer Saturday. Everyone has arrived in one shape or another, they have collected a fancy Riedel wine glass for keeps, a lovely bag of truffles each, a beautiful program and lunch menu (well done Lori) and we are deep into the Okanagan Valley region as Kathy Malone (from our major sponsor the Artisan Wine Co.) takes us from the Island, over the Pacific and through to the Interior of BC so we’re all better equipped with the knowledge of the BC wine Regions.

This is already a great day and we’re only into tasting one. Let it be known: I really don’t mind drinking wine before breakfast.

Our sponsors are fantastic – Cheers to you all for making the inaugural day happen:
Artisan Wine Co. / Puddifoot.com / Riedel / Taylor Hill / Kitsilano.ca / Techvibes / Miss 604 / Joeys / Farmstead / The Player’s Chophouse / Blue Water Cafe / The Cascade Room / Unwined / Trattoria / Habit.

(more links later people – I gotta drink some vino!) Mostly done.

flickr pics here!

Wine Tasting On A Whole New Level

Posted by on July 23, 2008 1 comment

VinoCamp 2008What more do you want than a whole summer’s day set aside for wine tasting, a Mediterranean spread, wine learning from some of best wine-makers and minds in the country, all the while surrounded by a quiet, lush setting at Vancouver’s Botanical Gardens. Enter VinoCamp.

What exactly is Vinocamp?

This is definitely not the wine festival. In a more unstructured form than a standard conference, VinoCampVancouver brings wine, people and technology together in one place, making wine accessible, educational and fun.

VinoCamp was inspired by techy-turned-wine-o expert Lori Pike. There is a small crew of us helping to piece this together, but we could definitely use some help, outreach, link love, spread the love… This event is fast approaching and tickets are selling – register now to reserve your place as there is not a ton of room on this bill.

When: Saturday, August 16th — 10am To until the last bottle is drip-dry.

The speaker list is building and includes the likes of Brad Cooper, Wine Maker at Township 7 and Wine Maker Kathy Malone from one of the major sponsors, the Artisan Wine Co.

If you want to help, we’re still on the hunt for more sponsors, speaker suggestions and people to help on the day as well.

Also:
Facebook Group
Facebook Event Page

This is going to be an amazing day of fine wines, delectable foods and promised sunshine – don’t miss out. Dare I say it? – Summer is closing in and it’ll be gone before we know it! More vino please.