The 47th annual @VANWINEFEST Vancouver International Wine Festival #VIWF has just concluded giving us another educational and insightful week on wine, food and hospitality. This year’s focus was on France, featuring key wines and seminars. The opening Trade event “France: Terroir & Trends,” was held early at 9:30 am on Thursday March 12. Eight French wines from six regions were tasted to discover their terroir or “sense of place,” on a panel well moderated by Arnica Rowan @arnicarowan with knowledgeable comments from winery principals. The presentation was inspired by Andrew Jefford for his ideas plus illustrations created using generative AI (ChatGPT) with a reference to TerroirWine.ca. The organizers do a terrific job assisting you with the helpful detailed program outline set out below. Some comments from your scribe:

1. 2022 CHABLIS LES BLANCHOTS GRAND CRU DOMAINE LAROCHE: What an amazing start with a Grand Cru Chablis! Big fan of Laroche Chablis since the seventies due to the pioneering quality work by Michel Laroche & his wife, Gwenael (now at Le Domaine d’Henri). Domaine Laroche owns over 1/3 of the vineyards in their flagship Blanchots, where the special white clay soil layer over Kimmeridgian limestone provides a lighter more delicate style. They also use the best grape lots from this Grand Cru to make the exciting “La Reserve de l’Obedience,” which has more complex depth and finesse than the regular Blanchots. The 2022 harvest began earlier, at the end of August, yielding a large crop of varying ripeness. Our wine is forwardly light, young, bright, and round, showing lovely Chablis character but it is overall rather soft and needs better structure with more acidity for long aging. I prefer the vibrancy and richer character of their Grand Cru Les Bougerots & Les Clos in 2022 for cellaring.

2. 2015 CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE BLANC CLOS DE L’ORATOIRE DES PAPES: This winery admirably uses organic methods encouraging composting to invite insects, employing cover crops, and implementing active water preservation measures. This ten-year-old Rhône white, sourced from two parcels on limestone soil, blends 30% each of Clairette, Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne with 10% Bourboulenc. It shows an aged yellow-gold color and deep, ripe, sweeter honey peach perfumes. It is uniquely full, rich, and powerful, currently on a wonderful drinking plateau. Nice maturity. Such a dramatic contrast to the Chablis.

3. 2023 EMBUNS DE VIOGNIER DOMAINE GASSIER: This 100% Viognier, organically grown by keen producers Tina & Michel Gassier for Chateau de Nages in the Languedoc as Vin de Pays du Gard has the variety’s typically distinctive spicy apricot fullness. So lush at 13% ABV for a bargain price!

4. 2023 GEWURZTRAMINER CUVEE BACCHUS PFAFF: It combines two soil types in Alsace—limestone and chalky clay—to grow Gewürztraminer grapes, producing a very aromatic, expressive, spicy, floral wine with notes of rose and lychee that is true to the variety. Off-dry at 13.5% ABV with a touch of ginger is so pleasant.

5. 2022 CHATEAU CAPET-GUILLIERE ST. EMILION: Four hectares of deep, compact clay-limestone soils yield a balanced blend of 82% Merlot & 18% Cabernet Franc, offering a fruity Right Bank expression of Grand Cru Saint-Émilion south in Saint-Hippolyte. The estate has used biodynamic practices since 2021. Antoine Moueix Proprietes uses four weeks of maceration, malolactic fermentation in barrique, and aging in 50% new French oak for 12-16 months to produce 18,000 bottles of this floral, plush, easy-drinking red. Another example of improving smaller, valuable properties emerging around Bordeaux.

6. 2020 CLOS D’ORA MINERVOIS LA LIVINIERE GÉRARD BERTRAND: This expensive premium red wine from Languedoc-Roussillon is an organic biodynamic blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Carignan, sourced from nine stone walled hectares on limestone marl soils with horse-tended rows. Fermented in concrete and aged one year in French oak this complex wine at a powerful 15.5% ABV features intense blackberries, dark plums & cherries, dominated by an elegant touch of spicy garrigue. This is truly amazing wine from a remarkable producer, Gerard Bertrand, with numbered bottles; it needs further aging to best show its rich depth of fruit quality. An innovator as “L’Art De Vivre Les Vins Du Sud” for sure.

7. 2017 LES JARDINS PHILOSOPHIQUES BLANC CHATEAU BOUCASSE: Two unusual wines from South-West France by Vigneron & Proprietaire Alain Brumont conclude this interesting wine tasting. This white wine is a blend of 70% lesser-known Petit Courbu and 30% Petit Manseng; it ferments in tanks with long lees aging but sees no wood. At 13.5% ABV, it shows very ripe, yet dry, exotic, smooth, and honeyed fruit. Perhaps try pairing with foie gras. Discovered by CostcoUSA and sold for a steal at $13 a bottle, it is still relatively inexpensive in Canada, selling in the low forty-dollar range. Unique.

8. 2019 CHATEAU MONTUS MADIRAN: This protected appellation produces this powerful blend of 60% Tannat with 20% each of Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc at 13.5% ABV. Old vines of Bouscasse in Madiran, Gascony, in southwest France. A long 30–45 day maceration on skins and three years in wood results in a grippy, tannic red wine. CostcoUSA also discovered this wine and sold it for a crazy low price of $15 a bottle. Even though the price in Canada is now $48, it is still a low price for a big, full-bodied, distinct terroir Madiran. Good matching for BBQ. This seminar clearly illustrated France’s diverse wines. Thanks.

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Question: I hear that some legal decisions in France will make organic farming more difficult. What are those?

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Hope everyone celebrated #InternationalWomensDay on March 8 recognizing so many remarkable women contributing to our industry and our life. We read some wonderful social media posts that really made us stop and think about how valuable women are every day. A good time for your scribe to reflect on such matters is over dinner with my wife, Joan. We did that at Sunday dinner yesterday and also discussed some favourite culinary dishes. Sure, it is an outstanding, healthy, and delicious pairing for fish and seafood, best served with a top Chablis or another quality dry white wine. A lighter red wine might work, depending on the sauce and accompaniments. However, a more dependable still healthy match exists for both white and red wine with chicken dishes. Many more poultry options are available today that have been humanely raised without antibiotics. Numerous recipes exist that use various parts of the bird or the whole roasted chicken. We have found that arguably the best tasty versatile part for regular cooking are chicken thighs. The flavour is better if you cook them bone-in and skin-on but either or both can be removed just before serving if preferred. Cooking with bone-in meat provides even heat distribution and deeper flavour. Skin-on meat offers a higher fat surface to sear into a crispy crust. The darker meat, from active muscles, contributes juicy, savoury flavours with little risk of overcooking compared to breasts. A cook-friendly ingredient worth exploring.

Over the past couple of years, we have tried many different chicken thigh recipes. Most are interesting and provide a useful addition to your dinner repertoire. Some prefer sous vide (165-170F) for moistness followed by searing, but IMHO that method is not necessary. Here are two easier, dependable recipes we enjoy rather often:

SHEET-PAN CHICKEN WITH POTATOES, SCALLIONS AND CAPERS by Kay Chun a recipe developer and regular contributor to New York Times Cooking: (Recipe)

ROAST CHICKEN THIGHS WITH FENNEL, GREEN OLIVES AND LEMON adapted by The Wall Street Journal from a recipe by Chef Colin Wyatt of Twelve Restaurant in Portland, Maine, who stated “All these flavors work in unison.” They certainly do, with the sweet fennel balancing the briny olives & tart lemon: (Recipe)

As you see in the photos, many different red wines paired well with these chicken thigh recipes, including the 2013 Hester Creek Character blend of Syrah, Malbec, and Petit Verdot; the 2005 Chambolle Musigny Les Cras Guyon; and the 1970 Chateau Lynch Bages.

The Radish restaurant in Vancouver produces an excellent chicken dish with green olives and currants that paired perfectly with our 2013 Barbaresco Paje from the Produttori. Experiment and enjoy!

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Question: At a recent Amarone wine tasting the speaker referred a couple of times to VA on the nose. How would you describe that smell?

Answer: Volatile Acidity (VA) can be an issue with some wines, often resulting from riper, late-picked grapes. Excessive exposure to air (oxygen) or insufficient sulphur dioxide (SO2) during winemaking can cause volatile acidity (VA). You can spot the two main contributors to the problem on the aromas of the wine. Firstly, acetic acid smells like vinegar and secondly, ethyl acetate is similar to nail polish. Some winemakers think a little bit provides freshness to the wine but too much is definitely a fault. Be aware of VA when you are tasting.

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As loyal followers of this Blog are aware your scribe has been impressed by the outstanding quality of Australian Chardonnay. Several recent references have been posted here including Ask Sid on October 22, 2025, titled “Underrated Wine Region for Top Quality Chardonnay,” and on June 2, 2025, titled “Shaw + Smith Are Expressing Adelaide Hills in Australia with Vibrant Modern Classic Wines.” However, wine quality is improving right across Australia’s many regions. My good old friend from the nineties Mark Davidson, was formerly the talented sommelier in Vancouver at the William Tell Restaurant (with one of the great restauranteurs Erwin Doebeli). Mark was honoured as Sommelier of the Year in 2001 & Spirited Industry Professional in 2014 (a year after yours truly) by @VanWineFest, and he is now doing a terrific job as Head of Education Development – Americas for wineaustralia.com. On February 19, 2026, Mark was in town to provide an informative update on the diverse Victoria region to the wine trade at Vancouver Urban Winery. At his seminar, he spotlighted and explained seven distinct sub-regions within Wine Victoria (out of twenty-one shown on the map), offering valuable wine insights. Frost has been a recent troubling issue in Australia with late 2024 and 2025 (October) resulting in consecutive smaller harvests. Afterward, there was a plethora of wines to taste from the region, including mostly Yarra Valley sub-region selections like the Fontaine label from Dominique Portet (I still have a bottle of his amazing 1978 Taltarni Cabernet Sauvignon) and Ben Portet’s Chardonnay (13% ABV) & Cabernets (a blend of 60% CS, 29% M, 6% Malbec, 5% CF at 13.5% ABV), both from the 2024 vintage. The main event with brief comments:

2021 JAYDEN ONG ONE BLOCK CHARDONNAY, YARRA VALLEY: Chardonnay remains Australia’s largest white wine variety, but its overall volume decreased by 13% due to frost in 2025. This organically farmed Chardonnay from the admirable Yarra Valley is from the exceptional, cooler, and balanced 2021 vintage and shows well after about four years of bottle age. Mark mentioned how different the Australian Chardonnay style is from the “big, rich, Tyrrell award-winning Chardonnays of the seventies & eighties.” Your scribe remembers well when in 1971 Murray Tyrrell started Vat 47 Chardonnay using Hunter Valley fruit. Mark noted, “How different they are now and the key to making top Australian Chardonnay is managing ripeness.” Lovely start to this tasting with a good showing by my favourite white grape variety, Chardonnay.”

2018 TAHBILK MUSEUM MARSANNE, NAGAMBIE LAKES: Old Marsanne vines from historic Tahbilk, dating back to the 1860s, are grown in a continental climate 120 kilometres north of Melbourne in Nagambie Lakes. Mark “likes the structure and continuing success of aged Marsanne.” Still so young at 8 years of age – a treasure!

2024 KOOYONG MASSALE PINOT NOIR, MORNINGTON PENINSULA: Big fan of Aussie Pinot Noir from various regions (the 2024 Tolpuddle from Tasmania is outstanding and so much improved). The Mornington Peninsula sub-region is under the radar with this ideal site at elevation on volcanic soil. Only 10% new oak but 12% whole bunch fermentation. Like the fresh, lighter, pure Pinot Noir signature. What a good value!

2019 CASTAGNA UN SEGRETO, BEECHWORTH: Mineral rich hills of Beechworth – remember Mick Jagger playing Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in the film? This blended wine, composed of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Shiraz, spent 22 months in French oak (35% new), showing mid-range fullness and refreshing acidity.

2023 MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN CLIFF EDGE SHIRAZ, GRAMPIANS: Cool climate mountains yield more elegant fruit from older replanted Shiraz vines dating back to 1969. Mark stated, “Another mid-range example of Shiraz – so different from the big full Barossa style.”

2022 BLUE PYRENEES RICHARDSON CABERNET SAUVIGNON, PYRENEES: Another cooler region “in the middle of nowhere,” grows Cabernet Sauvignon from 30 year old vines on sandy soils. Mark found both bottles “a little corky,” but they cleared somewhat in the glass. Another expression of Cab Sauv so different from the popular Terra Rossa red clay soil of Coonawarra.

NV PFEIFFER CLASSIC MUSCAT, RUTHERGLEN: Fortified Muscat was a non-vintage blend but a big group favourite! Outstanding Muscat definition. So luscious and intensely delicious. We need more of these unique Australian dessert wines in our North American market. Like the 100 year Para Tawny Port liqueur 1925 from Seppeltsfield just released. Your scribe remembers buying the last 5 cases of the 1933 vintage for the 50th Anniversary of the International Wine & Food Festival held in Vancouver in 1983 which was truly superb. Now 50 years later it is still outstanding at 100. These higher sugar “stickies,” like this Rutherglen Muscat have raisiny complex flavours from long barrel aging. Wonderful finish.

We are fortunate to have Mark returning for another Trade Seminar in Vancouver at our 47th #VIWF this month on March 13 at 9:30 am at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Sponsored by Wine Australia, the seminar will feature “Classic & Contemporary Australia,” showcasing 9 wines. Among the top quality choices is Tyrrell’s 2017 Vat 1 Hunter Semillon, one of the world’s greatest wines. The first vintage, produced in 1963, came from grapes grown and always early picked on Tyrrell’s Short Flat Vineyard, resulting in high acidity and low alcohol. It ages amazingly well—it seems timeless. Get your tickets. Many thanks Mark Davidson!

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