Canada’s premier wine show The Vancouver International Wine Festival celebrating 40 years has just successfully launched. This year for 8 days 173 wineries from 16 countries spotlight wine & food over more than 50 events. The feature this year is on Spain & Portugal with 58 Iberian Peninsula wineries participating. The opening event 2018 Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction on Saturday February 24 was the 30th and funds raised (this year $225,000) now benefit Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival (previously Vancouver Playhouse Theatre). An amazing growth pattern for this excellent Wine Festival with so much credit over the years going to so many enthusiastic supportive “wine lover” volunteers, the distinguished patronage of Consulate Generals from various wine countries, and our helpful sponsors.

This Gala event has a long history of remarkable cuisine at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver pioneered by Executive Chef Robert LeCrom (assisted by Alan Ferris Director of Catering & Special Events) and now is in the capable hands of Executive Chef Cameron Ballendine and his talented brigade. The Menu had again this year innovative dishes highlighted by a colourful Harvest of the Fisherman and The Hunt in the Air delicious roasted partridge. Diverse matching of quality wines from 10 different regions emphasized the VanWineFest.ca international emphasis. My favourite among several treats was the outstanding 2013 Malbec of Catena Zapata from Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae (“luck of the land”) at almost 5000 feet elevation in Mendoza Argentina. What a combination of freshness with ripe fruit balanced by acidity yet delicate and complex. Well done! The Auction had many treasures change hands including these: 1990 Chateau Latour magnum $6500, 1964 Musigny Comte de Vogue $4500, 1983 La Tache DRC $5500, Vertical of Chateau Gruaud Larose (75, 78, 82, 83, 85, and 95) & Osoyoos Larose (2001-2005) for $4500, and Vertical of Harlan Estate (1996-2000) for $8500. Superb opening !

Will be reporting more on some of the interesting educational wine seminars and dinners to be held all this week in future posts on this Blog.

Your scribe fortunately has attended each and every one of these 40 Vancouver Wine Festivals. Have you attended one? Encourage you to plan a trip to Vancouver in the future to enjoy these always exciting festivities full of worthy events always held at the end of February each year.

center

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Question: When dining recently at a highly regarded Paris restaurant the waiter poured out the last of my Champagne order and then inverted the bottle into the ice bucket neck down. Is this proper wine service?

Answer: Yes this question is an interesting one. I have had several times the same experience as you did. Personally I don’t like it and feel it is a rather lazy way by the sommelier in a busy restaurant to easily see you have finished your wine. Also it almost seems like they are giving you a sign of encouragement to order another. It also deprives you sometimes of the last pour of a few precious delicious drops after the remaining liquid settles at the bottom. Etiquette questions such as this can be quite subjective and therefore are difficult to give you an unanimous answer. Your thoughts or those of others?

You might also like:

 Loading ...

We all admire the versatility in wine styles that result from that amazing Riesling grape. From austere no residual sugar very dry (trocken) to sweet icewine or TBA and everything in between this varietal always seems to excel. This was brought home vividly at a Riesling Summit for sommeliers held last week by @TopDropVancouver (as a preview to their annual Terroir + Craft event scheduled May 17 & 18) led by wine educator Kurtis Kolt at leading Thai restaurant Maenam of Chef Angus An. The seminar featured Johannes Selbach of Selbach-Oster from the Mosel Germany and David Paterson of Tantalus Vineyards in the Okanagan Valley of BC Canada each showing 6 different Riesling wines:

1  Selbach-Oster 2014 Riesling Brut Sparkling has only 15 months on lees (usually 18-24) but 6% auslese dosage results in classy graceful fresh fizz

2  Tantalus Vineyards 2014 Old Vines Riesling Brut produced only 200 cases of these bubbles with 24 months lees in this drier citrus apple vibrant acidity style

3   Selbach-Oster 2015 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett picked earlier in the hotter 2015 vintage producing this delightful only 9.5 alcohol treat

4  Tantalus Vineyards 2015 Riesling picked starting 21.5 Brix to 23 shows lemon zest with ginger aromatics plus lively texture at good value under $20

5  Selbach-Oster 2015 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken is cooler loamy area that ferment at lower temp but spicy quince has versatile use

6  Tantalus Vineyards 2015 Old Vines Riesling from 4 blocks planted in 1978 with Clone 21 (“Weiss” clone – also used by Cave Springs in Ontario) maintaining original Grosset Polish Hill Clare Valley Australia dry standard (but their more recent Alea is less dry) shows pure intense elegance with minerals

7  Selbach-Oster 2011 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese Feinherb “Alte Reben”  exotic creamy nutty first time “old vines” designated beauty will last well

8  Tantalus Vineyards 2011 Old Vines Riesling has 4 more years bottle age than 2015 and now developing mature complex textures with petrol marmalade

9  Selbach-Oster 2013 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese shows quality vineyard mineral slate with salty lime from a different cooler year

10 Tantalus Vineyards 2016 Den’s Block Riesling not released for another year using same vineyard as Brut but encouraging “spatlese” top fruit in old oak

11 Selbach-Oster 2012 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese from old vines with ripe fruit makes a brilliant delicious statement (pleased not turned into a Trocken)

12 Tantalus Vineyards 2012 Riesling Icewine only 60 cases picked January 13, 2013 at 39 Brix for 50 day ferment all honey pineapple & peach + acidity

Liked how each Riesling wine showed so distinctively different. Johannes says Riesling variety is so outstanding at expressing “place plus microclimate”. Both these regions obviously are doing an excellent job in finding their unique terroir. Your scribe brought along an older bottle of 2001 Pinot Reach Cellars Old Vines Riesling at 12. 1 alcohol that was made using the original vines planted May 24, 1978 (now used in Tantalus Old Vines) which showed remarkable mature quality. The winemaking and corks were not at the same high level now reached by Tantalus Vineyards but beckons very well for the long age ability of their Old Vines Riesling!

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Question: What wine do you serve on Valentine’s Day?

Answer: Happy Valentine’s Day! Lucky me because the wine I have served most often is Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses (in French means “lovers”) – particularly the delicious 1989 Drouhin. Another always go to choice is Chateau Calon Segur Saint Estephe with the drawing of a heart on the label. Remember well enjoying the 50th anniversary of their long distance runner 1966 in 2016. However, unless you were fortunate enough to buy these expensive wines early on they are now rather out-of-touch elitist choices. Nevertheless choose any wine you think signifies romanticism and love where the label message on this special day can be just as important as the contents. Enjoy.

You might also like:

 Loading ...

The Unsung Seafood Heroes 2018 February monthly festival feature by Executive Chef Frank Pabst and his talented brigade at Blue Water Café + Raw Bar in Vancouver (part of TopTable Group is most impressive. Wrote it up last year February 13, 2017 on this Blog but it is even better for their annual 14th edition. Expanded from a choice of 11 to 14 innovative dishes with suggested beverage pairings it really highlights under-utilized seafood choices that can be uniquely delicious. Tried 6 of them starting with shellfish intense crayfish “cappuccino” bubbling with vichyssoise poured at the table matched so well with the outstanding fresh 2016 Ava from Le Vieux Pin winery in South Okanagan using a Rhone grapes blend (viognier, marsanne, rousanne) to advantage. Next up a pure herring dish (surprisingly no bones!) “poke bowl” style with Junmai (no addition of distilled alcohol) sake resulting in a good pairing. Perhaps our favourite among all these winners was the amazing “tacos” with crispy fried smelt in a tender golden batter. Excellent recipe to make these ingredients really shine. Pairing the emerging quality winery Sea Star from BC Pender Island of 2018 Stella Maris (blending gewurz, pinot gris & noir, riesling , ortega, and schonberger) brought open perfumed aromatics of ginger with matching limes & cilantro in this dish. Another Junmai sake but Yamahai delivered a stronger earthy mushroom yeast with more acidity to the quite pickled vibrant mackerel in rice paper. Fifth course of poached sea snails (whelk) “au gratin” was divine with that comforting slow cooked sweet ham topped with mornay sauce (béchamel + gruyere) with the new creamy chardonnay from Tinhorn Creek. Comfort food! Finished up with a final course of octopus napped with a Bolognese ragu on squid ink fettucine cleverly matched with a red wine Chianti Classico. Congrats to Wine Director William Mulholland and his knowledgeable team as well. What an amazing 6 course menu progression enjoyed this time. Will have to return to try enticing Slipper Limpet “Paella” & Sea Urchin “Hot Dog”. So commendable to celebrate these lesser known seafood as alternatives for Ocean Wise sustainable choices. Highly recommended.

Encourage you to initiate this worthy idea in your home city.

blank

blank

You might also like: