Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 2012

I love wine.
And after suffering from celebrity style exhaustion after NYFW, I briefly (4 days) broke up with alcohol. We had a brief fling last weekend, and after another break this week, I'm back in the saddle again for the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. The International Festival Tasting is my favourite event (drink all you can! But if you're the girl throwing up in the bathroom, I will judge you).

It's always great being able to actually taste wines before you buy them because it can be such a gamble. The only downside about falling in love with a wine at the VPIWF is that not all the wines are carried in our liquor stores (surprise, surprise). The really great thing about this festival is that it's the CONTINENT'S premier wine event and amongst the best, biggest, and oldest in the world (high fives and bum slaps!).

last year's poster, i know

This year's theme region is Chile, so I spent a lot of time getting acquainted with their wines (and food!).

Recommendations:

2007 Cousino-Macul Lota Cabernet Sauvignon - 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot
2010 Tamaya Reserva Carmenere - The lightest Carmenere I tried, an easy drinking wine with a good price point ($18.99)
2008 Vina Ventisquero Grey Single Block Carmenere - Bolder but still easy to drink, good if you don't like super full bodied wines (me), still good price point ($23.99)
2008 Concha y Toro Terrunyo Carmenere - Still drinkable for me, a great wine for pairing. 15% cabernet sauvignon
2011 Vina Montes Limited Selection Sauvignon Blanc - On the sweeter side of Sauvignon Blancs, perfect for those hot hot hot days
2010 Cono Sur 20 Barrels Limited Edition Sauvignon Blanc - Crisp flavours, nice finish, not overly sweet, would be perfect with oysters or scallops (mmm...buck a shuck anyone?)

I'm also a huge New Zealand wine fan. I went on a fantastic wine tour of the Hawkes Bay region when I was there a few years ago - however, I've yet to see any of those wines come here. That said, New Zealand wines rarely disappoint.

Recommendations:

2010 The People's Pinot Noir - Not a huge Pinot Noir fan, but this one was fantastic AND you can buy it here, great price point ($17.99) - I think this might be last year's Beso de Vino for me
2011 Oyster Bay Merlot - We've all had Oyster Bay before, blah blah blah, but I'm not typically a Merlot fan so I would never think of buying this - consider me sold! Also, the price point doesn't hurt either ($19.99)

I stopped by to see my friend who was working in the USA region. She was representing Signorello Estate, Trim, and Fuse wineries. The interesting thing about these wineries is that they're owned by Vancouverites but the wine is 100% grown and produced in the Napa Valley.

Recommendations:

2009 Signorello Estate Chardonnay - Chardonnay's scare the crap out of me. I don't like really oaky wine (so basically, Chardonnay), and I'm always scared that un-oaked Chardonnay's are going to be horrifying, so this is a perfect reason why tastings are so important. This is a mildly oaked Chardonnay and it's really quite good. What makes the oaky-ness tolerable is that they use French oak (#kanyeshrug - shit just got weird)
2008 Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot. SO GOOD. SO EXPENSIVE ($69.99)
2009 Trim Cabernet Sauvignon - 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc. A fabulous easy drinking red

Tickets are still available! Go! Drink! But don't be that girl throwing up in the bathroom.