Quick picks for the Playhouse - Vancouver International Wine Festival - Saturday March 4, 2012 - Tables to Taste All

Don't get Bottle Shock - hit these Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival winery tables where you can't go wrong with everything they pour!

You too can be as discerning as Alan Rickman in Bottle Shock!

Greetings wine drinkers - and welcome back to the Wine Barbarian!   Tonight's mission at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is simple - find and taste as much fine wine as you can in 3 hours!

I'm here to help.  Careful research - alright, haphazard combined with pure luck - at Thursday night's tasting has led me to do these quick recommendations.

There are many fine wines here - 791 wines in all from 181 wineries - but you can't taste them all in a week, let alone one night.

So here are some surefire picks where everything poured at the table is a clear winner wine. 

That means rather than drinking three so-so wines to get to one good one, you can park yourself at the table and try them all.

There are no doubt other fab four tables - hope to find more tonight when I return to the tasting room - but these are ones I can vouch for already.


Sacred Hill Wines - New Zealand

One of the best chardonnays in the room - Riflemans Chardonnay 2010 at just $39 - and the fabulous Deerstalkers Syrah 2008 - are joined by Prospectors Pinot Noir 2009 and Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011. 

Paul Hobbs - United States

Another great new world chardonnay - Russian River Chardonnay 2009 - POW! - explodes in your mouth.  Then the great Russian River 2010 Pinot Noir, excellent Crossbarn Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 and fabulous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 at a cool $100 a bottle.

Domaine Laroche -France

I love Chablis and this is great stuff - the entry level $24 Chablis St. Martin 2010 is great value, the $44 Chablis 1er Cru Le Vaillons VV 2007 is killer and the $84 Chablis Gran Cru Les Blanchots will make you weep tears of joy - if you can buy a bottle that is!  Also an entry level $20 Pinot Noir de La Chevaliere 2010.

Domaine de la Solitude - France

The most expensive bottle in the room - the $250 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Reserve Secrete 2001 is stunning - and was almost sold out in the on-site Liquor Store on Thursday night.  Just wow!  A slightly more economical $129 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Barbarini 2001 is also fantastic and was sold out.  But you can't go wrong with the baby brother $100 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Tradition Rouge either.  Lastly, a modest $50 for the Chateauneuf-du-Pape Tradition Blanc.  This is one table not to miss!

Perrin et Fils - France

Starting to notice that France is not skimping at this event?  The flagship $92 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2009 is a killer wine - and always one of my favourites.  2009 was a great year in the region.  For a more affordable drink try the baby sister $35 Coudoulet de Beaucastel - lots of the same great fruit but drinking now rather than a cellar selection.  Another personal favourite - the $27 "Les Christins" Vacqueyras 2009 is great value and the $22 Cairanne Peyre Blanche 2009 is also there.

Le Vieux Pin/La Stella - Canada

BC's' Okanagan Valley can make wine every bit as excellent as France - these wines show it!

The flagship $90 La Stella Maestoso Merlot 2008 is amazing!  I hadn't tried it before and I was blown away by it's intensity and power.  The $30 2008 La Stella Fortissimo - a blend of Cabernet/Merlot/Sangiovese blend - is also great at that price.  Also try the Le Vieux Pin Syrah 2009 and $35 Le Vieux Pin Ava white Rhone blend. 

There's way, way more and lots of great wines hiding with more modest fare - especially some fantastic Chilean cabernet sauvignons and carmeneres but if you start with these, you will go home happy!

Cheers and hope to see you there!

Bill Tieleman - the Wine Barbarian

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Playhouse International Wine Festival is on! Attending Thursday night's tasting and will report back!

The Wine Barbarian at work - end of bottle blues!

I will be hard at work tonight on your behalf, tasting great wines at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival and reporting back here afterwards.


Look for me in "the Big Room" tonight and Saturday, where I will have to choose between 181 wineries pouring 791 different wines!


And good news - there are still some tickets available for some remaining events!  Click the link above to find our more.


This year's focus area is Chile - and I look forward to some excellent Carmenere, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and more - plus all the other international and domestic wines.


Cheers!

Do you have a Fetish? BC Liquor Stores have lots! 2010 Top 100 Wine Spectator choice The Watcher 2008 shiraz by Fetish Wines available



2008 The Watcher shiraz by Fetish


BC Liquor Stores have a Fetish - in fact, they have 972 of them!

The Watcher - a 2008 shiraz produced by Fetish Wines was the Wine Spectator's #61 of its Top 100 Wines of 2010 and it is a blockbuster.

But even more impressive is that BC Liquor Stores have somehow managed to get 972 bottles of The Watcher into stores across the province over a full year after it first was released and got the Spectator's highly-coveted seal of approval!  Kudos to the BCLS on that one.

Still better - it retails for $24.99 and this 91 point shiaz from Australia's famed Barossa Valley is worth every penny.

I had a bottle last night and it was huge - full of briary fruit and chewy goodness.  The Spectator says "blackberry, black plum and white pepper flavours" and says drink now to 2018.

This is, like most Aussie shiraz wines, high alcohol - clocking in at 14.5% - but it isn't noticeably "hot" or port-like.  [I just tasted

Lastly, if you haven't seen my earlier post that BC Liquor Stores also have widely available three excellent Top 100 wines of 2011 - the current Wine Spectator list - check that out.  And you can see the full 2011 list for free at the Spectator.

Now go get a Fetish or two!

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Wine Barbarian returns with news of Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2011 available in British Columbia

Only in British Columbia you say?  Pity!

Quinta do Crasto - 93 points

Vincent Girardin - 92 points

Cloudy Bay - 92 points

First - I apologize.  My best intentions to keep this blog more active have merely paved the road to more wine drinking research and less writing!


However, having not one but two blogs - my political Bill Tieleman website - makes life more complicated, since "news of the day" seems to take priority over "wine of the day", sometimes sadly.


Nonetheless, and without a new years resolution, I will do my best to be more wine current.


And to start - here are three truly excellent wines recognized by the Wine Spectator magazine as members of the Top 100 Wines of 2011 - and still available in BC Liquor Stores, as well as in other locations around the globe.


The Top 100 does not comprise the highest rated wines in the world - that would be prohibitively expensive for all but the 1% who occupy their wine cellars with first growth Bordeaux.


Rather, the Wine Spectator explains their criteria this way:


"More than 5,400 of these wines earned outstanding or classic ratings (90 points or higher on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale). We narrowed the list down based on four criteria: quality (represented by score); value (reflected by release price); availability (measured by cases made or imported); and what we call the “X-factor”–the excitement generated by a rising-star producer, a benchmark wine or a significant milestone for a wine region. 


But no equation determines the final selections: These choices reflect our editors’ judgment and passion about the wines we tasted."


And so, the wines you can find in BC - there were a few others but I suspect more limited quantities quickly disappeared.  I'm happy to say I've tried them all!


First, the 2008 Quinta do Crasto - Douro Reserva, Old Vines - 93 points, ranked #62 - a blockbuster wine from Portugal, one of the most overlooked and underrated wine producing countries in the world.  


Too many still think it only produces Port when in fact there are fabulous red wines made there from grapes we don't know, let alone know how to produce.


Listed at US $46 it's actually cheaper in BC at $42.99 and there are over 1,000 bottles available according to the BC Liquor Stores website, which has location details at the link I'e just posted.


The Spectator says: "A solid core of savory spice and leaf notes provides a supple overlay to the flavors of dried berry and smoke. The deft finish lingers, with touches of cream and vanilla as well as plenty of cocoa powder notes. Very elegant and suave. Drink now through 2017."


I agree but think it will last much longer.  I also found a good blackberry bouquet to it.


Second - 2009 Vincent Girardin - Moulin-à-Vent Domaine de La Tour du Bief Clos de la Tour - 92 points and ranked #54 - a mouthful to say and full of good taste! 


This wine from the Moulin a Vent appellation in the Beaujolais region of France, and yes, named after a windmill in the region.


It retails for $29.99 at BC Liquor Stores but is in short supply - just 74 bottle left, most in Vancouver. US retail is a touch lower.


The Spectator says: "Lush fruit flavors of blackberry and blueberry mix with a core of spice and dried herb notes in this fresh and silky red, which has lightly chewy tannins, followed by lingering hints of dark chocolate and cardamom on the finish. Drink now through 2016."


I agree again with this description - but am inclined to leave it a bit longer to develop rather than drink it all now.  But I admit I had to try 2 bottles before making that difficult decision!


Lastly, an old favourite that is perennially in the Top 100 - 2010 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc - 92 points, ranked #29 - a big pow in your mouth New Zealand SB from the Marlborough region with layers of different tastes.


It retails for $31.50 in BC Liquor Stores and their website indicates a surprising 1131 bottles available.  Slightly cheaper in the US.


The Spectator says: "Tangerine, mango and citrus flavors are pure and focused, smooth, round and wonderfully refreshing, with peach, Key lime pie, mineral and floral elements that really take off on the finish. Drink now." 


Yes, it's a tropical fruit punch!  If you've never had Cloudy Bay SB don't delay - it is simply delicious.  I'm not sure how long it will keep but certainly a year's aging will do no harm, if you can leave it there.


So there you have it - my first but not last post of 2012 and three wines you don't want to miss.


Don't delay - these wines will disappear very, very soon - and all the sooner because I've let you in on the secret!


Cheers!


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Gewurztraminer - you can drink it even if you can't say it!

I love gewurztraminer - but it intimidates some wine drinkers - from the hard to pronounce and spell name to the unusual style.

My advice?  Try a bottle of the 2009 Pfaffenheim Gewurztraminer at your local BC Liquor Store - you will be glad you did.


Gewurztraminer - pronounced Guh-wurtz-tra-meener - is a wine grape grown first of all in the Alsace region of France and in Germany.  But BC also has good gewurz - for short - from several Okanagan wineries, including Sumac Ridge, See Ya Later Ranch and more.


Pfaffenheim - pronounced Pfahf-n-hime - is a winery in Alsace that I particularly like - and the reason is in the bottle.  This wine is fragrant, with spiciness and tropical fruit notes.  Like most gewurz, this wine can stand up to spicy Thai, Chinese, Mexican or other foods with a chile kick.


There are 2800 bottles available all over BC at $19.99, so pick one up and let me know what you think. 

Two 90 point wines under $20 in BC - both from Chile's Concha Y Toro

You have to love Concha Y Toro wines - two 90 point wines - one Cabernet Sauvignon and one Chardonnay - both under $20!

And I do - one of my regular favourites - the 2008 Concha Y Toro Puente Alto Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon - has recently been joined by the 2009 Concha Y Toro Limari Valley Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay - Limari Valley - as a 90 pointer from the Wine Spectator magazine.

The Cabernet is huge - and a fantastic value wine year after year, a perennial 90 point winner.  Blackberry, fig, raspberry, cherry, cocoa - everything you want in a cab and usually can't find for less that $40!  I suspect it will age well but don't wait - it's drinking well right now and would be hard to put away in the cellar.

The Chardonnay is conversely lean and restrained - but delicious and what the Spectator calls "superfresh" with tangerine and apple notes. The winery alternatively suggests pear, fig and hazelnut.  I'll take any of the above.

Both retail in BC Liquor Stores for $19.99 and are quite available - 826 bottles of Cabernet across the province and 548 bottles of Chardonnay around BC.  Both are also available for $19.95 in Ontario Liquor Stores.

Their baby siblings are also worth trying for a lower dollar - Concha Y Toro Casillero del Diablo - cellar of the devil - Cabernet and Chardonnay - for just $13.99 each - a reliable wine but just don't compare the two levels.

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Wine Barbarian is back at last - and with a Wine Spectator Top 100 wine available in BC for under $30!

The Return of the Wine Barbarian!

Fellow wine lovers, winos and wine rookies, foodies, restaurant hounds, amateur cooks and more - I'm back!

Unfortunately this blog has been very neglected due to a series of reasons but.....I hope to make amends and more importantly, make this a useful blog for wine drinkers, restaurant goers and food fiends in BC and everywhere else.

You will find wine reviews and recommendations, restaurant reviews and travel reports - all of which happened here before but very infrequently.

I've turned over a new leaf - and it's a grape leaf!

Here's my first new post in quite a while - about one of my absolute favourite wines available in BC and other locations.

Vina Mayor Reserva 2004 is not just a great wine at a very reasonable price - $28.99 in BC - but it was also chosen as #38 in the Wine Spectator magazine's Top 100 Wines of 2010!

The Wine Spectator scored it 93 points out of 100 - and I heartily agree. They note it has: "black cherry, mineral, tobacco and tar notes. Offers an excellent balance of firm, well-integrated tannins and clean acidity" and suggest drinking it through 2016.

Vina Mayor is from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain, which I was fortunate enough to visit in 2007, and is one of the wineries of the Hijos de Antonio Barcelo group.

This is just a great tempranillo - more powerful and layered than the average Spanish bottle which you and I enjoy in the under $20 range. And I can attest to the fact that finding a Wine Spectator 93 point rated wine for under $50 to $100 is really, really difficult.

Now the good news - there are still 845 bottles available throughout the BC Liquor Stores network.

Better news for those of us in Metro Vancouver - the 39th and Cambie flagship store reports having 107 bottles left in stock.

The best thing to do before you race there though is to check through the BC Liquor Stores website through its "Search for Products" section in the upper right hand corner to see which stores have stock - and then CALL FIRST.

Unfortunately the website is often woefully out of date, so don't race to a faraway store only to find it all gone.

Fortunately the helpful staff are always willing to put some bottles aside for you for a day.

UPDATE - for my Ontario friends - the Vina Mayor Reserva 2004 is listed by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario [LCBO] at an even cheaper $25.95 BUT - I can't find any stores in Toronto with availability.  Worth a call to LCBO HQ to see if they can bring some in from another store for you!

See you back here soon - I intend to post at least one item a week!

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