What wines we're drinking this week

Wines we enjoyed this week - finally an update after a long delay - sorry about that!

We loved a great 2006 Cedar Creek Estate Select Chardonnay - for just under $20 - great classic California chardonnay tastes but from BC.

Lots of tropical fruit, butterscotch and buttery oak - you gotta like it and at a lower price than anything similar from south of the border.

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If you haven't tried Old River Road - a great California organic winery - their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is killer. With a 76% cab sauv and 24% cab franc blend, this one has lots of dark fruit and the French oak aging to make it last.

It may be hard to find - it was a special listing for the Playhouse International Wine Festival, but try private stores or check the winery website.

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If you have a bit of spare change, you can't go wrong with Rocca delle Macie's 2003 Toscana Roccato - a super Super Tuscan wine.

The Wine Spectator gives it a 90 point rating and if anything, I'd give it 92-93 points. A huge, layered wine with lots of blackberry, plum and chewy fruit, this wine is made for Italian food.

And that's exactly what we did - enjoyed it immensely at the marvelous La Buca restaurant in Kitsilano this week - watch for a review here of that fine food establishment soon.

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Rose anyone? If you are thinking Mateus and the 1970s, I say get over it!

Today's excellent roses are dry, dry, dry and top quality wines.

This week I tried one of my favourites again - the Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine from the Tavel region of the Cotes du Rhone. It's not cheap - $24 in BC - but it's worth every penny.

Bone dry, beautiful strawberry colour and fabulous strawberry and raspberry flavours as well as a touch of spice. Will pair nicely with just about anything you want - from grilled meat to appetizers.

Top winery picks for Playhouse Wine Festival Saturday Night

The Wine Barbarian outside Saturday night's wine festival

With over 183 different wineries from 15 unique countries providing over 1600 wines it is literally impossible to advise anyone attending tonight's Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival tasting which wines to try.

But I can give you a few recommendations based on my three visits to the tasting room so far!

I've had great wines from all over but here's a few wineries or tables with one or more wineries represented that you should not miss:

Long Shadows - From Walla, Walla Washington - big beautiful reds and a killer riesling - I bought some and don't even like rielsling that much!

Inland Trading - always some of the best Australian shiraz available - including from the fabulous Rolf Binder.

Majella Wines - Some of Coonawarra's nicest wines - cab, shiraz and sparkling.

Deutz - Champagne, including a vintage 1998 that will make you consider the second mortgage needed to buy a case - at $175 a bottle, one of the Festival's most expensive.

Catena - Viva Malbec! But also a great reserve cabernet sauvignon.

Magnanimus Wine Group - All organic wines from Mendocino, California - try especially the Old River Road cabernet.

Byron - If you saw Sideways - the movie - you know that Santa Barbara makes delicious pinot noir and chardonnay - great stuff here.

Working Horse Winery - Wines from this new BC organic winery from veteran Tilman Hainle can only be tried at Puddifoot's display and tasting from the fantastic Riedel glasses - the only glasses I use at home. Tilman was BC's first organic winemaker and his new pinot noir ice wine is unbelievable - and unbelievably rare!

Osoyoos Larose - This BC-French joint venture in the Okanagan is producing amazing Bordeaux-blend wines - not surprising when the French half is Gruaud Larose!

Olivier Leflaive Wines - Best chardonnay in the house -the $115 Puligny-Montrachet premier cru Champ Gain - formidable! Magnifique!

But there's so much more - I hope you have a chance to taste some of it, as the Festival is of course, sold out!


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Bill Tieleman speaks at Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival trade show on organic wines

Facilitator Glenn Sigurdson & host Tony Gismondi

at Eco-Friendly Wine event

I was very pleased to be asked to speak at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival's trade show panel titled: "Eco-friendly Wine: Over-hyped, Over-priced? A Symposium on Green Wine Marketing" on Wednesday.

An international panel of experts discussed organic certification, biodynamic wine growing, new trends in ecologically better packaging and much more.

Tony Gismondi, the Vancouver Sun wine columnist and editor of Wine Access, hosted the event.

Among those on the panel were: Jean-Charles Boisset, President, Boisset Family Estate, France; Jose Asensio, Export Director, Familia Zuccardi Winery of Argentina; Tilman Hainle, Owner and Winemaker, Working Horse Winery, BC; Robert Hill Smith, Owner, Yalumba Winery - Australia; Barbara Philip, Master of Wine - Vancouver; Owsley Brown III, President, Magnanimus Wine Group - California and Anthony Nicalo of Farmstead Wines - a BC-based importer.

Watch for a full write up here soon.

But in the meantime, Vancouver writer Peter Mitham has a good account of the panel discussion for the California-based Wines and Vines magazine's website, including quoting yours truly. Wines and Vines is a trade publication for the wine and grape industry.