Wine Barbarian UPDATED Quick Picks for the Vancouver International Wine Festival - great Italian wines and more!

Barone Francesco Ricasoli and Wine Barbarian Bill Tieleman!

If you are going to the Vancouver International Wine Festival tonight - Friday - or Saturday at 7 p.m. or Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. you are a lucky person indeed - because not only is Italy rocking the place with fantastic wines but so are the other countries in the tasting room!

If you don't have tickets the bad news is both nights are sold out - the good news is that a limited number of tickets are made available in person only at 6 p.m. each night for the evening's tasting - worth a try.

And if you get in, I'm going to help out - by giving you my Quick Picks of some the many great wines being poured in the International Tasting 

I have been attending several events - including 1,000 Years of Tuscany with the charming Barone Francesco Ricasoli showing his marvellous wines going back to some 1997s - and was at Thursday's tasting working hard to do research for you!

Let's start with the regional focus - Italy.  And as with all tables - it's polite to try all 4 wines available but these are the ones I particularly liked:

Ricasoli - The Barone is pouring - himself - some of their fine Ricasoli wines - try in particular the marvellous Colledila 2011- a Gran Selezione Chianti Classico full of black cherry goodness.  I tried the 2010 and the 2011 - which is in the tasting room - both excellent.

Castello di Gabbiano winemaker Frederico Cerelli & Bill Tieleman

Castello di Gabbiano - Winemaker Frederico Cerelli is here and I enjoyed a fantastic dinner sitting next to him at Mark Taylor's Siena with some fabulous Tuscan wines.

I would recommend highly their Alleanza IGT 2010 - a SuperTuscan blend of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Merlot - outstanding!

Rocca delle Macie - I also had the pleasure of attending a dinner as well as a vertical tasting of Roccato wines with owner Sergio Zingarelli - and he too is very charming!  

I have been drinking Roccato - a blend of 50% Sangiovese and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon - since their 2003 vintage - and it is simply delicious year after year!  The Roccato 2010 is being poured at the Festival and the 2009 - which I love - is still available in BC Liquor Stores - both are beauties!

San Polino - These are astonishing wines - not simply because they are all Brunello di Montalcino wines, not only because they are stunning but also because they are very expensive to be pouring - from $105 to $135 a bottle!  

All great but I particularly enjoyed the Helishrysum Brunello 2009 - really amazing.

Sergio Zingarelli of Rocca delle Macie with Iain Philip

San Felice - Another Tuscan winery with top notch wines at the table!  I especially liked the Il Grigio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2011 - wow!  And for $44.

Tenute Sette Ponti/Feudo Maccari - Yes, I didn't get out of Tuscany for the most part but it is such a great wine region.  Their Crognolo has been a staple wine for me for many vintages - buy some - but their Tenute Sette Ponti Oreno IGT 2013 was a revelation!  Yes, it costs $86 - over double the Crognolo - but what a wonderful wine.  Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot - all Bordeaux grapes - grown in Tuscany.  Smooth, big and velvety goodness!

I am running out of time and space - but in the Italian section don't miss Damiliano for their Barolos - Argentiera for their SuperTuscan Bolhgheri Superiore 2012 - Argiano for their Solango IGT Toscana 2012 and Brunello DOCG 2011- and Biondi Santi for their Braccale IGT Rosso Toscana 2011 - a $37 bargain!

Also Allegrini and Vieti and Cesari - but there's so much more I haven't yet tasted!

Leaving Italy, reluctantly, there are lots of other great wines from other countries represented.

Australia - Always so very impressive is Inland Trading Co., with managing director and Festival regular Greg Corra - a lot of fun to talk with every year!  Their lineup is magnificent throughout but don't miss the Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz 2012 - absolutely stunning wine!

New Zealand - Another great guy to talk about his great wines is Jim Robertson at Stoneleigh - a regular visitor to Vancouver - pouring two Sauvignon Blancs and two Pinot Noirs from one of my favourite wine regions.  I really loved the Rapaura Pinot Noir 2014 - and for $32 it's a bargain.

Canada - There are just loads of great BC wineries in attendance - how to choose?  But I will based on my limited time tasting - Painted Rock is marvellous - visited them in Penticton this summer too - try the Red Icon 2013 flagship.  

Osoyoos Larose - three vintages of Le Grand Vin to choose from - all fabulous!

Mission Hill - See my friend Ingo Grady there and taste their new Terroir Collection - an exciting new line of wonderful wines!

France - Famille Perrin - always great wines from top to bottom but I adore Beaucastel Chateauneuf-Du-Pape - a 2012 is being poured by Thomas Perrin - a charming fellow.

Laurent-Perrier - the only Champagne in the room and one of the best!  All beauties and pricey but none more than the Grand Siecle NV at $173 a bottle - mmmm!

Croatia - yes, from the Dalmatia region Stina returns to Vancouver with some amazing wines you've never heard of or tasted - till today!  I enjoyed their offerings last year and it's a great chance to try their reds and whites - all priced in the $40-$60 range.  Stina means "white stone" in Croatian and their labels are stunning.

That's all for now but watch for Tweets - @BillTieleman - and updates as best I can between glasses!

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Vancouver International Wine Festival 2016 events selling out fast - don't delay - get tickets today!

You don't have to be a wine snob to enjoy the VIWF! Book tickets now or you won't be there to enjoy great wines!

It may be the news you don't want to hear - but tickets for 2016 Vancouver International Wine Festival events are selling out quickly!

Already not available are:

Saturday February 28's evening International Festival Tasting - sold out

Dine Italia at La Terrazza  - sold out

50 Years of Campofiorin at Glowbal  - sold out

Under The Tuscan Sun at Siena  - sold out

California Cruisin' - sold out

And many more events are down to just a few tickets - so get your credit card out, go to your computer and book now - don't be disappointed, because this will be a great Festival and these special tastings are truly unique!

I hope to see you there!

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It's Vancouver International Wine Festival time again - tickets on sale starting Tuesday January 12 at 9:30 a.m. for the best wine event of the year, featuring Italy in 2016!

Wine Barbarian Bill Tieleman on left with legendary Joel Peterson of Ravenswood at VIWF 2015

It's Vancouver International Wine Festival time again - and tickets for the February 20 to 28, 2016 edition go on sale for all events on Tuesday January 12 at 9:30 a.m.

This year the VIWF is featuring Italy as the focus country - and that means every event will likely sell out - especially the fabulous wine dinners and special seminars.

Tickets for the International Festival Tastings are already on sale - and early bird tickets are sold out - for the big evening tastings on Thursday February 26, Friday February 27 and Saturday February 28.  So don't delay - these extremely popular events are in high demand every year and Saturday will be sold out soon based on previous Festivals.

Friday and Saturday evening tickets are $95 while Thursday is $89 - a slight discount for the weeknight - and one I always attend because it's a bit less crowded.

A welcome recent addition is the Saturday matinee - an afternoon edition of the International Festival tasting from 2:30 to 5 pm for a bargain price of $75.

What events to attend?  As many as possible in the short time available is my best advice. 

Take a look at the full VIWF brochure online to see all the events and much more information. 

But some are clearly exceptional and not to be missed - like Italy and Beyond dinner at Cioppino's with wines from Biondi Santi, Pio Cesari and more matched by acclaimed chef/owner Pino Posteraro's culinary masterpieces or the La Vita Ruffino dinner at CinCin - featuring great Italian foods and wines.

Sell-out seminars will surely include Tuscan Trailblazers on Wednesday Feb 25 with two of the most famous wines of the Antinori family - Tignanello and Guado al Tasso - in a vertical tasting of the two SuperTuscan classics - wow! 

Tignanello - one of Antinori's killer SuperTuscan wines

Also sure to be fully subscribed is 1,000 Years of Tuscany with Barone Francesco Ricasoli of the famous wine family in attendance, featuring Chianti Classico wines and Amaronely: Only Amarone on Thursday Feb. 26 for $85 featuring fabulous Amarone wines from Valpolicelli.

Please be assured that Italy is not the only country with wines at the Festival - in fact, there are over 1450 wines from 14 countries and 155 wineries participating over the eight-day event - France, Spain, Australia, Canada, the U.S., Portugal, Germany, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Greece, Japan and even Croatia are represented in addition to Italy!

There are so many other events to choose from and you simply can't go wrong with any of them - unless you procrastinate on buying your tickets - so remember that they go on sale Tuesday January 12 at 9:30 a.m. and many will sell out that very day!

Rock star wine maker Charles Smith of Walla Walla poses at 2015 VIWF

The VIWF is also a unique opportunity to meet winemakers, owners or principal staff of every winery at the event - it's a requirement - and that means you can meet legendary figures in the wine world, as I did with "Godfather of Zinfandel" Joel Peterson of Ravenswood Winery last Festival or Charles Smith of Walla Walla's great K Vintners and Charles Smith Wines - one of the wine world's rock stars.

Be sure to follow #VIWF on Twitter for updates from the Festival and wine writers and collectors - lots of good tips there.  

And watch this space closer to the Festival and during it for my recommended wines to taste!

Cheers and see you at the VIWF! 

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