Although this year’s Vancouver Wine Festival is only a faint taste in my mouth, I continue to revel in the magic moments of this amazing fundraiser for Bard on the Beach.
As I recently wrote, the Vintner’s Brunch featured 18 of Vancouver’s finest restaurants, each dish matched with a premium wine that the chef thinks pairs magnificently with his or her creation. Classy, tasty, and jazzy!
Also memorable was Excitement in a Glass. Take five of Vancouver’s top sommeliers and wine buyers, throw in 10 wines from around the world that excite these experts, and voilà! You get an amazing tasting with great buys, some at affordable prices, other’s more top end and really exciting.
Wine writer Treve Ring selected the Tahbilk 2008 Museum Release Marsanne ($25.99). Marsanne is traditionally a Rhone white blended with Viognier and Rousanne. Tahbilk in Victoria, Australia is unique in only using Marsanne.
One seldom gets to taste an eight-year-old white that is still fresh and vibrant. The Marsanne can age for up to 20 years. Expect a toasty, honeyed honeysuckle character with a minerality usually tasted in European wines. “It’s lots of wine for not a lot of money,” boasts Ring.
Another juicy treat is the Fowles 2010 Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch Shiraz ($39.99). It’s produced in north-east Victoria, the coolest part of Oz. Many of us were raised on inexpensive jammy Shiraz, which is rather simple plonk. This wine, on the other hand, is elegant and complex.
I swooned over the blueberry and blackberry aromatics with hints of French and English oak to add structure, plus a grinding of black pepper to spice up the savoury flavours. A perfect partner for lamb, venison or kangaroo!
I was dazzled at the Diversity of the Barossa Dinner hosted by Blue Water Café. The Barossa Valley in South Australia is like the Napa Valley in California; it makes small quantity of wine, but it gets most of the attention for it’s superb quality.
That night we tasted 10 wines from Peter Lehman, ranging from sparkling pinot/Chardonnay, Riesling and Semillon, to cab sauvs and three different shirazes, including the celebrated Stonewell Shiraz, and ending with a 15-year-old Rare Tawny, crème brulée!
Did I mention the Barossa Valley is one of the most diverse regions in the world?
And to match the wines were six incredible courses from sea urchin mousse to wild red shrimps with lemon grass coconut foam and mango spicy sauce, to coq au vin, and grilled steak and braised short rib with béarnaise sauce and black truffles.
And just in case the guests were still hungry, there was pumpernickle crusted venison and a Bosc Pear and blue cheese tart.
To enjoy affordable Peter Lehman wines at your home, I recommend the 2012 Portrait Shiraz from the Barossa Valley ($22.99).
It’s described as “robust and serious with plum and dark chocolate.” I enjoyed that it also delivered a punch of boysenberry and cola flavours, climaxing with a huge, lingering finish.
Eric Hanson is retired teacher and wine educator in Richmond.
