City Restaurants Prepare for Festival Onslaught

Next Saturday we will feature an extended look at the grape fest, but today I thought we might look at the Vancouver wine community from the other side of the table.

What will the 186 wine producers heading for Vancouver next week come to know about this city's incredible wine scene?

Well, it's a mature market for the New World. Most British Columbia wine drinkers have come to know wine in the last 20 to 25 years, but their kids have joined a second generation of very savvy wine drinkers.

The next generation arrives more confident with better tasting skills and no compunction about dropping $35 on a bottle. Even better, they embrace wine as a beverage of moderation.

Visitors should be stunned by the quality of wine and food in Vancouver. Our restaurant wine lists continue to amaze me. The selection and the breadth, even in the simplest of cafes, is not something you can experience in most corners of the world.

Veteran foreign visitors will know their biggest competitor is the wine of the Okanagan Valley. Sales of B.C. wine are through the roof. Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wine sales have more than doubled in the last six years (totalling $124 million annually).

After much talk and years of inaction, foreign suppliers will find out that the notion of a free and open private market is dead. You will hear there are more private wine shops than monopoly stores but you would have to stay here a month or two to understand the mish-mash of licenses that govern the not so 'private' sector wine stores.

Today's picks more accurately reflect the reality of our vibrant, forward-thinking wine market.

Love the new Lindemans Bin 95 Sauvignon Blanc 2004. Finished under screw cap, it is fresh, soft, round and elegant on the palate with just a touch of sweetness. Look for well-blanced fresh grapefruit, mineral, bell pepper and gooseberry flavours with fine intensity and great value.

The Santa Julia Malbec 2005 from Mendoza, Argentina illustrates the value offered by Argentine malbec. Smooth and easy sipping, it mixes tobacco, chocolate, pepper and earth with a savoury, black cherry finish. Fine intensity and balance for an entry level red. Great value.

Castano Monastrell 2004 from Yecla Spain got its start at the wine festival. The wine has struggled to gain an audience despite its supple, juicy style and fruit laced black cherry, chocolate, licorice and peppery flavours. It now sells for the giveaway, buy-it-by-the case price of $9.95. Fabulous value.

Last month Vina Casas del Bosque Pinot Noir Reserve 2005 was selected the best pinot in Chile by a group of English wine writers who travel to Chile regularly. The spicy, caraway, carrot-top scented pinot shows much promise for the fussy grape in Chile. Cola, spicy, caraway, celery salt, and rhubarb all mark its flavours that remind us of a cool, Oregon-style, pinot. Good value here.

Look for strong minty, leafy, black pepper and leather notes in the Valdivieso Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2003. All cabernet its smoky, cassis, peppery, mineral and tobacco flavours mix with black cherry to scream Chile. Fine weight and supple finish.

Sebastiani Secolo Sonoma Red Wine 2003 from Sonoma County offers plenty of clove, cinnamon and blackberry flavours. It's an unusual California blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and merlot that is rich and warm but balanced. You can drink it now or hold it for another two to five years.

LINDEMANS BIN 95 SAUVIGNON BLANC 2004, SOUTH EASTERN AUSTRALIA
Price: $11.49
UPC: 012354081826
Score: 86/100
Remarks: Well balanced with good intensity and great value.

SANTA JULIA MALBEC 2005, MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
Price: $10.90
UPC: 7791728000160
Score: 86/100
Remarks: Savoury chocolate and black cherry flavours.

CASTANO MONASTRELL 2004, YECLA, SPAIN
Price: $9.99
UPC: 8422443001208
Score: 87/100
Remarks: Terrific value.

VINA CASAS DEL BOSQUE PINOT NOIR RESERVE 2005, VALLE DE CASABLANCA, CHILE
Price:$19.95
UPC: 697412000362
Score: 88/100
Remarks: Fine value Chilean pinot noir.

VALDIVIESO CABERNET SAUVIGNON RESERVE 2003, REGION DEL VALLE CENTRAL, CHILE
Price: $22.95
UPC: 7802180088860
Score: 89/100
Remarks: A big supple rich cabernet.

SEBASTIANI SECOLO SONOMA RED WINE 2003, SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Price: $42.95
UPC: 88232005215
Score: 93/100
Remarks: Vanilla blackberry, cloves and cinnamon.