Matchmaker Madness

Meet Your Match is fashioned after the speed dating format, except instead of meeting a bunch of potential dates or mates you spend quality time with the biggest names and wines at the festival that week. It's a very fresh twist on the very stale, sit-down multi wine tasting.

I should add a disclaimer: I organize the participants and the wines, so I'm hardly neutral but don't let that get in your way. You'll want a ticket to the Saturday, March 3 tasting (5 to 6: 45 p.m.) at Vancouver Convention Centre West.

Here's how it works.

Each of the 11 winery principals will be positioned around the room on one side of a six-foot table while a group of seven or eight consumers sit on the other side clutching a wine glass. The principal will begin by pouring his or her own wine in your glass and you get about eight or nine minutes to hear the real story of the label, ask questions, and, best of all, taste one truly memorable wine before the bell rings and you move on to the next table.

It's an amazing experience, especially if you have never had the chance to meet one-on-one with whom I would describe as highly inspirational and visionary wine types. Believe me, you will not be disappointed. What follows is a brief description of the principals and the wine they will pour at the event. To pre-pare you for their arrival, our regular weekly picks represent mostly bargain selections from the same producers which you can buy today in government or private wine stores.

Stefano Leone is the global export director for Antinori Estates and knows what's up in the Italian wine business. He will pour the Antinori 2006 Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino ($77) a single estate san-giovese from Tuscany's Montalcino region.

Daniel Castaño runs the family winery in Yecla, Spain, and while the winery is relatively young, the vines are 40-plus years old. He will pour his flag-ship monastrell grape Bode-gas Castaño C Casa Cisca 2006 ($50).

Consulting winemaker Alvaro Espinoza, and world renowned bio-dynamic expert, will pour Emiliana Vineyards GE 2007 ($80) one of the finest biodynamic red wines of Latin America. Joining Espinoza from this year's festival theme country, Chile, is chief winemaker Andres Ilabaca pouring his coveted Santa Rita 2005 Triple C Red ($50) along with one of the biggest names in Chilean wine, owner Eduardo Chadwick who will pour his icon red: Vina Errazuriz 2007 Don Maximi-ano $90.

From France, family member and export director Luc Bouchard will pour his stand-out Bouchard Père & Fils Corton Charlemagne 2008 ($158) while fellow countryman Jean-Claude Mas, owner and general manager of Domaine Paul Mas will be pouring Mas des Mas Pézenas 2006 ($50) a wine not yet seen in Canada.

Perhaps the most entertaining storyteller in the wine business, Jane Ferrari will tell the story of Yalumba 2006 The Signature Barossa Cabernet Shiraz ($60) from Australia.

Sonoma chief winemakers Randy Ullom and Rick Sayre will pour two sensational cabs: the former his Kendall Jackson 2007 Highland Estates Raptor Peak Cabernet Sauvignon ($70), while the latter will offer up the Rodney Strong Vineyards 2007 Brother's Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon ($90)

Finally, Paul Pender, Wine-maker at Tawse Vineyards, the Wine Access Canadian Winery of the Year in 2011, will pour his gold-medal-winning, bio-dynamic Tawse Winery 2009 Robyn's Block Chardonnay ($44).

Did I mention you will want a ticket to Meet your Match; www.playhousewinefest.com?

In the meantime here are six "warm-up" bottles to prepare you for the big day:

You will love the latest Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2010 with its fresh, ginger, orange/nectarine-skin aromas and bright, lush fruit mixed with honey, mango, spicy marmalade and orange tropical flavours. Chicken anyone?

The style of Santa Rita Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2010 is all lime rind and gooseberry that shouts cool, clean and crisp. Try it with grilled prawns or the specialty Greek dish saganaki.

Great vibrancy of fruit and intensity mark the Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Meur-sault 2008. Ripe, round, juicy and packed with lots of pear, vanilla, green apple, citrus, honey, lemon, nutty, butter flavours that you can drink now or hold for five years.

Our first red is the Castaño Coleccion Cepas Viejas Monastrell - Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. The palate is dry and supple with slightly grainy tannins but all with balance. Smoky, tobacco, chocolate, blackberry and licorice root coat your palate suggesting grilled lamb for dinner. Good concentration; drink now or hold for another three to five years.

We love the consistent quality of Paul Mas Estate Single Vineyard Collection Mal-bec Gardemiel Vineyard 2010. Expect a fragrant peppery, floral nose that previews a warm savoury rich entry of black fruits, licorice and pep-per. A delicious, big time value of modern Euro Malbec. Perfect for grilled T-bone steaks.

The baby brother of Guado al Tasso, Il Bruciato 2008 is grown on the Tuscan coast some 60 miles southwest of Florence. The '08 is a 50-30-10 blend mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. It is the savoury fragrance of this wine that makes it so inviting on the nose and while it's ripe, it is more of a red fruit red wine, with violets, than a bruiser Cabernet Sauvignon. Again, impressive for the price.

Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2010, South Australia

Price: $18

UPC: 9311789475974

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Fresh with honey, mango, marmalade and orange tropical flavours.

Santa Rita Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2010, Valle de Casablanca, Region de Aconcagua, Chile

Price: $15

UPC: 7804330221202

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Clean, crisp, citrus, lime rind, goose-berry fruit.

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Meursault 2008, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France

Price: $49

UPC: 03337690083943

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Ripe, juicy pear, vanilla, green apple, citrus, nutty, butter flavours.

Castaño Coleccion Cepas Viejas 2007, Yecla, Spain

Price: $25

UPC: 8422443001222

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Blackberry, licorice root, menthol, meaty, black olive flavours.

Paul Mas Estate Single Vineyard Collection Malbec Gardemiel Vineyard 2010, Coteaux du Languedoc, France

Price: $16

UPC: 3760040422954

Score: 88/100

Remarks: A delicious, big time value of modern Euro Malbec.

Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato 2008, Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy

Price: $40 Everything Wine

UPC: 8001935002079

Score: 90/100

Remarks: More of a subtle red-fruit red wine than a bruiser cabernet.