Wine Festival is a Global Affair

And as they have for well over two decades, the visitors will uncork, or twist the top off, the latest in wine from most every appellation in the world, all in support of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company.

As fundraisers go, it is a substantial gift from the wine community to the arts community, and frankly, one the theatre company would have a difficult time living without. After 27 years, there are many who would say the week-long extravaganza has taken on a life of its own. But no matter what the mix of wineries, the volunteers or the organizers, for most of us, it comes down what's in the glass.

Consumers see it as a chance to taste new wines. Distributors eye it as an opportunity to sell what they have on hand, while producers split their time between meeting consumers and checking out the competition at the 173 other booths spread around the room.

Screwcaps, bottle design and front and back labels all come under scrutiny. It's difficult to quantify the amount of change that comes from the Playhouse festival, but it is safe to say many a label, blend, package design and much more has be reconfigured as a result of some discussion during what everyone agrees is the best consumer wine show on the continent.

City restaurants will be open late all week as the globetrotting grape crushers flit about town to pitch their wares, say hello to old friends, meet new players, or to simply inhale an innovative wine and food culture not found anywhere else on the continent.

For nearly three decades, the festival has energized our region's food and wine culture, as evidenced by a city full of wine-savvy eateries. Aqua Riva, Bin 941, Blue Water Cafe, Coast, Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill, Cru Restaurant, Feenie's, Joe Fortes, Le Gavroche, Memphis Blues Barbeque House, Parkside, Rodney's Oyster House, Vij's, West and many more restaurants will embrace festival-goers as they spill into the night from the international tasting room on March 17 through 19.

If you can't make it to the tasting room, today, we offer you the globe in a glass, for little more than $8 a bottle all the way to $70. Think of it as a reflection of the diversity of palates that make up our region and a salute to the international wine world that every year makes room on its crowded calendar to come to Vancouver.

The Frontera Chardonnay 2004 hits all the right buttons for an ultra-inexpensive, modern-day chardonnay. Look for a fresh citrus rind, green apple, melon nose with bits of buttered peach throughout. It is soft, round, fresh and slightly sweet with baked apple, mineral, peach and grapefruit rind flavours. It doesn't get much better than this for less than $8.

The Lindemans Bin 95 Sauvignon Blanc 2004 is an excellent example of what a screwcap can do for a delicate white wine. I love the fresh smoky, floral, mineral, gooseberry and citrus aromas that jump from the glass in a way it never does under cork. The flavours mix grapefruit rind, smoky mineral and grass and finish clean and crisp. Simple, clean and fresh, it is made for seafood. Good value.

If you've been avoiding chablis, consider a return to this French treasure via the Joseph Drouhin Chablis 2003. Expect intense citrus lime, green apple aromas with bits of wet slate, mineral, and light lees (brioche) notes. It's both crisp and suave on the palate with concentrated baked green apple, mineral, butter, lime and pear flavours. Classy, ripe and balanced, this is textbook chablis.

The Sebastiani family is having fun and commercial success with its moderately priced Smoking Loon brand, and so are wine drinkers. The Smoking Loon Syrah 2002 opens with hints of jasmine and smoked meat (telltale syrah) laced with blackberry, pepper and saddle-leather aromas. It has a smooth, warm, rich palate with smoky, prune, chocolate, blueberry and minty vanilla flavours. It's an attractive easy-sipping, affordable California syrah.

Cusumano Syrah 2003 hails from Sicily, a long way from California, but its peppery, blackberry jam and smoky, meaty aromas speak to the grape variety. This is another soft red with spicy, blackberry, plum jam flavours spiked with minty, meaty notes. Typically Italian, it has firm acidity that will help it age another two to three years, but you can enjoy it now with grilled rabbit or slow-cooked lamb shanks.

My last pick is still making its way to British Columbia, but like many before it, the Virna Barolo Cannubi Boschis 2000 makes its debut inside the festival tasting room and will be available at the festival's on-site liquor store. This is serious Barolo from a great vintage. The nose is a mix of super-ripe black cherry fruit spiced with tarry, vanilla, tobacco and Christmas cake undertones. On the palate, black cherry and coffee flavours mix with spicy orange peel, tar, vanilla, mint and smoke. It's a well-balanced, ripe, attractive Barolo that is an absolute bargain.

Weekend Wine Tasting:          A Global Perspective

Wine        Frontera Chardonnay 2004, Region del Valle Central, Chile
Price       $8.45; ($14.95 in 1.5L)
UPC       7804320043227
Score     85/100
Remarks               Simple, well made attractive chardonnay at a very fair price.

Wine        Lindemans Bin 95 Sauvignon Blanc 2004, South Eastern Australia, Australia
Price       $11.49
UPC       012354081826
Score     86/100
Remarks               Another good example of what a screwcap can do for an ordinary white.

Wine        Joseph Drouhin Chablis 2003, Chablis, Burgundy, France
Price       $28.25
UPC       12086322013
Score     88/100
Remarks               Classy, ripe and balanced. Textbook Chablis. Bring on the oysters.

Wine        Smoking Loon Syrah 2002, California, United States
Price       $16.95
UPC       17444000732
Score     86/100
Remarks               Soft sippable jasmine scented saddle leather with chocolate and blueberries.

Wine        Cusumano Syrah 2003, Sicily, Italy
Price       $17.99
UPC       8028262000158
Score     88/100
Remarks               Peppery, blackberry jam, smoky, meaty gutsy southern Italian red.

Wine        Virna Barolo Cannubi Boschis 2000, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy
Price       $64.65
UPC       8022964000331
Score     93/100
Remarks               Incredible bargain available at the Playhouse Wine Festival on-site store.