“The globe’s most innovative and coveted wines” heading to Vancouver festival

 

Vancouver, BC (October 6, 2006) – The 29th Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival has selected 180 wineries from 17 countries for the 2007 festival, winery selection committee chair John Schreiner has announced.

 

A record 1,480 wines will be poured at a record 53 events to a projected 21,000 attendees at Vancouver’s annual love-in with the grape, which takes place March 26 to April 1. The Playhouse Winefest is Canada’s top wine event and one of the biggest and oldest in the world. The regional theme for the 2007 fest is Australian Wine: A World of Difference and the global focus is on the varietal Riesling. Australia is bringing 54 wineries to the festival.

 

“The 2007 wine festival will showcase some of the globe’s most innovative and coveted wines,” says Schreiner. “The 54 producers from Australia will reinforce the consumer love affair that has made Australian wines number one among the imported wines sold here. And the focus on Riesling addresses why wine lovers have rediscovered the zest and flexibility of one of the world’s great white varietals.”

 

Wine aficionados will find Penfolds Grange (Australia), Moët et Chandon Brut Imperial (France) and Antinori Tignanello Toscana IGT (Italy), the wines of Telmo Rodríguez (Spain), Glaetzer Wallace (Australia) and Dr. Loosen’s Chateau Ste. Michelle Eroica Riesling (USA – Washington), to name just a few, at the festival.

 

Among Australia’s many iconic wines coming to the festival are d'Arenberg, Grant Burge, Leasingham, Peter Lehmann, Vasse Felix, Wolf Blass and Yalumba. Other exceptional wineries in the Australian line-up include Barossa Valley Estates, Coldstream Hills, Jim Barry, Katnook, Majella and Heartland/Glaetzer. Australian wines have their own section within the tasting room. A complete list of wineries selected to the festival is attached.

 

“Australians are poised to ‘wow’ British Columbians, and indeed Canadians, with a stellar line-up of wines at this year’s festival. From old favourites to rising stars, from traditional family wineries to world-renowned icons, festival goers will have the opportunity to experience the winemaking diversity and excellence pursued on the continent of Australia. Consumers, trade and media will have the unique chance to interface with some of Australia’s top wine personalities and sample from the vast and diverse selection of wines on offer,” says Monica Ralphs, regional director – Canada, for Wine Australia.

 

There are 17 Australia-themed special events throughout the week, including a Penfolds Grange vertical tasting; a St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz vertical tasting; several trade events; a Fabulous Fizz event; the legendary Aussie Barbie theme region celebration; and several winery dinners. Details of Australian and other special events will be announced separately.

 

Among the Australian personalities slated to be in Vancouver are:

• Michael Hill Smith, MW, a wine producer (Shaw + Smith winery), wine judge, consultant, writer and broadcaster, who is the keynote speaker at the festival’s opening trade plenary. In 1988, Hill Smith became the first Australian to pass the rigorous Master of Wine examination in London;
• James Halliday, Australia’s leading wine writer, a wine judge and a partner in Coldstream Hills;
• Winemaker Wolf Blass, founder of Wolf Blass Wines;
• Bruce Tyrrell, owner and CEO of Tyrrell’s Winery;
• Senior winemaker Wayne Stehbens of Katnook;
• Philip Laffer, group chief winemaker of Jacob’s Creek;
• And a festival favourite, winemaker Jane Ferrari of Yalumba Wine Company.

 

The Riesling varietal stars in several events, including:

• A blockbuster Riesling seminar moderated by Canadian wine writer Anthony Gismondi, editor-in-chief of Wine Access magazine;
• A trade-only seminar on pairing food with Riesling;
• A seminar on Riesling and terroir helmed by Ernst Loosen of Germany’s Dr. Loosen Estates;
• And the Riesling comparative tasting station in the International Festival Tasting room, which offers many examples of the grape from around the globe.

 

Other international wine personalities at the festival include:

• Serge Hochar of Lebanon’s Château Musar, who presides at a landmark vertical tasting;
• Telmo Rodríguez of Spain’s Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez;
• Portuguese winemaker Cristiano van Zeller of Quinta do Vale Dona Maria;
• And Miguel Roquette of Quinta do Crasto, also of Portugal.

 

The hub of the weeklong festival is the big International Festival Tasting room at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, which hosts three evenings of public wine tastings and two afternoons of trade tastings. The other 48 events range from winery dinners to wine seminars to lunches, brunches and parties and take place at Vancouver’s leading restaurants, hotels and other unique venues. The tasting room public events offer 717 wines for sampling; the trade tastings serve all those plus 158 others; special events feature 605 wines, most of which are not available in the tasting room. The festival’s crown jewel is the Bacchanalian Gala Dinner and Auction on March 28; last year’s auction raised $319,000.

 

John Schreiner is a Vancouver-based wine journalist and author of numerous books on wine. Other winery selection committee members are Tony Beatty, vice-chair of the Playhouse Winefest; David Hopgood, senior portfolio manager at BC Liquor Distribution Branch; David Scholefield, noted wine judge, speaker and consultant; Brian Berry, a wine consultant; Mark Davidson, one of North America’s leading wine educators; and local wine authority James Robertson.

 

Early bird tickets to selected events, including the International Festival Tastings, go on sale November 14 through Playhouse Audience Services at 604-873-3311. Tickets to all remaining events go on sale January 22. Interim festival information is available now at www.playhousewinefest.com. Complete event descriptions and information will be online in early January.

 

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is a fundraising event for the Playhouse Theatre Company and is sponsored by Chubb Insurance Company of Canada.