As The 40th Vancouver International Wine Festival comes to a close today, we reminisce on the great time we had at the International Tasting Event held on Thursday and Saturday of this year.
This year, the VIWF celebrated Spain and Portugal – and as always, proceeds go to Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival (another fantastic Vancouver event).
Each and every year, it’s the perfect way to find a new bottle of wine (or ten) you’ll enjoy but were too afraid to purchase at the liquor store. With over 173 wineries and 1450+ different types of wines, you’ll find your new faves for sure.
And without further ado, here is Nathalie’s experience at this year’s International Tasting Event:
Every year I attend, I go to every table and try everything. This year, I tried to be selective. These were my picks of the year.
Pasion de Bobat, Valencia, Spain. This was one of the top 100 wines of 2017 on Winescores.ca. This is a summer-inducing rose that is sweet and uncomplicated. Peach, berries, violets and cedar chip aromas, it comes across both tangy and sweet.
Anciano’s 35 Year Old and 10 Year Old (Spain). They’re both so smooth and easy to drink. The 10 year old won’t break the bank either. The 10 year old tastes of black cherry fruit, leather and musk, tobacco and smells of vanilla oak. It is more mellow than it sounds. The 35-year old is like liquid velvet. Raspberries, wild berries with sweet spice, this breaks the myth of Spanish wines being too spicy and bold.
Verum Wines (Alto Valle del Rio Negro, Patagonia, Argentina) The first rose mentioned above is easy to drink, Verum’s Rosado is complex, delicate and refreshing. They use Cabernet Franc grapes which is uncommon in Spain. Though the acidity mixed with sweetness hits you with its flavour in the beginning, it’s fleeting and fretting.
My favourite was the Mala Vida Roble from Arraez (Spain). The man at the booth asked me to pick a wine that intrigued me. When I picked it, he grinned saying that was his wine. ‘Bad Life’. He asked me to look at the label from left to right. He asked me if I liked music, if I liked travelling, if I like black cats, technology, drinking, whether or not I knew what to do with my life, if I liked women or if I wanted men (I still laugh at the sperm approaching the wine bottle in the last icon to represent this). I’m a graphic designer and dirty minded, so I bought this wine along with Anciano. The Mala Vida is also smooth while being spiced. The red fruit flavours in the wine carry the spicy aspects of this red, and it’s only around ~$15.49.
Besides the Tasting Rooms, the festival has dinners and events throughout the city to highlight different wines and wineries. Most of the events were sold out before the fest even began, so if you’re looking to attend next year, get your tickets early!
For more information on the Vancouver International Wine Festival, be sure to check out their website here: https://vanwinefest.ca/
