Spanish Sipping In 2011 At Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival

“Every vintage at the Wine Festival offers a fresh journey of discovery,” says Festival Executive Director Harry Hertscheg.

“Whether it’s wines from across Spain, Fortified examples from around the globe or selections from unfamiliar wine regions, each Festival attendee gets their own unique tasting experience while trying new wines and connecting directly with their producers.”

Spanish Winemaker, Miguel Torres

Wines from Spain and a Global Focus on Fortified Wine will bring plenty of varietals
to the 33rd annual event September 24th, 2010, Vancouver, BC - The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival will mark its 33rd year with Wines from Spain and a Global Focus on Fortified Wine. The Festival, which runs from March 28th to April 3rd, 2011, will bring 176 participating wineries to the Vancouver Convention Centre and top Vancouver restaurants and hotels for a total of seven days of tastings, seminars, and wine focused events. A full list of participating wineries is now available online

“The great quality, value and versatility of Spanish wines continues to win fans around the world and to elicit high praise from the international wine and food media,” says Pilar Randolph, Director of Wines from Spain, “we are thrilled to have the opportunity to shine the spotlight on these wines at Canada's premier wine festival this coming spring.”

Alvaro Palacios, Winemaker, Priorat Region, Spain

With a total of 33 participating Spanish wineries, visitors to the 2011 Festival will have the opportunity to sip wines from indigenous varietals such as Albariño, Cariñena, Garnacha, Godello, Macabeo, Mencía, Monastrell, Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, Tempranillo, Verdejo and Viura, as well as Spanish versions of more international grapes such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. All of this will be complemented by events that will highlight not only the Wines from Spain but also the delicious food, diverse culture and rich history of the country.

A number of Spain’s most notable and impressive principals will be on hand at this year’s Festival, including Miguel A. Torres, President and Managing Director of Miguel Torres Winery. Named European Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast in 2006, Miguel A. Torres is the fourth generation of Torres to preside over this acclaimed winery in the Penedès region. Decanter magazine named Miguel A. Torres Man of the Year in 2002.

Also attending will be Alvaro Palacios of Alvaro Palacios Winery. Palacios founded his namesake winery at the young age of 25 and is often credited for resurrecting the region of Priorat. His L’Ermita is widely regarded as one of the most important Spanish wines in a generation.

 Other notable names scheduled to attend this year’s Festival include:·       Alex Giesen, Director and Owner, Giesen Wine Estate – New Zealand·       Ann Sperling, Winemaker, Sperling Vineyards – Canada (BC)·       Aurelio Montes Sr., Winemaker, Montes – Chile· Christophe Hedges, Winemaker, Hedges Family Estates and Snoqualmie Vineyards. – USA (WASH)·
Craig McDonald, General Manager, Wine Gretzky Estate Winery - Canada (ON)· Fernando
Alvear, President and CEO, Bodegas Alvear – Spain· Felipe González-Gordon, President, González Byass – Spain· Javier Hidalgo, Proprietor, Bodegas Hidalgo – Spain· Joel Peterson, Founder, Ravenswood – USA (CA)  ·       Louis Moreau, Proprietor and Winemaker, Domaine Louis Moreau – France·       Marc Kent, Winemaker and Co-owner, Boekenhoutskloof – South Africa·       Nik Weis, Owner, St. Urbans-Hof – Germany·       Riccardo Tedeschi, Owner and Winemaker, Tedeschi – Italy·       Rupert Symington, Joint Executive Director, Symington Graham's Port - Portugal·       Stuart Blackwell, Senior Winemaker, St Hallett – Australia·    Susana Balbo, Winemaker, Dominio del Plata – Argentina·Telmo Rodriguez, Proprietor, Telmo Rodríguez Wines - Spain·       Udi Kadim, CEO, Galil Mountain Winery and Yarden – Israel

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival will open on Monday, March 28th, 2011 and will feature 176 wineries participating in 63 events to a projected 25,000 attendees. Early tickets to the Festival will be on sale November 30. For more information visit the newly revamped www.playhousewinefest.com.

About the Playhouse Wine Festival

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, Canada’s premier wine show, runs from March 28th to April 3rd, 2011. The Playhouse Wine Festival is one of the biggest and oldest wine festival events in the  world. In 2011, the theme region will be Spain and the global focus Fortified Wine. The Festival features a week of special events including the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction, wine seminars, wine minglers, winery dinners, and lunches and brunches at fine restaurants and hotels. The Playhouse Wine Festival is produced by the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Society, which has three mandates: provide an informative, educational and entertaining wine experience for public and trade; be a premier marketing opportunity for the wine industry and Festival partners; and raise funds for the Playhouse Theatre Company. Since its inception in 1979, the Festival has raised over $7.2 million to enable Western Canada’s leading theatre company to mount 223 productions and develop extensive community outreach and educational programs.The Shore Club generously presents the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

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Chateau Haut-Brion – A Bordeaux First Growth Loved by Poets, Philosophers and Presidents for 350 Years

by Loren Sonkin

Excerpted From IntoWine.com

In 1935 the estate was rescued by an American.  Financier Clarence Dillon purchased the property for 2.3 million francs.  Dillon named his nephew Seymour Weller as president of Société Vinicole de la Gironde, a position he held until his retirement in 1975 at age 83. 

Chateau Haut-Brion, Bordeaux

Under Weller, the chai was cleaned and improved and “modern” technology was implemented.  Perhaps the key stroke to restoring the estate was the hiring of George Delmas as winemaker and manager.  George retired in 1961 and was succeeded by his son Jean-Bernard who invested time and effort in clonal research.  It was his belief that great wine required different clones (strains) of each grape varietal.  Each hectare is reputed to have 10 to 15 different clonal selections.  The property is now under the direction of the third generation of Delmas, Jean-Phillipe Delmas, who has been in charge since 2003.   The Dillon family still controls the estate today headed up by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the Président Directeur Général of what is now called Domaine Clarence Dillon SA.

Prince Robert, Scion of Chateau Haut-Brion

Besides the grand vin which is labeled as Chateau Haut-Brion, they make a second wine.  The second wine is called Clarence de Haut-Brion, but before 2007 it was known as Bahans Haut Brion.  They also make Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc, a white wine which is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc and is one of the best and most expensive dry white wines in the world.  Occasionally release a second white called Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion.  

Grapes have undoubtedly been cultivated on this land since the 1400s.  By 1700 the entire estate consisted of 650 acres and there were 94 acres under vine.  Today 120 acres are planted to red grapes:  45.4% to Merlot, 43.9% to Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.7% to Cabernet Franc, and 1% to Petit Verdot.  In addition, just over 7seven acres are planted with white grapes:  52.6% Semillon and 47.4% Sauvignon Blanc.  The average age of the vines is 35 to 40 years with the oldest vines dating back to the 1930s.  The soil is Günzian gravel with some portions of the vineyard having large amounts of clay.  

After hand harvesting, the fruit is sorted in the field.  The grapes are then fermented on natural yeasts in stainless steel vats.  It is a special tank that allows the fermentation to take place on the top and the malolactic fermentation to happen on the bottom.  These were first used in 1961, and although are very common now in Bordeaux, were quite an innovation.  Chateau Haut-Brion has its own cooperage for making their barrels.  The wine is then stored in barrels for two years or longer.  In the past, the wine was aged in 100% new oak, but now they use 35% new oak (25% for the le Clarence).  The white wine sees 45% new oak and is aged for 12 months.  

Annual production is around 12,000 cases for the grand vin and 800 cases for the Blanc.  Annual production for the Le Clarence is around 5,000 cases.  

Haut Brion is recognizable for the shape of its bottle, in use since the 1958 vintage, which are based on an old decanter shape.  The wines are made to age.  While some vintages may be delicious on release the wines really need at least a decade to show their quality.  The 1970 vintage of Haut-Brion ranked fourth among the ten French and California red wines in the historic 1976 Judgment of Paris wine competition.  I suspect that the 1970 Haut Brion, which was never a great vintage, is still drinkable and enjoyable.  

Haut-Brion has been very consistent in quality over the last fifty plus years.  Like the other first growths the price has gotten silly expensive.  Yet, it often remains one of the less expensive of the first growths perhaps stemming from its location in Graves and not the Medoc.  In any event, the price is now over $500 per bottle in the recent stellar vintages of 2005 and 2009.  Perhaps better value can be found in the 2003 or 2008 vintages where a bottle can be obtained for under $300.  I have been lucky enough to try about twenty vintages of this great wine.  Personally, the best two vintages of Haut-Brion I have had are the amazing 1989 and the will-probably-be-even-better-with-more-age 2000.  Those wines are two of the most profound wines I have ever, and most likely will ever taste.  Unfortunately, the 1989 now sells for over $1,000 a bottle while the 2000 can still be “had” for around $500.  

Haut-Brion’s neighbor is Chateau La Mission Haut Brion.  These two chateaus have had a historic rivalry for over 50 years.  Some say the rivalry ended when Domaine Clarence Dillon purchased La Mission in 1983.  I am not so sure.  In fact, while there is always bottle variation on a wine that old, the 1989 La Mission Haut Brion remains the best red wine I have ever tasted.  Both wines are excellent, but Haut-Brion still retains one advantage, the honor of being classified as a Premier Cru back in 1855.  READ ENTIRE ARTICLE ON IntoWine.com

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58 Tour Eiffel

Why just visit the Eiffel Tower when you can dine at the Eiffel Tower?  The Alain Ducasse restaurant 58 Tour Eiffel, located on the "First Level" of the Eiffel Tower lets you savor not just the taste of palatial views at panoramic heights, but also the Parisian version of a lunchtime "pique-nique" or at dinnertime, contemporary "French Brasserie" fare.

The restaurant floats suspended in this legendary skyline at 58 meters above the ground - hence the name, 58 Tour Eiffel.  When it was refurbished in 2009 it was at the hands of Patrick Jouin, the design maverick-genius behind Paris's Velib' - the public use bicycles - and the Parisian Sanisettes - the public toilets that are clean and found throughout the city, as well as the Jules Verne restaurant, the Other Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower.  His design motif for the restaurant 58 Tour Eiffel...the Eiffel Tower, of course!  

Every detail from the color schemes of red iron ocher contrasting with deep chocolate browns to the shapes of the glasses to the ornamental and decorative motifs on doors and menus and kitchen tiles...everything is taken from, and inspired by, the Eiffel Tower. Collaborators on the restaurant's design are Chef and restauranteur Alain Ducasse himself and also Pierre Tachon.

Lunch will run you 17.50 Euro to 22.50 Euro and gives you a choice of appetizer and main course or appetizer, main course, dessert. Choices include creamy, chilled, green pea soup; seared salmon; Chocolate/nuts Crousti Eiffel.  The midday picnic concept is that you are given a picnic basket with your cold items when you arrive at the restaurant and are seated, then your server brings you your hot plate items and drinks. 

By 5:30 p.m. the music changes to lounge as the lights dim and the restaurant transforms into a chic and seductive Parisian Brasserie. You may want to ask to be seated on the second floor of the 58 Tour Eiffel, and, if you can, overlooking the Trocadero for that world-famous view.  Dinner menu includes choices of the Menu Opera at 65 Euro and at 80 Euro, the difference mainly being whether wine is served with your meal. If you do order a' la carte, you have additional choices that include lobster salad, seared scallops or sauteed veal chop and then a selection of French cheeses for dessert which is really something I wouldn't dream of passing up.

There's a special elevator for restaurant diners and you can buy your ticket online if you prefer. You can also buy your tickets at the Kiosk marked "Restaurant" next to the ATM machines. If you are eating at Jules Verne, you don't even have to buy elevator tickets.

Whenever you are lucky enough to find yourself at the Eiffel Tower, why wouldn't you eat there, too?!

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La Note Rouge, Paris

La Note Rouge, Paris

 

La Note Rouge, "Wine Buying Made Simple," In Paris's 3eme

Wine Buying for Dummies.  If there were a book with this title - there probably is! - it would be my Bible. Let's face it, when you're on the spot, standing in a wine shop or a grocery store at the end of the day when it's time to buy that nice bottle of wine to bring to a friend's house for dinner, or share with your loved one on a quiet, cozy night at home... all too often all the fantastic Domaines, Crus, Mas, Vintages and Wineries you've so painstakingly committed to memory on dozens of wine tasting trips and hours spent pouring over Robert Parker...suddenly all dribble away like last year's headlines and all you have left is 5 minutes to buy your bottle and get on your way.

 

La Note Rouge wine shop, in Paris, specializes in smaller, hard to find, French wine producers.

Enter La Note Rouge.

It's not just a Wine Shop, it's a Concept Store. Leave it to the French to figure out how to add a good dose of pleasure to buying wine. Even when you've left Robert Parker behind at home, you can still feel on safe ground in Paris's La Note Rouge in the 3eme arrondissement.

Brainstorm of brothers Yann and Romain Remacle, these two young, handsome, Parisian men decided to take the pomp out of both Parisian and, even, out of buying wine. And just in time. It wasn't too long ago that I wandered into one of the French chain wine shops and asked the salesclerk on duty what adjectives he would use to describe wines from the Sud Ouest. He responded with that look that indicates, albeit very politely, that you've just asked a really stupid question.

At La Note Rouge, this won't happen. It won't happen for two reasons: 1) Yann and Romain are far too accommodating and charming to ever leave one of their customers lacking for knowledge and 2) If, for example, you are like many of us and feel at times intimidated to ask questions about a wine, these two 30-somethings have outfitted their sleek and chic wine shop with computer touch screens mounted to the exposed stone walls programmed with a picture and detailed descriptions about each of the wines they keep stocked in their shop. Touch, and the information, like a cup, runneth over...

 

Modern Concept Wine Shop, La Note Rouge, near Les Halles, Paris.

Another unique characteristic about La Note Rouge is that they stock wines only from small producers from all over France. "We buy wines from French wine producers who cultivate anywhere from 5 - 35 hectares of vines," explained Yann Remacle, whose passion for wine led him to open up this shop in one of Paris's trendiest districts. "I'm not a Sommelier but I know what I like."

And he's betting you'll like it too. Indeed on a recent evening of wine tasting, the shop was non-stop with regulars, tourists and the curious all stopping by to pick up just that perfectly right bottle of wine. Located just a couple blocks up from Les Halles, the decor of the shop is very un-traditional for France, but at the same time very Parisian, with bottles displayed by region. They even stock a French organic brand of vodka distilled from Quinoa, along with a few select bottles of Whiskey.

Notes:  Vain du Rû, Dominique Andiron - white, biodynamic, full-bodied, aperitif;  Les Grandes Costes, Musardises, a Rosé from Pic St. Loup, fruity with notes of spice; Le Villain P'tit Rouge, Vincent Ricard, Apellation Touraine Contrôlée - at La Note Rouge, with Frères Remacle, should you drink anything else?

P.S. La Note Rouge was a name inspired by Blue Note. Particularly fitting as what goes better together than Jazz and Wine and Paris? And, when you're really nice - or naughty - I hear that the brothers might even play you a tune or two on that piano they keep in the back cellar...

Recommend: Dinner around the corner at Ambassade d'Auvergne. Fantastically French and authentically country.

La Note Rouge 212 rue Saint-Martin 75003 Paris 

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