Congratulations and a huge thank-you go out to Elizabeth Clinton of Seacove Group and Jeff Bashford of Farmstead Wines (and co-organizers of the YVR Wine Bloggers & Sommeliers Group) for putting together such a fabulous wine-tasting, -appreciation, and -education event…and for letting me volunteer. Many thanks as well to Scott Landon Antiques on Granville Street for opening their show room to the occasion—and us!
It was certainly well worth our drive to Vancouver from Mission for the evening. I enjoyed tasting all the wines and meeting so many wine lovers. And it was great for my husband to see that I am not so unusual in my passion and oeno-geeky-ness.
There were 10 wine stations placed throughout the antiques showroom, each with its own “fundamental lesson” and wines. The lessons were posed as questions:
1. What affect does climate have on wine?
2. Do you agree with the critics?
3. How many different grape varieties can you name?
4. Does Argentinean Malbec taste like Malbec?
5. When was the last time you served a Sherry?
6. Can you describe what a Riesling tastes like?
7. Will a glass of bubbly this festive season be your first this year?
8. Do you consider yourself a red wine drinker?
9. Do you think artisan wines are worth the money?
10. Do you prefer Molson Canadian or Kokanee?
I was pouring at station nine, along with chef and wine aficionado Weston Nawrocki of BeauCharles Wine & Food Consulting. To demonstrate our lesson, we poured the 2008 Rosemount Estate Diamond Label White from Australia and the 2003 Marc Tempe Alliance from Alsace, France.
It was wonderful meeting so many peopel in the flesh, so many folks I've known only "virtually" this last couple of years. And I was glad to finally have a real-live, face-to-face conversation with Paul Rickett, Bowen Island's Wine Guy.
A definite highlight of the evening was when Pamela Clarke, co-founder and Chocolate Spin Meister (yes, that’s her official title) of xoxolat told me her story: She has always avoided wine-tasting events because, as much as she loves wine, and as much as she enjoys it with nearly every meal, she feared wine tastings would be intimidating and full of snobbery with wine experts who are all puffed up with their own self-importance. So when this event was billed as "no pretence," she thought she'd give it a try.
Pamela was so excited—and I mean excited—to (A) find that the billing was true—ours was a no-pretence, educational event—and (B) share a room jam-packed with people who simply love wine and love sharing their collective knowledge and passion.
And, you know what? I think she’ll venture out to more tastings now that she’s seen first-hand that not everyone in the wine world is, well, a snob.
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Salut!
Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
