Wednesday, February 27 2008
Wine, The Festival
Regular or de-caf? Photo by Phillip Chin: http://www.chinphoto.com
One of the questions I often get asked is, "How can I become as cool as you, Tim?" Okay fine, so I actually never get asked that question. But at every lecture, tasting or seminar I've given, people have asked how they could learn more about wine.
My advice is to begin drinking heavily and frequently.
The only way to really understand any hobby or lifestyle activity is to practice is with frequent, regular application. My wine knowledge comes from years and years of tasting, both here at Winexpert and in various jobs in the industry, where the ability to evaluate wine critically is an important skill to be practiced and honed. I've tasted tens of thousands of wines in the last twenty years, and even if you start out not knowing much (as I did) that much practice will eventually rub off.
Of course, if you're sitting at home alone watching re-runs of 'What Not to Wear', opening a mixed case of reds and another of whites is going to be impractical. You'll pass out on your chesterfield (ha ha, 'sofa', my American friends) before you get to the end, and anything you learn will be lost in a a throbbing alcoholic haze, just like college. Fortunately, there is a way to drink a lot of different wines without having to pay a huge price, either in liver damage or from your pocketbook. It's wine festivals.
Why wine festivals? Because there is no other way you'll be able to taste not dozens, but hundreds of different wines, all in one day, all under one roof, in an environment that allows you to take notes and to talk to the people who represent it and in some cases even the people who made it. Think about it: if you could afford it and your liver held out, and you had a partner to help finish bottles, you could taste a maximum of maybe 300 bottles of wine per year in your own home. You can do that many in one or two festivals, if you work it right.
This week in Vancouver we've got the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival running from February 25th to March 2nd, at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. From their website:
This is a rare opportunity to meet owners, winemakers and senior representatives from wineries around the globe. For either the experienced wine lover or the novice, the festival has something to please every palate and pocketbook.The 2008 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival serves up a record 1,600 wines from 176 wineries representing 16 countries at a record 60 events. The hub of the festival is the International Festival Tasting room (February 28, 29, and March 1) at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, where 717 wines are poured. If you attend only one event at the Festival, make it this one.
There are 11 events exclusively for those in the wine and restaurant trade, including two Trade Tastings. The wine pro will find 862 wines for sampling here – 161 wines that are unlisted and not yet available in this market plus, of course, all 701wines that also are served at the public tastings.
Seven hundred wines! All under one roof! I actually have to go three times to get all of my tasting done. Tickets run $85, but it's a stunning bargain by any measure. At no other time in your year will you be in a spot where happy shiny people will eagerly pour you 700 samples of wine, and patiently answer all of your questions.
Ptooey!
I hope I see you there. And if I do, make sure you're riding publictransit like me: even though I'm a conscientious spitter, it's stillnot a good idea to try to drive home--if I only soak up a teaspoon ofeach of the 200 samples I've got checked off on my list for each day,I'd be wayyy too relaxed to drive.
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