The other evening I enjoyed an evening out with my lovely wife and a few friends. We wanted an evening out where we could get together with friends and support a local event. This event was our local North Shore Rotary Wine Festival. We have been to a few wine festivals; the one that comes to mind is the Vancouver International Wine Festival, this is on my list of things to do every year.
The North Shore Rotary Wine and Food Festival had around 140 wines from 30 different wineries, plus food vendors and Taxi vouchers for the ride home. Before I get into the wines I tasted I want to "rant".
We arrived when the festival doors opened. We were excited to start tasting the wine and food that was being offered. The duck pate from Grouse Mountain was a hit with us. As the evening went on it was going fantastic, until I approached the table representing Cassini Wines. They had four wines displayed Pinot Noir, Merlot, Mama Mia and a "special wine". Now if you go to a wine festival and they have wines displayed on the table you are expecting that they are there to be tasted. I tried two of the wines; Pinot Noir and Merlot not my favorite of the festival. I asked "Alex - Customer Service" as noted on his card; if I can try the fourth one which had a "wine aerator" on it. To my surprise he said "No, this one is only for restaurant owners". Not what I expect when I go to a wine tasting, so I moved on, but could not let go of his comment! The table beside his was fantastic, no restricted bottles here! As I am tasting my first wine at this table, I noticed a cute girl wearing a chef coat with a restaurant name printed on the coat. She could have been a restaurant owner, not sure. She asked to try the special wine, and again to my surprise she was offered a tasting. He did not ask her if she was a restaurant owner. She asked about the wine at which time "Alex" had to read the back of the label explaining the blend, aromas and palate. If your going to represent a wine make sure you know everything about the wine you are representing. Again; to my surprise I watched as "Alex" poured himself a glass of wine, NOT a taste but a glass. SO with only 15 minutes remaining until the festival was over, he still had 3/4's of a bottle. I made my second and final attempt, and asked for a tasting, again his same line "NO, only for restaurant owners". I tried every line I could think of, but to no avail! It was like I was a kid in a candy store with money to spend on the best candy, and the store owner saying you can only buy this cheap candy! A message to "Alex" if your going to display a wine at a wine festival let everyone taste it; if your going to pour yourself a "glass of restricted wine" do it so no one can see you do it. Lastly, if your message is "restaurant owners only" stick to that and not just because the girl is cute! BECAUSE people are watching and you are representing the Winery!
If you are interested in attending next years North Shore Wine and Food Festival click on the link to purchase tickets. It was a great festival and the $10 taxi voucher came in handy. I am NOT going to let "Alex" ruin this festival.
Here is a list of wines I enjoyed tasting at the festival. Stay tuned for more details and tasting notes on these wines. Please note most of these wines can be found at Everything Wines who was a "Supporting Sponsor" of this Festival. I have put in links on where you can find the wine you only need to click on the wine highlighted in white. If it is not highlighted it is only at the winery.
In no particular order:
- Blasted Church - White - Hatfield's Fuse; Red - Big Bang Cabernet Merlot
- Dirty Laundry Winery - Rosé - Hush; Red - Merlot
- Babich Black Label - White - 2011 Sauvingon Blanc (New Zealand)
- Tarapaca Grand Reserva - Red - Carmenere
- Oyster Bay - White - Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio; Red - Pinot Noir
- Beringer - Red - 2009 Meritage (only available at Everything Wines)
- Tscharke - Red - Barossa Gold Shiraz 2009
- Turn Four Napa Valley 2009 Red - Cabernet Sauvignon
- See Ya Later Ranch - White - Belle (85% Viognier and 15% Pinot Gris); Red - Ping (54% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc)
- Road 13 - Red - Honest John's (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah), Rockpile (82% Syrah, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc)
Two others I NEED to mention, again in no Particular order
Vino Cacao - The first thing that caught my eye at this table was the Dragons Den sign. I asked about the show but he could not talk about it. I guess we will need to wait to see if they make the Den. The second thing that caught my eye was the giant wine glass with a giant chocolate bar stuck in it. The same that is on their web site. SO I started asking questions, the wine is infused with dark chocolate. The two wines they had at the festival were a Bordeaux white and red. White - Vino Cacao Ivoire (Sauvignon/Semillon) from Brodeaux-Medoc; Red - Vino Cacao Noire (Cab Franc/Merlot) from Bordeaux-Medoc. If you have one of these for dessert you will not need the chocolate cake, oh what the heck have them both!
Last I wanted to give Kudos to the service I received from the Rodney Strong's representative (from the Mark Anthony Group). As I mentioned I have been to a few tastings, and wine festivals. This representative at Rodney Strong offered to rinse my glass after each wine. YES she offered to rinse my glass and offered all the wines. Alex take note! The wines I tasted: - White - Chalk Hill Chardonnay; Red - Russian River Pinot Noir and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Hope you will enjoy these wines as much as I did!
Ciao!
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