Issue Number Twenty Two – VPIWF 2010
We’re less than a week away from the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. The regional theme countries this year are Argentina and New Zealand and the Global Focus wine is Rosé. Because there are so many great wines to mention I’m just going to give you a little background on each country and hope that you make some discoveries on your own. 
New Zealand is a relatively young wine-making country but they do things the right way. Focusing on grapes that they excel at has really pushed New Zealand into the ranks of top fine wine making countries. Sauvignon Blanc is the major white grape and Pinot Noir is the leading red. Also grown with success is Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer. After Pinot Noir other red grapes that do well in New Zealand are Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The latter two are most commonly seen blended together. Of course there are other white and red grapes grown and used in making wine but these are produced in much lesser quantities.
There are ten major wine growing regions in New Zealand and each region has it’s own specialty The regions are from north to south Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington on the North Island. On the South Island the regions are Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara and Central Otago. When tasting New Zealand wines at the festival be sure to not only note the grape varietal but also the region Check out Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough, Pinot Noirs from Central Otago and Syrah from Hawke’s Bay. There are 43 different wineries represented at the festival this year, so there is a great variety of wines to taste and compare. 
Wine making in Argentina goes back more than 400 year when Spanish explorers first brought grape vines over from Europe. A proper temperature, long sun exposure sessions, low rainfall levels and humidity, and no strong winds together with exceptional soils, created the best ecological ambiance for the production of top quality grapes. The most important wine regions of the country are located in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan and La Rioja. Salta, Catamarca, Río Negro.
Malbec is the grape that Argentina has really championed and has been the wine that the country is most known for. Other red grapes grown in large quantities are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Pinot Noir. The second most planted red varietal is the lesser Bonarda grape. Known as Chabono in California, Bonarda actually originates from the Savoie wine region in the French Alps. Bonarda is high in tannin and acidity which makes it an excellent grape for blending. Pedro Gimenez is the most widely planted white grape in Argentina and is used to make fortified Sherry style wines rarely seen outside of the country. The second most planted grape is called Torrontes, a grape that originates from the somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. The signature white grape of Argentina is crisp and aromatic with an unmistakable floral nose. After that we also see great wines produced from Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Viognier. With 36 different Argentinian wineries at the festival there are many different wines for you to explore.
I talked about Rosé wines back in Issue Number 12 (July 2009) so check out that article to learn a little more about the style. The Playhouse has always wanted to do a focus on Rosé wines but the timing just wasn’t there. Thanks to the Olympics this year the dates for the wine festival were pushed back. This allows us to see many of the 2009 Rosés, some of these being tasted by the public for the very first time. There are loads of Rosé wines in the tasting room so have a blast and “sink the pink”.
Enjoy the festival this year. I’ll be back soon with upcoming posts on Chardonnay, Port and Sherry.
Cheers,
Josh