Anthony Gismondi: Personalities of the 2020 Vancouver International Wine Festival
Credit to Author: agismondi| Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:00:07 +0000
It’s wine festival week in Vancouver, and that means a city full of global wine personalities pitching their wares.
There is little doubt wine is experiencing a bit of downturn among younger consumers who, for one reason or another, are making different choices from abstinence to cannabis and everything in between. Any way you look at it, the 40 plus years of constant growth is coming to an end.
What does sell, and always will, is the ability to be genuine, engaged in your customer, and perhaps most important, be able to tell your story compellingly.
If you plan on attending the festival, we offer a shortlist of personalities working the International Tasting Room worth visiting. If you’re not attending, we have noted one of the wines they are pouring you should be able to buy locally.
Jean Frédéric Hugel, the 13th generation, will be pouring his family’s iconic wines grown at Riquewihr in the Alsace region. You can experience a wonderfully aromatic white labelled Hugel & Fils Classic Muscat ($29.99); it’s the perfect antidote to the spicy Asian dishes that abound in Vancouver.
It will be fun to catch up with James Sichel, son of Peter and Diana Sichel — the legendary Bordeaux personality who was a force behind the rise of Chateau Palmer and Chateau d’ Angludet. Today Sichel is busy with several chateaux, including the very affordable and tasty Château Argadens 2016 Bordeaux Supérieur($24.99), a terrific introduction to the Bordeaux blend style.
The one and only Clovis Taittinger will represent the family firm pouring, among others, Champagne Taittinger N/V Brut($69.99). Clovis and his sister Vitalie are firmly in charge of the current day operations at Taittinger at a time when the wines have never been better. Taittinger is all about elegance and complexity. Expect long lineups waiting to speak to Clovis, the philosopher.
Bodega Colomé should be a bucket list visit for wine aficionados given its high mountain setting at 2300 meters above sea level in Argentina. Federico Nino, the head of global sales, will be here to pour a fantastic selection of wines from Salta including a personal favourite, Amalaya Gran Corte 2016 Malbec-Cabernet Franc($39.89).
Greg Corra is a passionate aficionado of Australian wine and the managing director of Inland Trading Co. He’s been a staple of Oz wine contingent at the festival for close to two decades, and his booth is must stop for fans of wine that you will never see here. Our B.C. Liquor Store pick is Ochota Barrels Green Room 2014 Grenache-Syrah($29.97).
B.C. winemaker and winery owner Richard da Silva will be in the tasting room pouring several Da Silva Vineyard wines. The family has been growing grapes all over the Okanagan Valley for some 40 years, and da Silva is a fount of local knowledge. The wine to look for is Da Silva 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz($35).
Also new to the tasting room is Santiago Cilley, general manager of Phantom Creek Estates, which officially opens in April. Cilley has an impressive resume of work in with Jackson Family Wines in Sonoma, Bulgheroni Vineyards in Napa Valley and is set to leave his mark on B.C.’s Black Sage Bench. Be sure to check out the wine here and catch up on what is to come from this landmark winery in the south Okanagan. Most tasters will gravitate to the reds, but two labels that will surprise you are Phantom Creek Estates 2017 Pinot Gris($30) and Phantom Creek Estates 2017 Riesling($30).
Finally, perhaps the most interesting man in the room is Ermes Scardova. The learned Italian will be modestly pouring wines from Emilia Romagna at the Medici Ermete booth. Scardova is a one-of-a-kind wine guy, whose knowledge and storytelling style is of the sort that will be required to pull the wine business back from the abyss it is heading toward at breakneck speed. Taste the Medici Ermete N/V Phermento Lambrusco Metodo Ancestrale($29.99).
See you in the tasting room.
Château Argadens Bordeaux Supérieur 2016, Bordeaux, France
$21.99 | 90/100
UPC: 3394150048720
Argadens red is a modern Bordeaux based on the concentration of fruit with a supple, balanced texture. The vineyard average age is now over 30 years old, and its planted to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc sitting on clay-limestone soil in a single plot. The site is the highest among the rolling hills of the Entre-Deux-Mers wine region. The blend is 63/32/5, almost mirroring plantings in the vineyard. The nose is harmonious, expressing dark fruits with well-integrated oak at this stage; indeed, it is a wine you can age for five to 10 years. It’s not Palmer or d’Angludet, but there are similarities in style. Real wine.
Famille Perrin Vacqueyras Les Christins 2017, Rhone Valley, France
$26.99 | 89/100
UPC: 631470007086
Plush, super ripe and dense with dark cherry and black raspberry, the tannins are silky and ample, sliding the plump fruit to a warming finish. Decant and pour into large glasses alongside roasted lamb. The fruit comes off the stony clay terraces of an 8-hectare vineyard in the Sarrians commune. The mix is an 80/20 split of Grenache and Syrah, now averaging 50 years and all fermented and aged in a combination of foudres and large tanks.
Sorelle Bronca Particella 232 Brut Nature Brut Prosecco Superiore N/V, Veneto, Italy
$39.99 | 90/100
UPC: 8033162560206
There is a next page among the hills between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, home to Italy’s most excellent sparkling wines. The story is a drier style of Prosecco with a focus on terroir. Enter the Bronca sisters and a new organic cuvée of bone-dry Prosecco from a tiny plot high in the hills of Farro di Follina. Particella 232 Nature is 40 years old, and the fruit is aged four months on its lees sans sugar. The mousse is tiny and refined, the nose floral with a dusting of dried wild herbs. The attack is citrus-forward with a bit of creamy peach, and a long, nutty, salty, finish. Impressive and very food-friendly. The grapes are mostly Glera, with smaller amounts of Bianchetta and Perera.
Amalaya Gran Corte Malbec-Cabernet Franc 2016, Calchaqui Valley, Salta, Argentina
$39.89 | 88/100
UPC: 779810476116
Amalaya is a modern Argentine producer located in Cafayate, Salta. The 2016 harvest yielded the lowest production in 20 years. It opens with heightened acidity and spicy, black fruit notes before a cooler, skinny palate with savoury, peppery red fruit flavours and a touch of tomato. There is fine intensity, but the finish is short. It is ready to drink and best served with lamb chops or sausages. The blend is an 85/10/5 mix of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Tannat.
Taittinger Brut Reserve N/V, Champagne, France
$90 | 91/100
UPC: 3016570001030
Floral honey, baked pear, strawberry, and citrus draw you into the glass. The attack is elegant and persistent, with more of the same. Serve with just about anything. Brut Réserve is a blend of Chardonnay (40 per cent), Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier (60 per cent) wines from over 35 different vineyards that are aged a full 36 months on its lees, and often longer. The high proportion of Chardonnay, unique among fine non-vintage Champagnes, is what sets this wine apart from so many others.
Sichuan pepper comes in two distinct varieties, so you are going to want to pay attention. The red ones are mild, zippy and lemony, while the green ones are piney, powerful and create a numbing, tingling effect in your mouth. Neither is hot like a chili pepper, but both complement extreme heat. Which one you choose will greatly influence the flavour of this traditional Sichuan noodle dish, adapted by Randy Shore, author of the diner-driven cookbook Home and Away.
1 tbsp (15 mL) light soy sauce
½ tsp (2.5 mL) baking soda
6 to 8 oz (160 to 226 g) pork, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) grated ginger
1/2 to 1 tsp (2.5 to 5 mL) ground Sichuan peppercorns
2 tsp (10 mL) black vinegar
2 tbsp (30 mL) chili bean sauce (aka doubanjiang or toban djan)
2 tbsp (30 mL) dark soy sauce
2 cups (500 mL) chicken stock, divided
2 tbsp (30 mL) corn starch
2 tbsp (30 mL) duck fat or lard
1 tsp (5 mL) cracked chilies
12-16 oz (340-454 g) fresh ramen noodles
Chili oil, to taste
In a bowl, combine light soy sauce with baking soda. Mince pork and add to bowl along with ginger and Sichuan pepper. Mix, cover and refrigerate at least two hours. In a bowl, combine vinegar, chili bean sauce, dark soy sauce, 1 cup stock and corn starch. Whisk until combined and set aside.
In a small saucepan on medium heat, warm remaining chicken stock and season to taste with salt. In a wok on high heat, warm fat. Add pork and chili flakes and fry until cooked through. Lower heat to medium, stir sauce mixture to incorporate the cornstarch and then add to wok. Stir until thickened, about three minutes.
Meanwhile in a large pot, bring three quarts of water to a boil. Cook ramen noodles according to package directions, drain and divide between bowls. Top with meat sauce, Ginger Relish and chili oil. Serve hot chicken broth on the side, to use as needed.
Makes 2 servings.
Ginger Relish
1 cup (250 mL) chopped green onion
2 tbsp (30 mL) minced fresh ginger
3 tbsp (45 mL) canola oil
1 tsp (5 mL) light soy sauce
½ tsp (2.5 mL) kosher salt
¼ tsp (1 mL) sherry vinegar
In a small bowl, combine green onion, ginger, oil, soy sauce, salt and vinegar.
Sichuan pepper, chili flakes and ginger relish call for a glass of cooling wine, or one with some residual sugar.
Van Westen Vineyards Vino Grigio 2018, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, $19.90
Fresh and bright, with a collection of ripe Naramata Bench orchard fruit flavours with creamy, ripe honeydew and baking spices. Perfect for taming the heat in the Dan Dan noodle dish.
Road 13 Roussanne 2017, Similkameen Valley, $26
Exotic, unctuous white wine whose rich, honeyed pear, pineapple, creamy lees, and vanilla flavours both freshen and complement the chili/ginger flavours in what is a noisy dish.
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