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41st Van Wine Fest features California Wines – So Do We!

THE SHOW

Thursday Feb 28 Tasting Room Radio sets up a mobile studio at Vancouver International Wine Festival to record 35 winemaker interviews.
It’s the wine version of an All-Star Game.

First half: all Californian
Second half  Canada, mostly BC.
Those interviews will run for the next several weeks.

We’re starting by going back to last week’s wine stars.
In order to get everyone into the show plus include The Somms and Oscar specials I had to edit their interviews down to a hand full of minutes.
Not This Week.

Here are the feature interviews with:

Joel Peterson – Ravenswood. Chief Winemaker & The Godfather of Zin.
Inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame.

Joel Peterson

One of the leaders in preserving the heritage Zin vines of California. Joel is a true California winemaking Icon and a tremendous person.
https://www.ravenswoodwinery.com/
#VIWF IS ON

Melissa Stackhouse – Meiomi. Head Winemaker

The name Meiomi means “coast” and the brand’s winemaker, Melissa Stackhouse works with coastal vineyards to create one of the most popular Pinots in Canada (and of course The USA)

Melissa Stackhouse Meiomi

Born and raised in Michigan, Melissa worked for a number of years at a newspaper in Bellingham, so she’s familiar with Vancouver and its food scene.

Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Viticulture and Enology at the University of California Davis and her wine career was started. She worked her way through cellars at La Crema, J Vineyards Winery and Clos de Bois. That’s a lot of harvests.

I’m really looking forward to her plans for Meiomi Bubble.
https://www.meiomi.com/

Tom Gore – Farmer and Winemaker Tom Gore Vineyards

Tom Gore is a second-generation grape farmer from Sonoma County and from the time he learned to walk, he was stomping alongside his dad, getting dirty and taking care of the grapes.

For Tom Gore, farming isn’t a profession, it’s a way of life. His family helped develop the vineyards of Northern California into a world-class winemaking region, and Tom’s childhood was spent among the vines.

He has worked every harvest since he was seven years old, and has always known farming grapes would be his life’s work.

He also has a wicked sense of humor. He’s funny. His wines are serious.
https://www.tomgorevineyards.com/

Mark de Vere Robert Mondavi Wines

Who better to speak to the history and legacy of Robert Mondavi than Master of Wine Mark de Vere?
Robert Mondavi was one of just a handful of California winemakers who became a household name in the 20th century. He and his wife Margrit were one of the founding families of the wine culture in the Napa Valley. Some would argue, the founding family.

One of their original vineyards To Kalon is considered equal to a Grand Cru vineyard.
Google Robert Mondavi. It’s a huge story.
And even though it’s not yet imported into Canada, try to get your hands on their Cab Franc. WoW!

NEXT WEEK –
12 of the very best wine stars from California (Part One)

STORIES WE ARE WORKING ON:

41ST Vancouver international wine festival
18 Californians. Winemakers and Owners
And 15 Canadians. Winemakers and owners
Uncorked and Untapped in Parksville
Black Hills pours new releases.
La Stella leans Italian!
Vancouver Somms
Okanagan Falls Wineries pour new releases in Vancouver
Brigitte Raye Orto Astisan Pasta (bad dog bread) North Vancouver

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We have four  stories for you.  A primer of the next VanWineFest, also advance notice on the 3^rd BC Cider festival and a check in on the  wildly popular Oyama Sausage at Granville Market.  Joanne Sasvari editor of Vitis will pair wines with Oyama’s legendary offerings.

And we finish with Bob Blue, Winemaker at Bonterra plus winemaker of a Bourbon aged Zin called 1000 stories.  He’s one of the stars at this year’s Wine Festival.

 The SHOW

 Harry Hertscheg  – (Executive Director of 41st Vancouver International Wine Festival)

Harry Hertscheg VanWineFest

 Vancouver International Wine Festival has been described as “the largest wine festival in the Americas” with 25,000+ admissions. It is Canada’s premier wine show and widely considered to be one of the best wine events in the world. At age 41, it is also among the oldest. Its slogan is “The Wine World is Here”. For the past six years, VIWF has been voted the #1 Food, Wine & Hospitality Event in Canada by New York’s BizBash.

This is Harry’s second visit in row. It’s because he can now talk about The Stars who will be appearing and pouring.
From Gina Gallo and Jean- Charles Boisset to Joel Peterson (Ravenswood) Genevieve Janssens (Winemaker Mondavi) Randy Ullom (Kendall Jackson) Christine Coletta(Haywire) John Skinner (Painted Rock), the first pouring on Aquilini Red Mountain Wines and many more.
Harry has the goods.

By-The-Numbers

 41st annual (founded 1979)

8 days, Feb 23-Mar 3 (Bacchanalia Gala, Feb 23)

25,000+ admissions

16 countries

160 wineries; including 53 from featured region California

54 events (20 are California events)

1,500 wines projected, including an estimated:

42,000 bottles poured and/or purchased.

https://vanwinefest.ca

Shawn Pisio – (Organizer/Co-Founder of BC Cider Week)

Shawn Pisio

 When he’s not organizing BC Cider Week, Shawn and his team run TXOTX – (pronounced Choech)  which is Basque for “to drink cider from a barrel”

One of the  highlights of 2018 was attending, tasting and doing interviews at The Pipe Shop, foot of Lonsdale in North Vancouver.

It’s one of the few shipbuilding rooms still standing.

30 plus cider makers all pouring their very best. So many stories and tales.

Cider has just exploded in popularity.  One of the people responsible is Shawn Pisio (and Rich Massey) who has a passion for cider than knows no bounds.

So, just like the VanWineFest, the BC Cider Week is fast approaching from April 26^th to May 5.  The last day,  May 5^th,  is the third gathering of cider makers at The Pipe Shop

300 Vancouver early bird tickets sold out in 45 minutes.

Shawn is here to tell you all about it.

http://bcciderfest.ca/

Jerome Dudicourt  (Manager of Oyama Sausage. Granville Market\

jerome dudicourt – oyama

Joanne Sasvari (Editor of Vitis and Vancouver Eats cookbook)

 Most line-ups are a pain but at Oyama you need the wait time to check out every square inch of food displayed in the coolers..glorious cheeses, amazing sausages, pate to-die-for, smoked wild Boar, Porcini Mushroom pate, Toulouse Sausages, sweet ham, game everywhere. The signage is fun and informative.

Our first guest is Jerome Dudicourt, the manager & trained chef who speaks of his store  like it’s priceless, which it is.

And then Joanne Sasvari the editor of Vitis  comes into the picture with her wine choices to go with Jerome’s specials.

Joanne Sasvari, Nuvo magazine

From Vancouver Island to the Okanagan Valley, B.C. wine is rapidly gaining global attention for its quality, diversity and innovation.

Vitis aims to capture the excitement by telling the stories of wineries and the passionate people that own and operate them, as well as offering accessible insights into the finer points of wine and current trends.

Keep a notepad handy..there’s something  here for everyone.

http://oyamasausage.ca

https://vitis.ca/

Bob Blue – Founding Winemaker at Bonterra and 1000 Stories

Bob Blue. Bonterra – 1000 StoriesIconic winemaker Bob Blue on the phone from Mendocino.  Bob is showcasing his most recent project – 1000 Stories Bourbon Barrel-aged Zinfandel 

 A graduate from UC-Davis, Bob is considered a pioneer in the organic wine arena and is the founding winemaker for Bonterra, America’s #1 Organic wine. Bob was mentored by Paul Dolan and Dennis Martin and traveled to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Australia and the Rhone to broaden his sense of style. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Drinks Business Green Awards in 2014, recognizing him for his 25-year commitment to the highest standards of organic viticulture.

Bonterra

Bonterra

1000 stories opens with vanilla and cherries, hints of barnyard.  A sweet attack followed quickly by pepper, cooking spices, vanilla? AND Twizzler. (Liquorice)

By the time you taste that first mouthful you are engaged. Welcome back  to BC Bob!!   http://www.1000storieswines.com/

The second half of the interview is all about Organic wines..their growth and rise in popularity.

Because Bob has been an industry leader in organic wines for almost 30 years he’s the guy to talk to about how organic wines won all of us over.

Winery of the Year in 2014 from Wine Enthusiast.

http://www.bonterra.com/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Van Wine Fest

The Californians, the Canadians

A Gaggle of Sommeliers

OK Falls pours

Unplugged and Uncorked