Lisa Braman
Wine lovers from around the world celebrated Canada’s 150th birthday at the 39th annual Vancouver International Wine Festival, February 11 to 19, 2017, where guests learned that Canada makes great wine. Of the 180 wineries from around the world pouring wine at the festival, it was the 76 Canadian wineries that had the crowd buzzing.
Over the eight days of consumer, trade, and media events, some 25,000 people swirled, sniffed and sipped wines from across the country. Working collectively under the banner of the Wines of Canada, the Canadian Vintners Association; British Columbia Wine Institute; Wine Marketing Association of Ontario; and the Winery Association of Nova Scotia created the nature-inspired Canada section of the International Tasting Room, six trade masterclasses and five consumer seminars and tasting events. Keynote speaker and panelist John Szabo, Master Sommelier and principal critic for WineAlign, said, “I think it was a great week and Canada put on a great show.”
In addition to bringing together many of our country’s best wineries, Wines of Canada also brought in some of the biggest names in the wine world as keynote speakers and panelists. Audiences heard from, among others, Szabo; renowned author and wine journalist Dr. Jamie Goode; Chris Waters, editor VINES Magazine and wine columnist; Sean Wood, wine writer/columnist; Moira Peters, author, wine writer/columnist; Pedro Parra, wine terroir consultant; DJ Kearney, wine educator and writer; Rhys Pender, Master of Wine; Barbara Philip, Master of Wine; Treve Ring, wine writer; and Kurtis Kolt, wine writer/consultant.
One of the most popular masterclasses was Sparkling Wines of Canada moderated by Janet Dorozynski, Canadian Trade Commissioner for Wine, with panelists Goode, Craig McDonald (winemaker, Trius Winery), Ring; and Wood. “It was an honour to be involved and a treat to work with such a top tier pack of professionals,” said Ring. This masterclass tasted through 13 sparkling wines from BC, Nova Scotia and Ontario with a principal owner or winemaker from each of the wineries on hand to speak to their wine.
On his blog wineanorak.com, Goode wrote, “There’s a buzz around sparkling wine at the moment. Sparkling wine sales account for 11% of global wine sales and this market is growing by 4.5% annually. And it’s something that Canada has a talent for, with its cool climate wine regions. Of late there has been the beginnings of something special here in Canada.” About the wines poured in the class, he wrote, “This selection of wines showed the breadth of the offering of Canadian fizz, with some real highlights. This is an interesting future direction for Canadian wine.”
The International Tasting Room was home to two trade/media tastings and four consumer tastings over three days. The tasting room featured 60 BC wineries from the province’s four geographical indications (Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, Similkameen Valley and Okanagan Valley); its only official sub-geographical indication, the Golden Mile Bench; and its emerging regions including wineries from Creston, Lillooet and Kamloops.
Six wineries from Nova Scotia and 10 from Ontario were also pouring in the tasting room. “I think Canada showed well! And most importantly showed well as a country not just individual regions,” noted Pender.
At the regional Wines of British Columbia booth Kolt, consultants Kirsten Munro (Kirsten Munro Consulting) and Mireille Sauve (the Wine Umbrella), and James Caldicott (BC liquor industry professional, retired) joined BC Wine Institute staff in pouring wine from 16 BC wineries. The booth was easy to spot. Set under a huge glowing Wines of British Columbia balloon, the table surround was done in cedar planks and flanked by a combination of cedar boughs, pine trees and other foliage, all backdropped by stunning imagery of BC Wine Country.
“We heard from trade and consumers that BC’s regional tasting booth provided a great overview of the varietals that represent the diversity and complexity of BC wine,” said Kim Barnes, Marketing Director at BC Wine Institute. “It was a great jumping off point from which to enter the BC section of the room and it helped people decide how to approach the myriad of wineries. In some instances, our staff even had the opportunity to help people plan their upcoming spring and summer BC wine touring routes.”
The Wines of British Columbia were proud to stand with their eastern neighbours in celebration of Canada’s 150th. “As the theme country, it was a tremendous opportunity to work together as the Wines of Canada and to show our wines on the international stage,” added Barnes. Next up for the Wines of British Columbia and Wines of Canada is the massive ProWein International Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Lisa Braman,Industry Communications Manager at the British Columbia Wine Institute www.winebc.org