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Everything You Need To Know About The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Fest

Passionate about wine or looking to refine your palate? There is something for every level of wine connoisseur at the 34th Annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Arguably one of the most important wine events in North America, the festival runs from February 27 through to March 4. The best in local and international wines will be celebrated alongside theme region Chile and the global focus of Cabernet(s). With 1,700 wines from 180 wineries and 64 events, the seven-day festival has something for every wine lover.

Our city is already abuzz as wine personalities from around the world arrive to share their wines alongside local restaurants and caterers whose creative wine and food pairings will showcase the best Vancouver has to offer. From educational seminars and wine minglers to multi-course lunches, brunches, grazing events and winery dinners, the VPIWF is one of the hottest fundraising events of the year.

  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival
  • Vancouver International Wine Festival

DON’T MISS EVENTS FOR 2012

With 64 events happening all around Vancouver, there is plenty to choose from. Here is a selection of some of the most anticipated winefest events this year:

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL TASTING
VCC West, Ballroom C
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver
Thursday, March 1st, Friday, March 2nd, Saturday, March 3rd
7:00-10:00 pm | $95

The heart of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, the International Festival Tasting Room features all 180 participating wineries. As the 2012 Playhouse Wine Festival’s theme region, Chile takes centre stage in the Tasting Room. Explore all 35 participating Chilean wineries in one special section, and don’t forget to stop by the Wines of Chile Focus Station, where three different varietals from Chile – Sauvignon Blanc, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon – will be showcased.

The Tasting Room will also feature an array of wineries from around the world, all organized alphabetically within their origin country. There will be five Regional Tasting Stations in the International Festival Tasting Room. Grab your glass and prepare to embark on wine tours of Australia, British Columbia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the South of France, sampling the specialties of each region at their own tables.

This year’s Global Focus – Cabernet(s) – offers a great opportunity for you to take a viticultural tour around the wine world, with more than 185 different Cabernet(s) in the Tasting Room, both as a blend and on its own. For a comprehensive comparative tasting of Cabernet(s) from around the world, stop by the “Life is a Cabernet” Tasting Station, where experts from the International Sommelier Guild will be your guides.

The Tasting Room offers a unique opportunity to taste rare bottles and discover new treasures as you visit with renowned winery principals from around the globe. At each table you will find a winery principal, identifiable by a royal blue lanyard, who is a senior member of the winery, intimately involved in the wine-production process as a winemaker, proprietor or senior executive. Nowhere else in the world will you find such an amazing gathering of talented women and men pouring wine and answering questions about your favorite vino.

BACCHANALIA GALA DINNER + AUCTION
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Tuesday, February 28th from 5:45-11:00 pm | $475 per person; $3800 table of eight

The centerpiece of the Playhouse Wine Festival, and one of the most anticipated of the year, the Bacchanalia Gala is a must for any serious wine collector. The gala provides an unparalleled opportunity to enhance your wine cellar through auctions of rare, valuable, and unusual wines that have been donated by some of the world’s top winemakers and private collectors. Auction lots will be announced a week prior to the event on PlayhouseWinefest.com.

The Gala includes a sparkling wine reception and nine wines paired with five courses prepared by The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s Chef de Cuisine Joseph Schaeffer. Also, the Gala’s auctions will include unique culinary experiences, excursions and extravaganzas, featuring chefs and sommeliers from the West Coast’s top restaurants.

Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company: Western Canada’s leading theatre company receives all the proceeds from the Gala. Gala ticket information available at [email protected] or 604-637-3098.

Featured dinner wineries and wines include:

J Vineyards J Brut Russian River Rose NV
Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling Barossa 2007
Antinori Cervaro Della Sala Umbria IGT 2009
Domaine Laroche Les Blanchots Grand Cru Chablis 2008
Pfaffenheim Steinert Grand Cru Alsace Pinot Gris 2009
M. Chapoutier La Bernardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009
Undurraga Terroir Hunter Maule Valley Carignan 2009
Louis M Martini Monte Rosso Vineyard Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2008
De Bortoli Noble One New South Wales Botrytis Semillon 2008

BLIND TASTING CHALLENGE
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
1505 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver
Wednesday, February 29 from 9:30 am-12:00pm | $30

Got a great palate? Regularly amaze people by identifying wines blind? Now is your chance to prove it. Blind taste seven wines and identify them using the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s Systematic Approach to Tasting. Gain bragging rights, win prizes, and be acknowledged at Celebrating Excellence: The Annual Awards Lunch. Open to wine trade and service professionals, culinarians, and non-professional connoisseurs.

DON MELCHOR: BEHIND THE BLEND
The Sutton Place Hotel
845 Burrard Street, Vancouver
Wednesday, February 29 from 4:00-5:30pm | $125

Named after the founder of Concha y Toro, and first produced in 1987, Don Melchor has been regarded as Chile’s first growth of Cabernet Sauvignon. A Chilean icon, Don Melchor is accredited with bringing the premium wines of Chile to the attention of the world. Join esteemed winemaker Enrique Tirado for a once in a lifetime intimate tasting of the seven parcels of Don Melchor and two selected vintages. Canapés will be served following the tasting.

CAYMUS VERTICAL TASTING
VCC West, meeting room 110
1055 Canada Place Way, Vancouver
Wednesday, February 29 from 3:30-5:00pm | $150

This is a unique opportunity to experience a rare vertical tasting of wines from Napa Valley’s Caymus Vineyards. Chuck Wagner, Caymus Vineyards’s owner and chief winemaker, will conduct this tasting, which will cover seven vintages of the winery’s iconic Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon. Special Selection is the only wine to have twice been named Wine Spectator’s “Wine of the Year”.

DIVA(S) AT THE MET
Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver
645 Howe Street, Vancouver
Wednesday, February 29 from 6:00-8:00pm | $75

Join certified sommelier Daenna Van Mulligen (aka WineDiva) for an evening of conversation and wine. Mulligen will introduce you to an international group of winemakers, proprietors and industry principals, who will share not only the wines they represent, but also the stories of their journey as a woman in the grape trade. During the seminar there will be a selection of small bites prepared by Diva at the Met’s Executive Chef Hamid Salimian.

CALIFORNIA CRUISIN’
Canvas Lounge
99 Powell Street, Vancouver
Wednesday, February 29 from 8:30-11:00pm | $59

Come celebrate the wines of the Golden State at Gastown’s trendy Canvas Lounge. Sip, nosh, and socialize with stylish wine lovers, and enjoy some small bites from award winning Executive Chef Dobrosav Kovacevic. Join representatives from twenty-one California wineries who will be on-hand to share with you California’s finest vino.

CHADWICK’S ICONIC QUEST
VCC West, meeting room 110
1055 Canada Place Way, Vancouver
Thursday, March 1 from 5:00-6:45pm | $85

Chilean wine pioneer, and president and owner of Vina Errazuriz in Chile’s Aconcagua region, Eduardo Chadwick was inspired by some of the world’s top wine regions on his quest to produce greater expressions of Chile’s terroir. Come taste the iconic Chilean wines, discover their aging potential, and experience for yourself the journey that has led Chile to the super-premium world wine stage.

RAISE A GLASS FOR ARGENTINA
V Lounge Yaletown, Upper Level
1095 Mainland Street, Vancouver (enter through Earls Restaurant)
Saturday, March 3 from 12:00-2:00pm | $69

Join us for a lively stand-up, grazing-style lunch showcasing the wines of Argentina at Yaletown’s sleek and stylish V Lounge. This is a great opportunity to interact with principals from fourteen Argentinean wineries who will each pour two of their best wines. Discover your favorite Argentinean wine while nibbling on contemporary cuisine in a festive atmosphere.

2012 WINEFEST ROCKSTARS

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The VPIWF is an exciting chance to experience hands on wine education. To participate in the fest, every winery must have a winery principal (winemaker, owner, senior executive) present in the tasting room and at special events to pour and discuss his or her wine with festivalgoers. A few of the knowledgeable wine rock stars from around the world that will be on hand to answer all vino related questions include:

Chuck Wagner, Owner & Winemaker, Caymus Vineyards
Andrés Ilabaca, Winemaker, Santa Rita
Nathalie Bonhomme, Proprietor and Winemaker, Nathalie Bonhomme
Alvaro Espinoza, Winemaker, Emiliana Vineyards
Annette Bergevin, owner/proprietor, Bergevin Lane
Eduardo Chadwick, president, Viña Errázuriz
Randy Ullom, Winemaster, Kendall-Jackson
Sandra Oldfield, Chief Winemaker and Director of Operations, Tinhorn Creek
Jane Ferrari, Winemaker, Yalumba

And many more!

TICKETS

All event tickets are available through the Playhouse Box Office

By Phone

604.873.3311
Toll free 1.877.321.3121
Monday to Friday 9:30 am – 8:00 pm
Saturdays 12:00 – 4:00 pm

In Person

Vancouver Playhouse Box Office
601 Hamilton Street (at Dunsmuir)
Vancouver, BC
Monday to Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Online

PlayhouseWinefest.com (excluding brunches, ticket packages, and group rates)

Please visit PlayhouseWinefest.com for current program details and further ticket information.