by Treve Ring | There’s wine, and there’s real wine. Authentic wine, grown, made and shared by people who give a shit. So if you drink real wine, or are interested in doing so, then make it to Top Drop Vancouver this week at the Roundhouse Community Centre. This two-day fete (Sept. 7-8) combines the collective brainpower of some of Vancouver’s top palates across a series of tastings, seminars and dinners for both trade and public. Spearheaded by Kurtis Kolt and Jeff Curry, the event reads like a well-edited wine list: concise, adventuresome, exciting and delish.

Now in its third vintage, Top Drop has proven to be the place for smaller-scale, boutique and terroir-focused wines, sans snooty attitude. The celebration of craft extends beyond the vine, with local breweries, cideries and food purveyors in the mix. If you can only make one event, make it The Main Event, a walk-around tasting where you and other like-minded folks in the know can sample wines from more than 35 international wineries, all with producers present.

Tickets from all events benefit the BC Hospitality Foundation, an important local resource providing financial support to individuals from the hospitality industry facing a major medical crisis.

My top dozen drops for Top Drop’s Main Event are below. Many of these gems are rarely seen on our market, and when they are, they’re snapped up by wise wine geeks. Here’s your chance to see what tastemakers choose to drink. See you there.

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Angela Estate 2013 ‘Angela Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon

Bella Wines 2015 Methode Ancestrale Gamay Westbank – Beaumont Vineyard, Okanagan Valley

Blue Mountain Vineyard 2008 Blanc de Blancs R.D., Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley

Craggy Range 2011 Kidnappers Chardonnay, Gimblett Gravels, New Zealand

Hedges Family Estate 2012 Les Gosses Syrah DLD, Red Mountain, Washington State

La Stoppa 2007 Macchiona, Emilia Romagna, Italy

Stag’s Hollow Winery 2015 Grenache, Okanagan Valley

Regional Table Australia :
BK Swaby Chardonnay
Jamsheed Garden Gully Syrah
Ochota Barrels I am the Owl Syrah

Regional Tabel South Africa :
B. Vintners Strandwolf Chardonnay
The Winery of Good Hope | Radford Dale Black Rock

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Top Drop Vancouver | September 7 & 8 | www.topdropvancouver.com

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