Wine Festival Faces

In the photos: (Top) Shingleback - the $100 Shiraz from Australia; attendees at BC Food & Wine: Our Land Revealed; wine educator DJ Kearney. (Middle) Patti Tetreau (Okanagan Wine Country Tours) and Ingo Grady of Mission Hill Family Estate; Gordon Fitzpatrick of CedarCreek Estate Winery: Harry McWatters of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery. (Bottom) Three Panelists for Aussie Shiraz: Regional Heroes tasting seminar - David Scholefield, Mark Davidson and Michael Hill Smith.

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DINE AND DASH


The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival has wrapped it up for another year while boasting a nearly 100% ticket sellout for all events and record dollars collected at auction during the Bacchanalia gala. Now it's time to plan for 2008, but sadly for the Festival, they will not be able to depend on the tireless efforts of Public Relations and Communications Manager Betty Verkuil who is moving on to a new job with the Vancouver Film Festival.

Next year's theme country for Festival 2008 has been declared to be Italy, and the featured vino will be Sparkling Wine. Can anyone say Prosecco? The bubbles will be an especially appropriate way to celebrate the Festival's 30th anniversary. At least, that is how it is supposed to go down. Wine columnist Anthony Gismondi's article in Saturday's Vancouver Sun states that the Italians have not yet confirmed their involvement. But then getting Italians to collectively agree on anything is usually an exercise akin to making a herd of cats sit quietly under the same bucket. It's just our hunch, but perhaps the prospect of organizing that many latin temperments is what prompted Verkuil to investigate other opportunities.

Even more interesting however, is the country chosen for the 2009 Festival, which is apparently going to be Canada. What a change in expectations for the BC winemakers who in the past have had to be content with a minor presence at the Festival because of its mandate to focus on the "International" world of wine. Exciting news indeed for BC Wine Institute's Peggy Athens and her team who at present are pouring over the blueprints for a new BC wine building slated for downtown Vancouver that will combine a VQA store with educational facilities including a demonstration kitchen, meeting rooms and possibly a seminar theatre.

Back to the Festival ... with the exception of Festival Director Harry Hertscheg, who personally attended all 51 events, probably no one worked harder or played harder than the visiting Australian winemakers, several of whom in the tasting room the next day, appeared to be cradling sore heads after a Friday night-till-dawn party session. Most were full of tales to tell. "Let me tell you one story," said the winemaker from Shingleback Wines, "of the drive up from Seattle, in a Hummer, with "Drink Shingleback - get naughty!" painted in bold letters down the side, and my subsequent four and a half hour session at the border with Canada Customs."

Jokes were in abundance, and being issued by Australians, most of them described situations concerning New Zealand sheep farmers and their ewes, but our own Oz man, Mark Davidson, came up with a couple of G-rated zingers:

Q: What's an Australian's idea of a seven course meal? A: A six pack and a meat pie.
Q: Do Australians use sulpher in the winemaking process? A: Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?

Also introduced during Wine Festival week, and no joking around here, was the Top Table Group's new Communications Director, Shelley McArthur. McArthur was formerly with the Rick Hansen Foundation. In her new position she will handle all public relations for restaurants: Araxi, West, Cin Cin and Blue Water Cafe.

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In a $$,$$$'s update from the Festival, we learn that the total take in the till's evening cashout was $447,000, with $334,000 coming from the Bacchanalia auction. The three top earning auction items were 1) A party for ten people at the BearFoot Bistro in Whistler ($25,000); 2) Entertainment for you and 50 of your closest friends by Andrew John - "The One Man Band"; 3) A party in your own home for 10 people catered by Rob Feenie with wines supplied from the cellar of Sid and Joan Cross ($18,000).

It's official. The winners of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival's trade competitions have been announced. Our congratulations to all.

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