It’s been going all week and tomorrow the main event of the 30th Annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival hits town - the wine tastings at the Trade and Convention Centre
However, this past weekend, Jen and I along with a couple of other couples, had our own little wine fest! When you’re married to a wine rep, and head over to a colleague’s house is a wine rep, and also married to a wine rep, you know some grape will be poured and 4 bottles of beauty hit the table on Saturday night.
First the menu: There was a spicy sausage and creamy cheese tray with baguette while we chilled, then dinner was a beef tenderloin that absolutely melted with white asparagus, green beans and potatoes. A roasted tomato and spinach salad was on the side.
Here are 2 of the 4 wines we polished off:
Domaine de Montfaucon 2005 Viognier - Now I don’t recognize this grape right off the bat either, it’s not a big 6, but this Viognier was smooth and easy drinking. Right away I could taste the honey, our hosts said honeysuckle, but I thought it was richer, right to honey. Wiki says: The color and the aroma of the wine suggest a sweet wine but Viognier wines are predominantly dry.
Pinotage - Jen thinks this one tastes like band aids, the South Africans at our table were drifting back home as they talked about the smell being like an African camp fire. After all, it is South Africa’s signature grape. In the end, I agreed with Jen, it had a dusty medicinal taste that just didnt do much.
Some interesting choices there for your weekend sipping, or maybe you’ll head off to the ‘Fest and get your glass on. Before you do that, have a quick look over the Insiders Guide for Wine Festivals.
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Pinotage may be SA’s signature grape, but band aid is not a varietal characteristic. Sounds like Brett to me. I note you didn’t identify the SA wine.
I am trying to track down the producer as we speak. I didnt recall it the next day, I’ll add it when I get a hold of my hosts.
“band aid is not a varietal characteristic” .. funniest thing I have read all day!
Whats funny about it? Brett is a yeast infection that can and does affect any wine, from any variety and in any country. It is not specific to any one variety. Classic descriptor of Brett is band aid and farmyard.