The "Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival".
Starring: "FRANCE"!
Wow, where does one start??
The festival was completely sold out.
Given the jostling elbows and slightly tipsy crowd, it was surprising that I didn't end up stained head to toe by the end!
Fortunately the crowd, while eager to get their fair share in, was also relatively polite.
Many a murmuring of "Excuse me", and "Please, go ahead" could be heard sifting through the noise.
Mimes, Can-Can Girls and happy-hearted accordion music were visible and audible throughout the 3 hour affair.
(I ran away from the 'Mimes'.
I suspect I'm not the only one they creep out.)
Like any good mime however, they hunted me down and forced me to participate in a one way, stilted bizarre conversation.
(And why, exactly, was I indicating things with my hands and not just speaking to the pale face in the black and white tight shirt? Ugh. Apparently it's contagious.)
Almost every wine producing country was represented that night.
There were 60 producers from France alone!
But from Australia to the United States, they all showed in fine form.
As France was the star of the show, though, that's where my group of friends and I began.
Off to Champagne...what better way to begin than with the delights of Moet & Chandon. The Brut Imperial n/v (non-vintage) was divine.
"Full and rich, hints of warm brioche."
I also tried their Brut Imperial 1999 which was lovely, but I did prefer the non-vintage. *
On to Maison Michel Laroche, and to some VERY good Chablis.
I've never had many experiences with Chablis, but that's going to have to change as they presented several fine examples.
I was particularly fond of their Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots 2003 & Chablis Laroche 2004.
oh!
Over there is Baron Philippe de Rothschild! Must go!
Their Mouton Cadet Blanc 2004 was okay...but I wasn't surprised by it. I uttered no cry of glee.
I tried Serame Viognier 2004 and was pleased, but not thrilled.
I have to say the star of the whites for me was the Laroche Chablis.
And now?
More whites and more champagne and watch the dancing girls with their flounce and legs kicked high into the air; grab some french bread to chew on, a few pieces of aged white cheddar and back at it.
Time to switch to reds though, before the palate is demolished!
Whew!
This post is entirely long enough, and I'm a red wine FAN, so I'll save it for another day.
I'm sorry, I don't have any prices for those wines...I was to busy drinking them to even begin to note cost.
After all, when you're getting pours off of $100+ bottles of wine, stopping to look at the cost seems time consuming and counter productive!
*no...I don't know what that means. But DAMN it was good!
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11 comments:
most of the wine I drink I make in my kitchen...before that I made it in my bathroom...my palate is developing...I am maturing as a person...I think I'll build a still in the back yard...make some shine....do the have international moonshine festivals...I've had some good foriegn shines...lao lao and chicha spring to mind....flamable, yet blinding.
PS
I also find mimes disturbing...solution...more shine...blindness is a sure cure for a case of the mimes
Ah, to be blind to the mimes.
Bring on the 'shine!
Hi Tai!
That sounds like a great time!
Have you seen the film "Sideways"? I'm guessing that you have...If not, you might enjoy it...
Also, there's a great mime scene in "The
Aristocrats"...I've never seen a mime tell a filthy joke before...It's really quite funny.
Take care, Tai!
Your Pal,
Zambo.
It sounds like you really enjoyed yourself. I can't remember the last time I had a nice glass of wine. Oh wait, that would be before I was pg and nursing....!!
*sigh*
The great thing about mimes is that if you smash a wine bottle over their head and then circumcise them to death with the shards of glass, they have to die silently and can only bleed in black and white. If by some chance they scream for help and bleed red, they were a fake mime and you should get a medal for exposing them.
Tequila is my friend!
reds reds bring on the reds! I can't wait to hear about them!
You know, if you had enough wine the mimes might seem normal, or at least not freak you out so much....
I am also a red wine fan, although there was one experience that almost turned me off red wine forever....(shut up Crag, I can hear you snickering already)
I have just begun to enjoy wine. I have found myself struggling to taste the different bouquets though. When something is supposed to have hints of strawberries, I taste appples. I'm so confused. I would love to go to something like that though. But maybe I should start at a class.
Do you stay in the France area or did you try other countries like Spain, for instance? How do Canadian wines stand up to the international brands?
And Juan? Why would you think I would snicker? It was more of a nasty chuckle around a really big grin. You were a mess that night.
I roamed all over, but mostly explored more varieties of the reds...which I WILL be getting around to posting eventually, but I tried SO many!
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