Upcoming Events  


Summer Solstice Time! - Cancelled



van dusen gardens shaughnessy restaurant
Cancelled
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Van Dusen Gardens, SHAUGHNESSY RESTAURANT
Oak Street and 37th Avenue
Vancouver

Due to unforseen circumstances we will be unable to bring you the Summer Summer Tasting this season. Please visit our website in late August to view upcoming events for the new season.


Celebrate the start of summer at the lively and ever popular annual SWWS Summer Solstice Festival. Sample wines from Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa.

Marfful ConsultantsTest wine food combinations with selections of cheese and hot/cold hors d'oeuvres. This fun event will be held at the beautiful Van Dusen Gardens, SHAUGHNESSY RESTAURANT.

Our festival-format wine and food tasting this year provides a wonderful opportunity to mingle and meet with six BC wine agents that are bringing in their best and most popular Southern Hemisphere wines to sample. Agents that have graciously offered to pour their wonderful wines include:

Marfful Consultants

- Agricola La Vina "Polkura" Syrah
- Capel Mango Cocktail
- Casas del Bosque Pinot Noir Reserva
- Casas del Bosque Sauvignon Blanc
- Cuatro Vinos "Siglo 2"
- Southern Brewing Company "Kross" Golden Ale

Patagonia Imports
- Bodega Vistalba Corte C
- Don Domenico Bitacora Malbec
- Don Domenico El Escondido Bonarda
- Don Domenico Finca Cabernet Franc
- Don Domenico Late Harvest Semillon
- Xumek Malbec-Syrah

Stile Wines
- Excelsior Chardonnay
- Excelsior Shiraz
- Humberto Canale Pinot Noir
- Morande Pionero Rose
- Te Mania Sauvignon Blanc
- Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz



Terra Rossa
- Bodega Sur de los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon
- Bodega Sur de los Andes Infinito
- Bodega Sur de los Andes Malbec
- Bodega Sur de los Andes Malbec Reserva
- Bodega Sur de los Andes Torrontes

Whitehall
- La Puerta Torrontes
- Ngatarawa Silks Sauvignon Blanc
- Ngatarawa Silks Syrah


Vino Allegro
- Mount George White Wire
- Mount George Red Wire
- Stone Paddock Chardonnay
- Stone Paddock Scarlet

REMINDER: Your reservation is only confirmed when we receive your cheque in the mail, or credit card payment. No cheque or cash at the door. No registrations at the door.

To REGISTER via CREDIT CARD click here: "Summer Solstice Time" Cancelled


Please remember to Drive Safely after every tasting. You can use Keys_Please to take you home.


This is a perfume free event so we can all enjoy the wines.

 

 

 


Fifth Annual Five Nations Cup -
The Results Are In!

Year 1 went to Chile. Years 2 and 3 were awarded to Australia. Year 4 went to Chile. The 5th season's winner of the coveted 5 Nations Cup is CHILE! One suprising result was that our Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was aged and most people prefer young Sauvignon Blanc, so do not be afraid of letting some of your Sauvignon Blanc's get a few years age on them! Argentina came in very close. Thanks to Paul Watkin, our past cellar master for being our guest speaker at this event.

Country
Rank
Chile
1
Argentina
2
Australia
3


Country

White Wine

Rank

Chile

Matetic EQ Sauvignon Blanc 2005

1

Argentina

Catena Chardonnay 2007

2

New Zealand

Moncellier Pinot Gris 2008

3

South Africa

Raats Chenin Blanc 2006

4

Australia

Brokenwood Semillon 2007

5



Country

Red Wine

Rank

Australia

Two Hands Shiraz 2006

1

South Africa

Graceland Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

2

Argentina

Dom Domenico El Escondido Bonarda 2005

3

Chile

Chocalan Gran Reserva Malbec 2006

4

New Zealand

Allan Scott Pinot Noir 2007

5

Enjoy some pictures of the event. Hope you can participate in our 6th Annual 5 Nations Cup next year!

Paul Watkin speaking at 5 Nations Cup

wine in brown bags

Deseado sparkling torrontes



Chilean Wine Industry Hit Hard by Earthquake

As numerous Chilean wineries were affected by the recent earthquake, consumers in Canada and other importing countries should expect delays in wine deliveries. Some wineries report loss of thousands of barrels while others suffered destruction of their vineyards or other infrastructure.

The main producers, like Concha y Toro, will stop production for at least a week, while they assess and fix the damages.

Concha y Toro winery confirmed that many of its wineries were seriously damaged in the area most devastated by the earthquake, several kilometers south of Santiago.

All major wine regions of Chile were affected, including the valleys of the Maule, Colchagua, Curico, Maipo and Bio Bio.

Concha y Toro is the largest exporter of wine and also operates in Argentina. It had sales of $ S590 million in 2008 and exported 26.6 million cases of wine to consumers in 131 countries. Other smaller producers are also expected to see their normal operations affected.


Stephen Tanzer: Argentina’s Best

As the race to produce wines for the export market continues in Argentina, many products did not deliver high quality, according to Stephen Tanzer, who did not hesitate to qualify many Malbecs as “mediocre”. His 2009 reports, however, also show that there are excellent wines to be had from the land of Evita and Maradona. The best rated wines were achieved by Bodega Catena Zapata, Achával Ferrer, Viña Alicia, Poesía, Susana Balbo, Mendel and Noemia.

In his last tasting, Tanzer said he had found mediocre but also excellent wines: "I tasted more bottles of mediocre Argentinean wine than ever before, with too many Malbecs showing medicinal, slightly green flavors; a lack of mid-palate flesh and sweetness of fruit; evidence of over-extraction; and drying, rustic tannins. At the top end, however, the wines show increasing complexity and nobility, with real perfume, wonderfully seamless and rich mouth feel, clarity of flavor, and suave, thoroughly ripe tannins."

Watch for Mediocre Malbec

Considering this Malbec popularity, Tanzer points out that "not surprisingly, Argentinean producers in search of something easy to sell in a difficult world economy are flooding the market with new Malbec, and dozens of opportunistic US importers seem only too willing to buy virtually anything that says Malbec on the label. The result, needless to say, has been a distinctly mixed bag of current releases."

Wines to Look For

Despite Tanzer’s warnings, he was also generous when it came to good Argentinean wines, which he scored highly. Many of those products come from smaller, boutique wineries, so may be hard to find in the BC market. It should be kept in mind, however, that some of these wines can be ordered through the LDB, albeit, at a price. Among the wines that achieved high scores available in BC are the following:

-Catena Zapata, Catena Alta Chardonnay, 2007 94pts
-Achaval Ferrer Finca Mirador 92pts
-Mendel Unus Blend 2007, 91pts
-Luca Chardonnay 2009, 91pts
-Bodega Ruca Malen Kinien 2007, 90pts
-Mendel Malbec 2007, 90pts
-Tikal Amorio 2008, 90pts
-Benmarco Expresivo 2007, 90pts
-Bodega Catena Zapata Chardonnay 2008, 90pts
-Luca Malbec 2008, 90pts
-Luca Laborde Syrah 2008, 90pts
-Mapema Malbec 2008, 89pts
-Clos de los Siete 2008, 89pts
-Altos Las Hormigas Reserva Malbec 2007, 89pts

Among the value products:
-Altos Las Hormigas Malbec 2009, 88pts
-Bodega Norton Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2007, 88pts
-Michel Torino Torrontes Don David Reserva 2008, 88pts
-Colonia Las Liebres Boyarda 2008, 88pts
-Terrazas de Los Andes Malbec 2008, 87pts


New Zealand Red Wine Terroirs

Better known by the tremendous success of its white wines, particularly  Marlborough's Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand's red wines are mostly off the radar for the global market, with the visible exception of Pinot Noir. The "heart break grape" has made its home in Martinborough, at the southern tip of North Island, and in Otago, in the southern end of South Island. 

Central Otago has the only true continental climate in the country. Its soils are also different, with heavy deposits of mica, schist and silt loams. Pinot Noir wines from this region have received accolades due to their purity of fruit, intensity and vibrancy.

Martinborough, in the Wairarapa region, also offers excellent Pinot Noir. Climatically is closer to Marlborough, maritime, cool and with less extremes of daily and seasonal temperatures. The top Pinot Noirs produced there exhibit richness and opulence.

Although little known, New Zealand also produces high quality Bordeaux and Rhone style blends, mostly in Waiheke Island and Hawke's Bay. The former is located in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland. Its hilly terrain produces Bordeaux blends that have good reputation, though production is rather small.

Hawke's Bay, on the eastern central coast of North Island, is the nation's capital when it comes to Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. The Bordeaux blends produced there show finesse and restrain. Syrah is the new buzz, yielding wines that are fresh, long and peppery, reminiscent of the northern Rhone reds.

 
 
 
 

2009 - 2010 Tasting Calendar


The 2008 / 2009 Tasting Calendar is now taking shape and the event topics are listed below. More details to follow. Dates and events are subject to change.

Sep 17 Argentina Tango
Nov 5
Big Reds
Jan
5 Nations Cup
Feb
Olympics
March
Asian Fusion
April
none - Playhouse Wine Festival
May
Members Choice
June 17
Summer Solstice Festival


Wine About Town


Check out www.gismondionwine.com for articles, reviews and a database with more than 4000 tasting notes.

Recent Events of The Last Season 


Have you ever wanted to travel to New Zealand? What kind of wines are there to try?Click here to find out more about our Planning a New Zealand Vacation event.

This was an evening of iconic red wines from across the southern hemisphere. In the Cellar Select Premium Reds we enjoyed big Cabs, Shiraz, Malbec, and blends. Click here to find out more about this event.

The movie Sideways helped bring Pinot Noir to the forefront of the minds of people. This evening we were fortunate to sample pinot noirs from New Zealand, Australia, and Chile, including a rare Leyda Valley bottle. Click here to find out more about this event.

Brent Fraser, led us through a great tasting in our South Africa - The Old New World tasting. We had a chance to try a Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Cab/Merlot blend, and a Syrah from both the classic regions of France and from South Africa. How did both countries fare? Click here to find out more about this event. 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 


     
 
     
 
Tasting calendar
2009-2010
 
     
 
Sep 17 Argentina Tango
Nov 5
Big Reds
Jan
5 Nations Cup
Feb
Olympics
March
Asian Fusion
April
none - Playhouse Wine Festival
May
Members Choice
June 17
Summer Solstice Festival

 
 
     
 
     
 
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We organize up to 10 wine tastings per year of Australian wine, Argentinian wine, New Zealand wine and South African wine. The highlights of the year include a wine dinner and a summer solstice wine festival at the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club.