International Festival Tasting Room

723 wines • 183 wineries • 15 countries

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is widely regarded as the best consumer wine show on the continent, and the International Festival Tasting Room is the heart of it.

The Wine World is Here.

The big room is home to all 183 participating wineries, who will be pouring 723 different wines. Wineries are organized alphabetically and listed in the free Festival Program handed out at the door to help you keep track of the wines you like. The Tasting Room offers a unique opportunity to taste rare bottles and discover new treasures as you visit with renowned winery principals from around the globe. A winery principal, identified by their royal blue lanyard, is a senior member of the winery, intimately involved in the wine-producing process as a winemaker, proprietor or senior executive and is therefore thoroughly familiar with the wines being poured. Feel free to ask questions of them at their booth – and learn from the experts about your favourite wine.

The Tasting Room plays out over three consecutive nights. Thursday night’s capacity is guaranteed to be 30 percent lower than the other two evenings, attracting wine collectors and trade professionals who appreciate more room to interact with the winery principals. Friday is great for groups and the after-work crowd looking to kick off the weekend in style. Saturday night is perfect for couples and friends wanting to spend a night on the town. Groups of eight or more can save $9 each on Friday and Saturday nights. Be forewarned that this is a wine tasting, not a dinner event. We strongly recommend that you have a meal before tackling the room. However, you will find plenty of plain bread for cleansing the palate and small food samples will be served throughout the room.

British Columbia: Our Land, Revealed

It’s easy to find wine regions that are bigger, older, or more famous. However, it is not easy to find a region that is newer, more diverse or more exciting. From the Cowichan Valley to Keremeos, from Auxerrois and Barbera to Tempranillo and Zinfandel, British Columbia is full of surprises. As the theme region for the 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, British Columbia will be represented by 58 wineries – a concept that would have been inconceivable only a decade ago. Be sure to visit the British Columbia region in the Tasting Room – it’s a unique opportunity to taste what the province has to offer and to meet the personalities behind the wine.

Sponsored by Wines of British Columbia

Pinot(s) Tasting Station

With this year’s Global Focus on Pinot(s), you can expect many foodfriendly wine discoveries from Burgundy, Oregon, California, New Zealand and British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Guests will find 160 different Pinots in the Tasting Room, including Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and many more. For a comprehensive comparative tasting of Pinots from around the world, head directly to the Pinot(s) Tasting Station, where experts from the International Sommelier Guild and Wine Access magazine will be your guides.

Sponsored by Wine Access

 

Regional Tasting Stations

This year, the Tasting Room will play host to four Regional Tasting Stations, providing guided tours to four of the world’s most exciting, thriving wine regions. Wine Australia, Wines of Germany, Alsace Wines and the Vinho Verde Commission will be present to offer a unique viticultural experience. At the Alsace station, you can pair Alsatian wines with spicy Asian foods in a match made on two continents. Each Regional Tasting Station will pour a selection of exciting and expressive wines emblematic of their terroir, giving you a chance to visit entire wine regions at a single table

Sponsored by Wine Australia, Wines of Germany, Alsace Wines, Vinho Verde Commission

 

Riedel Tasting Booth

Puddifoot presents a unique opportunity for discerning tasters. Although all glassware in the Tasting Room is now Riedel, each varietal requires a different shape of glass to bring out its full potential. At the Riedel Tasting Booth, you can try a wine out of the festival glass you were handed at the door, and then try the same wine out of the correct varietal Riedel glass. Is there a difference? You be the judge.

Last year the Festival introduced the Riedel Red/White Ouverture glass as the official glass of the International Festival Tasting. Guests were blown away by the difference a proper glass can make to the way you appreciate wine. The tasting room will now be equipped with Riedel glassware for everyone to enjoy.

Festival Wine Shop
Free bottle check and wine delivery

Tasting room wines may be bought at BC Liquor Stores’ onsite Festival Wine Shop. When you find a wine you like, we suggest you set it aside in the free bottle check. Don’t wait until the end of the evening as some wines sell out early. Repeat as necessary. For added convenience, single bottles and case lots can be shipped free of charge to your local BC Liquor Store. Just ask at the Festival Wine Shop when you make your purchase

Get Home Safe

Plan ahead. Do not drink and drive. We suggest that you leave the car at home, assign a designated driver or take a taxi or transit home. Or consider staying at one of our partner hotels - make a night or a weekend of the festival. If you opt for transit, BC Liquor Stores offers festival-goers a free transit ticket - pick yours up at the Get Home Safe booth in the concourse as you exit the festival.

Tasting room sponsors and suppliers

Arla Foods
Balderson Cheese
Freybe Gourmet Foods
La Maison Alexis de Portneuf
Tillen Farms
Caffè Umbria
Terra Breads
Terra International Foods

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