by Lara Victoria
…South America satiates every kind of wine aficionado—from the budget-conscious sipper to the most discerning palate.
T he internationally acclaimed Vancouver International Wine Festival returns this year from April 24 to 30, with South America as its theme region. It will also shine a global spotlight on sparkling wines popping with bubbly delights featuring Prosecco, Cava, Crémant and everything in between, including Champagne. As for what you could expect from South American wines—in a word: variety. Grape Varieties So much more than Malbec flows from
Maximize Your VIWF Experience The festival tastings on Friday and Saturday nights are definitely a social scene, but if you prefer to focus on the wines with fewer distractions, opt instead for the tastings on Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon. Tickets for these tastings are purposely limited by about a quarter, offering the same wine experience but with more room and fewer people. This also presents better opportunities to meet winemakers, proprietors and other “vine stars” face-to-face, easily spotted by their royal blue lanyards. Offering a comprehensive experience, the festival includes the onsite BCLIQUOR Festival Wine Shop, which is known to carry an assortment of festival-exclusive wines. Make sure you visit this onsite store for some great hard-to-find gems. If you taste a wine you like, do not wait to buy it at the end of your visit, in case it sells out. Instead, pop into the onsite BCLIQUOR Festival Wine Shop, buy your wine and leave it at the Bottle Check counter, so you can get back to the tasting floor unencumbered, knowing your wine is safely held for you. Not keen on carting home the treasures you pick up at the festival? You can have your wine delivered to your local BCLIQUOR store, anywhere in the province, free of charge!
complexity and higher acidity in Malbecs influenced by the high altitudes of Salta in Argentina, compared to the lush expressiveness of those from Mendoza. Wine Styles South America has adopted today’s winemaking technology wholeheartedly, producing thirst-quenching wines that can be enjoyed young, as well as award-winning, complex, age- worthy wines sought after by wine collectors internationally. Needless to say, South America satiates every kind of wine aficionado— from the budget-conscious sipper to the most discerning palate. Celebrating its 44 th year, the Vancouver International Wine Festival (VIWF) has evolved into a much- anticipated wine event. If you want to enhance your vinous wisdom, visit the festival’s website to check out and register for seminars led by masters of the trade. Foodies can indulge in an impressive lineup of food and wine extravaganzas, including the festival kick-off Fiesta del Vino and the themed luncheon, Sabor Sudamericano , celebrating the flavours of South America in food, wine and music. If you are looking for a sumptuous white-glove experience, the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner and Auction is a festival tradition not to be missed.
South America. Look for regional specialties such as Torrontés from
Argentina. This aromatic white wine with its rounded, ripe fruit flavours makes for a friendly mingler at parties, as well as the perfect pairing for a daringly spiced Thai curry. Carmenere from Chile makes robust wines that pair as effortlessly with a pastrami sandwich as they grace a crown roast. Tannat from Uruguay is probably South America’s best kept secret. These rich, structured wines can offer tremendous aging potential. Terroir South America enjoys varied wine- growing landscapes that influence the variations in the style of their wines, even within the same grape variety. For example, taste the restrained
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