Tickets to the wildly popular Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival go on sale Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010. Tickets to trade events will be on sale February 9, 2010. The 2010 Festival will be one of the largest to date in its thirty-two year history. With 197 wineries and not one, but two theme regions of New Zealand and Argentina, attendees to the 2010 Festival will have the opportunity to sample a diverse array of wines, while the global focus of Rosé will bring a selection of these highly quaffable summer wines to many a tasting booth. Tickets to the Playhouse Wine Festival can be purchased online at PlayhouseWinefest.com or by phoning the Playhouse Box office at 604-873-3311.
THEME REGIONS ARGENTINA AND NEW ZEALAND
“2010 is all about altitude, latitude and attitude,” says Festival executive director Harry Hertscheg. The combination of these two very distinct cultures and countries will provide both strength and sex appeal to this year’s Festival, while the newfound confidence of Rosé wine in the global market will add a counterpoint to the Pinot Noirs, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blancs and Malbecs that will be poured.
On the Argentine side, the dizzying altitudes and snow capped Andean mountains produce grapes that are ripened to perfection year after year. From rich Malbecs to the distinctive Torrontés, the 36 participating Argentine wineries in the 2010 festival will include some of the country’s top wineries.
With 41 New Zealand wineries from varying degrees of latitude participating in the 2010 festival, visitors can expect to find a wealth of diversity thanks to world class Sauvignon Blancs and terroir-driven Pinot Noirs, refreshing aromatic and fruit driven Chardonnays, and complex fuller-bodied reds.
GLOBAL FOCUS ROSÉ
Any wine that inspires headlines of renaissance and revolution deserves a close examination. Rosé has been adopted as an underdog by its fans but the truth is that Rosé wines offer the refreshing characteristics of white wine and the complexity and colour of reds. Valued for their ability to match with a variety of cuisine, the days of the deceptively named White Zinfandel are over. The world’s wine drinkers are developing a taste for the drier, more refreshing variations; proving that pink doesn’t always have to be sweet.
ABOUT THE PLAYHOUSE WINE FESTIVAL
The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, Canada’s premier wine show, runs from April 19 to 25, 2010. The Playhouse Wine Festival is one of the biggest and oldest wine festival events in the world. In 2010, the global focus will be rosé. The festival features a week of special events including a gala auction, wine seminars, wine minglers, winery dinners, lunches and brunches at fine restaurants and hotels. The Playhouse Wine Festival is produced by the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Society, which has three mandates: provide an informative, educational and entertaining wine experience for consumers and trade; be a premier marketing opportunity for the wine industry and festival partners; and raise funds for the Playhouse Theatre Company. Since its inception in 1979, the festival has raised over $6.8 million to enable Western Canada’s leading theatre company to mount 209 productions and develop extensive community outreach and educational programs.
The Shore Club generously presents the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.