Cornucopia — Day 3
November 24, 2010 by Sheila Whittaker · Leave a Comment
I was asked to volunteer as a sommelier at Cornucopia, Whistler’s Celebration of Wine and Food, and I jumped at the chance. Spend an entire weekend of wine and food in the beautiful, Olympic-ski-resort town? Sign me up!
Sunday – Day 3
My volunteer shift didn’t start until noon, but the seminars were already in session then, so it was a quiet start. During the afternoon sessions, I poured BC wines for Sommelier Kurtis Kolt during his two back-to-back seminars: Keeping it Local – BC Wines with BC Cheese, followed by Tasting British Columbia. These were part of a mini-tasting series, so there were only about 25 people in each session. The style was casual, with people standing around high-topped tables (although some people were ultra-casual and took a seat on the floor. I didn’t blame them — it had been a long weekend of indulgence!). As Kurtis spoke about each wine, myself and the other sommeliers would circulate the room to pour the wine.
Kurtis lived and worked in Naramata for six months this year, following his award for Sommelier of the Year Award at the 2010 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival for his work at Salt Cellar in Vancouver. He explained to the crowd that after working in the wine industry and selling BC wine at Salt, it was time for him to take advantage of the close proximity to the Okanagan wine region and dive in — really get to know the area. However, the pace of Okanagan life became a bit slow and after six months he packed his bags again for the city. His time in the Okanagan left him with some great stories and knowledge to share about the wines he selected.
I was not invited to taste any of these wines or cheeses, so I don’t have much to comment on there. I was kept fairly busy during the seminars making sure all the guests were served. I guess after the weekend of tasting I had, it was time for a few dry hours.
Following the BC mini-sessions, I went up to the Viking Stage again to sit in on Molecular Gastronomy at its Coolest – Barefoot Bistro and Inniskillin Winery. The presentation was pretty cool, literally, with Dominic Fortin, pastry chef of Barefoot Bistro, freezing dehydrated pineapple pieces with liquid Nitrogen. Guests were offered Inniskillin Icewine to pair with the frozen pineapple, and it definitely brought out the tropical fruit in the Icewine. Dominic followed up that spectacle with by freezing ice cream with the same liquid, as cold smoke rolled over the edges of the bowl.
It was a sweet and fitting end to my weekend in food and wine paradise!
Cornucopia — Day 2
November 23, 2010 by Sheila Whittaker · Leave a Comment
I was asked to volunteer as a sommelier at Cornucopia, Whistler’s Celebration of Wine and Food, and I jumped at the chance. Spend an entire weekend of wine and food in the
beautiful, Olympic-ski-resort town? Sign me up!
Saturday – Day 2
Saturday I was back at 10 a.m. to report for my first volunteer shift. I was marched up to a table of open Pinot Noir and told to taste it all. That’s a lot to face so early, but I suppose it could have been Napa Cab or Argentinean Malbec! One other sommelier and I worked through about four dozen bottles to make sure all the bottles were showing well for the Pinot Noir from Around the Globe seminar.
After tasting through the wines, it was time to pour them. Pouring a flight of a dozen wines for about 60 people is no easy task. It is very important that each wine is put into the correct glass, or the consumer gets a misrepresentation of the wine. Also, when trying to make four bottles pour exactly 60 servings, it is important to have a good measuring instinct, as there is certainly no time to measure each serving.
Next it was on to set up the Bubble-icious seminar, which also posed a challenge. Since an important part of enjoying sparkling wine is the mousse, it does no one any favours to pour out the wine in advance and let it become flat and warm. So timing was crucial for this one, only half the wines were poured to begin, then the pouring team burst into the room half way through the seminar to pop more corks and buzz around the room filling the rest of the glasses.
During the down time, I was able to sit in on the Cool Climate Clarity seminar, featuring 13 Australian wines. Mark Davidson of Wine Australia was the host, colourful and good-humoured, but most of all knowledgeable and keen to sweep away the notion that all Aussie wines are over-ripe fruit-bombs. He made the point that there are more cool-climate growing areas in Australia than most people imagine, especially in the South and Tasmania. Favourites in the room (because with a boisterous Aussie leading the session, everyone has to speak up) included the Tahbilk Marsanne 2008 (~$18), Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay 2008 (~$50), Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2007 (~$51) and Ring.bolt Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (~$22).
When the seminar let out it was time to jump into action. In an amazing feat of teamwork, the volunteers and convention centre staff managed to turn over the two 60-seat tasting rooms in one hour. This is amazing because 120 seats, with an average of a dozen glasses at each place, require a whopping 1,440 wine glasses. After a tasting, these glasses usually still contain some wine. So the excess wine must be dumped out, the dirty glasses collected into dozens of crates and whisked away; the water glasses, spit cups, tasting mats and garbage must be collected and recycled or thrown out; and the table cloths must be changed. Now it’s time to set up for the next tasting! Cloths down; mats down; spit cups down; 1,440 new, clean glasses out; wines organized, opened, and tasted; and each wine must be poured into the appropriate glass at each seat.
Once that madness was over I was able to join the Argentina – Beyond Malbec seminar hosted by Iain and Barbara Philip of Barbarian Wine Consulting in Vancouver, and it is always a pleasure to be in their expert company. Since Canada is the number two export market for Argentinean wine (after the USA), Argentina is trying to get consumers to think of the country for more than the popular Malbec. The seminar was very informative, taking guests through all the regions in Argentina, considering latitude, altitude, climate, soil and water influences. For me, the Michel Torino Cuma Torrontes “Organic” 2009 from Cafayate, Salta offered a lot – crisp, refreshing acid, light body, aromatics, and for only $14. The top of the reds was Finca Decero “Remolinos Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 — smooth, balanced with a lot of fruit extraction for only $28.
After helping with the tear down of the Argentina tasting, I had finished my volunteer duties for the day. I went up to the Viking Stage to join the All You Need Is Cheese seminar, where Canadian cheese was paired with Summerhill Pyramid wines. There were nine types of cheese and six wines to play around with pairing. My favourites included Boerenkaas from Natural Pastures in Comox Valley paired with the Chalice, a deep, nutty, caramel-y dessert wine, and the Tiger Blue from Poplar Grove in Naramata paired with the Riesling Icewine.
We finished the epic day at the Crush Gala Tasting … for the third time. This time I stood in line to try the 2006 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red ($149), big, red blend (Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec) from the Napa Valley in California. It was a wine with depth and made me a little weak in the knees. Thankfully there was great people-watching when I took a seat and watched the buzzing tasting room.
Tweet
Cornucopia — Day 1
November 22, 2010 by Sheila Whittaker · Leave a Comment
I was asked to volunteer as a sommelier at Cornucopia, Whistler’s Celebration of Wine and Food, and I jumped at the chance. Spend an entire weekend of wine and food in the beautiful, Olympic-ski-resort town? Sign me up!
Friday – Day 1
My weekend began Friday afternoon with Crush – the Trade Tasting. It is open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights, but Friday afternoon is reserved for the “trade,” which includes those in the food and wine business. The trade tasting is a great place to start the weekend off because there are often familiar faces in the crowd, the crowd is thinner than in the evenings, and there are often special wines only offered to those in the trade.
Next it was off to the Top 25 Reception, which was held at the new Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, a beautiful wood-and-glass structure perched on Blackcomb Way with a near
360-degree view of the mountain scenery. The event showcases the results of Cornucopia’s Top 25 contest, judged by a skilled tasting panel.
The number one wine overall was Carrion Cristalino Rosado (~$16), a pink sparkler from Spain, which is quite affordable to try for all of your upcoming holiday celebrations. BC wineries in the Top 25 included Summerhill Pyramid Winery (Organic Riesling Icewine 2007 and Cabernet Sauvignon 2007), Deep Creek Wine (Pinot Noir 2007), Painted Rock Estate Winery (Merlot 2007), Therapy Vineyards (Chardonnay 2008), and Tinhorn Creek Vineyards (Oldfield Series 2 Bench White 2009).
From the Top 25, we were off to Sidecut, open since June 2010 at the Four Seasons Hotel and a great place to enjoy Canadian prime steak, rubbed with your choice from six rubs. Then, when the steak comes to the table, a slab of six sauces is delivered as well! Since they began with such great meat, I found all the rubbing and saucing overkill – the steak had great flavour all on its own.
Next it was back to Crush for more tasting at the evening event where Painted Rock Estate Winery’s line-up stood out, as did Ex Nihilo Pinot Gris 2009, Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery’s Obra-Prima and Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s Cipes Brut.
Whistler Cornucopia
November 12, 2010 by Sheila Whittaker · Leave a Comment
I’m packing my bags for Whistler this morning! I will be attending Cornucopia as both a volunteer Sommelier and a member of the media, so the weekend will be a busy one! I am going to try to post as much as possible from Whistler to share the exciting experience of a weekend of wine and food.
