The Vancouver International Wine Festival (VIWF) tastings, which will take place each evening between Feb. 27 to March 1, allow consumers to have an opportunity to taste many wines that are not familiar to them.
These wines can be purchased as a specialty order at the BC Liquor Store set up at the festival site exclusively during the VIWF.
One such winery is the Booker family of wines.
The winery is named after two orphan brothers, Claude and Dick Booker, who purchased the land in the late 1920s. They dedicated their lives to being great farmers and humanitarians, leaving 100 per cent of their estate to charity when they passed in 1990 and 2000, respectively.
In 2001, Eric and Lisa Jensen purchased 100 acres of the property. They wanted to show that the Paso Robles region in California could make wines that could rival those made anywhere else in the world.
They began collaborating with neighbours and then released the first vintage of Booker Vineyard wines in 2005.
From there, they founded other labels and at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, consumers will get to taste a full complement of their portfolio from value to flagship wines.
Their Harvey & Harriet label is named after Eric Jensen’s parents. They loved to drink wine every night and appreciated affordable, everyday drinking wines. So this label represents the entry level of the Booker portfolio of wines.
This winery makes three wines: red, white and rose. The red and white wines will be available for tasting at the VIWF. I sampled both wines and they are great drinking wines that provide instant pleasure without aging.
The white wine is a blend of 50-per-cent Chardonnay, 18-per-cent Chenin Blanc, 14-per-cent Gruner Veltliner, 10-per-cent Albarino and eight-per-cent Viognier that is matured 10 months in 35-per-cent new oak.
I tasted oak, caramel, tangerines and tropical fruits with tropical fruit and honeydew on the palate and a minerally and oaky aftertaste.
It is available for purchase at Marquis Wine Cellar for $33.99.
Their red wine is a blend of 57-per-cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 13-per-cent Petit Verdot, 12-per-cent Syrah, seven-per-cent Petit Syrah, seven-per-cent Malbec, two-per-cent Grenache and two-per-cent Cabernet Franc, matured 18 months in 50-per-cent new French oak.
It is available for purchase at Marquis Wine Cellar for $39.99.
Right out of the bottle, you get lots of dark fruit flavours with cherry, cardamom and brown sugar on the nose. With both of these wines, don’t overthink or overanalyze them… just enjoy them!
MFN or My Favorite Neighbor is a label inspired by Eric’s friendship with his favourite neighbour in Paso Robles, Stephen Asseo of L’Aventure Winery and represents their mid-level tier of wines. Grapes used in these wines are sourced from neighbouring vineyards in San Luis Obispo County.
Consumers will get to enjoy their MFN 2022 Blanc at the VIWF, which is made with 100-per-cent Chardonnay grapes.
This is what I think really great California Chardonnay should taste like: butter and oak, but not "overoaked." I also get pear and lime tastes and aromas with orange blossoms and peel on the aftertaste. It should be priced in the $60 to $70 range at the VIWF onsite liquor store.
Finally, consumers will get a real treat by tasting the Booker 2021 Perl, one of their flagship wines. Booker is known for their Syrah grapes and this wine is reminiscent of the great Rhone wines from France.
This wine is a blend of 91-per-cent Syrah and nine-per-cent Grenache. Individual lots of grapes were destemmed, fermented in stainless steel and aged in 50-per-cent new French oak barrels.
This is a very heavy, tannic wine built for aging. Give it lots of aeration but when served optimally, it will give you black olives, raspberry and violets on the nose and dark fruit, black pepper, olives and licorice on the palate.
For more information about these wines, please see my in-depth review of the wines here.
I also had the privilege of speaking to Carson O’Connor, brand ambassador for Booker Vineyards. See my interview with him here.
Carson is really engaging and he will be attending the International Festival Tastings, so say hello to him at the Booker Vineyards booth.
I will also be attending the International Festival Tastings on Feb. 27 and 28 so hope to see many readers there!
For more information about the Vancouver International Wine Festival, see their website. Until next time, happy drinking!
Tony Kwan is a Richmond News columnist. Lawyer by day, and a food and wine lover by night. Kwan is an epicurean who writes about wine, food and enjoying all that life has to offer.
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