Vancouver International Wine Festival - Feb 2025
Vancouver
Tasted Monday, October 13, 2025 by rnjbond with 59 views
Introduction
Attended the Vancouver International Wine Festival for the second consecutive year.
This year, the theme was US wines (prior year, it was Italy), which was a little tense considering the geopolitical and tariff situations.
Enjoyed a lot of wines on the walkaround, but didn't take any detailed notes there.
Instead, I took notes from the two wine seminars I attended: West Coast Wine Allstars and The Global Cru.
I'm belatedly entering these notes, more for myself than anything else.
Flight 1 - West Coast Wine Allstars (10 Notes)
Entirely focused on wines from California, Oregon, and Washington. Solid selection, clear favorites were Ridge and S by Signorello.
Flight 2 - The Global Cru (10 Notes)
The theme of this fun seminar was a global journey to discover some of the world's best vineyards. While a lofty goal, this was still a fun tasting.
Closing
Great weekend and look forward to hopefully going again next year!
I really enjoy these seminars, because the tasting room can get a little chaotic and there isn't enough time to savor the wines, but with the seminar, you get to really enjoy the wines and learn more about what went into each, as each winery has a representative who flew in for this!
2014 Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée 86 Points
USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay
Baked break, lemon zest, citrus, slight orange, and slight marmalade notes.
Enjoyable, but lacking the complexity I would have liked. Maybe I need to try again, judging by the other scores here.
86 points.
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2021 Robert Mondavi Winery The Estates Fumé Blanc 85 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Pear, peach, nectarine, with some minerality.
A little flat on the palate.
85 points.
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2022 Lingua Franca Chardonnay Avni 86 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Lemon, peach, slight pineapple, slight astringency on the palate, alongside nice acidity.
Found this to be a relatively refreshing Chardonnay.
86 points.
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2018 Black Stallion Estate Winery Pinot Noir Limited Release 89 Points
USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Red cherry, fresh strawberry, pomegranate.
Surprisingly somewhat grippy tannins and slight sawdust on the palate.
89 points.
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2019 Justin Vineyards & Winery Isosceles 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Bellpepper, young peppercorn, dark cherry, plum, blueberry, and slight strawberry notes.
Enjoyable wine, in spite of the stigma Justin has.
90 points.
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2020 Orin Swift Papillon 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Blueberry and cherry notes.
Slightly muted nose.
No smoke taint, although slight ashiness (no uncommon in Napa wines).
Strong tannins.
89 points.
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2021 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 92 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Favorite of the "West Coast Wine Allstars" seminar, but no surprise given my love of Ridge.
Dark plum, white pepper, eucalyptus notes.
High acidity, high tannins, long finish.
This definitely needs time, but already drinking nicely with some air.
92+ points.
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2021 Aquilini Cabernet Sauvignon A56 88 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Dark plum, cherry, nice nose with tannins.
Felt a little unbalanced and not as complex as I would like, which I've picked up in a lot of Columbia Valley Cabernets.
88 points.
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2021 Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon S by Ray Signorello 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
This was quite the enjoyable wine.
Somewhat juicy.
Blueberry, cherry, dark plums notes with slight pepper.
Very approachable with medium+ tannins and a nice finish.
91+ points.
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2022 McPrice Myers Cabernet Sauvignon M by Mac and Billy 85 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Wine seminar at Vancouver International Wine Festival.
This one unfortunately fell flat. May just be this bottle or this glass.
Very young with high tannins.
Decent note, although some green bellpepper alongside cherry.
Felt a tiny bit chemically on the palate, which was a disappointment.
85 points.
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