My first business trip in the wine industry was in 2001. I was invited to Bordeaux for the release of the 2000 vintage. There was a lot of excitement about the inaugural vintage of the new millennium and the wines were being highly touted. It was a pretty incredible way to start my career and I looked forward to visiting historic and established châteaux like Smith-Haut-Lafitte and Cos d’Estournel.
It was also at the height of the garagiste movement. This trend saw the emergence of new properties without history or pedigree garnering high point scores and commanding lofty prices. I was just as curious about these newcomers. I met with Jean-Luc Thunevin of Château Valandraud in Saint-Émilion who was one of the original garagiste and visited microchâteaux like Rol Valentin. The style of wine was a departure from the classic wines of Bordeaux. Rather than the firmly structured, backward reds that required years to come around, the vins de garage tended to be immediately flattering, full, fruit-forward and generously oaked. Furthermore, these winemakers were producing tiny quantities compared to the more famous châteaus (hundreds rather than thousands of cases). And, yes, in some cases, the wines were being made in what was essentially a converted garage or workshop.
While Bordeaux’ vins de garage are still being made, the frenzy has waned (and prices have dropped). Yet the garagiste concept has spread and morphed. It was adopted in the US with festivals in California bringing together artisanal wineries crafting small-lots. They champion the undiscovered and spawn cult followings. The wineries are united by the limited production of their wines.
It’s no surprise that the trend has reached British Columbia. New wineries keep popping up but they seen to be in competition for who makes the least. I’ll be honest; I find it hard to keep up with all the new labels. And it’s my job to. I often wonder how these micro-producers manage to sell their wine. They don’t have famous wine critics doling out huge point scores. Most of them work fulltime jobs on the side and have neither a tasting room nor a marketing budget.
Enter Jennifer Schell and Terry Meyer-Stone. Schell is the editor of Food & Wine Trails Magazine while Meyer-Stone works at Tinhorn Creek and is a “garagiste” in her own right. Recognizing that there is strength in numbers, they established Garagiste North in 2014. Also known as The Small Guys Wine Festival, it is a collective of approximately 20 winemakers each producing less than 2,000 cases (usually in their own garage-like winery or at a custom crush facility). The wines don’t represent a specific style, rather they run the gamut of familiar favourites from Pinot Gris and Chardonnay to Pinot Noir and Bordeaux blends as well as less mainstream grapes like Ortega, Zweigelt and Marechal Foch.
If you wish to explore BC wine’s small side, Garagiste North takes place this Sunday afternoon (April 17) from 2-4:30pm at the Wise Hall (1882 Adanac Street) in East Vancouver. Tickets are $49 and available through Eventbrite. To sweeten the pot, there will be live music from Chicken-Like Birds and Peruvian snacks provided by Chicha.
I’ll be revealing my top BC “garage” wines in next week’s column.
