Consider the numbers: 1,600 different wines by 176 wineries from 16 countries. They’ll be appearing in some 60 separate events, way more than half of which have long since sold out. Years ago, someone figured out how many glasses that would entail dishwashingwise, and it came to some googly number like 30,000.

As a fundraiser, it sure has raised funds—nearly $6 million to help Canada’s leading theatre company (some would qualify that by saying Western Canada’s, but I’m an old-school chauvinist who buys into the original definition of the term) to mount 203 productions.

And now consider this number: 30 years. That’s how long the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival has been rocking the town’s foodies and winos—that’s longer than many restaurants, most marriages, and virtually all North American cars. Impressive by any standard.

The event was originally called the California Wine Festival, and one winery kicked it all off—Robert Mondavi. In recent years, they’ve thrown the doors open to all comers, except that there’s a lot of politics that goes on backstage as to who gets in—and which wine region gets proclaimed as the theme. Italy got lucky for number 30, and someone with a crotchety Italian-English dictionary came up with the slogan Innovation by Tradition, whatever that means.

Nor is that enough of a fine-tuner; there’s also the “global focus”, which this year is sparkling wines. If you’re a lover of all things bright and bubbly, there’s more of what you crave in this year’s festival. As well, there are winery dinners (15 of those), sit-down lunches (five, featuring wineries from Washington state, Argentina, Germany, South Africa, and New Zealand), grazing lunches (five of them), and brunches (lots of little ones and a couple of big ones, the best of which by far is the famous Vintners Brunch).

There are three wine-and-food grazers, three wine parties, two boardroom tastings, and seven seminars, most of which you can miss unless you’re a die-hard who needs to know all about BF 30 clones. I’ve attended a lot of them over the years—even moderated a few—and they tend to be brut by most definitions you’d care to apply. Not a single partridge.

At last update, a handful of winery dinners still had tickets available, including a premium-sake event. It’s a good plan to check the festival’s Web site for information on ticket availability. New this year is a sensible innovation: tickets to certain events can be bought directly from the Playhouse’s box office, through www.playhousewinefest.com/.

The festival is being held earlier this year than it’s been in the past. Apparently the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre had something else booked. You’d think that after all these years they’d give the home team a little preference over the League of Singing Dentists of North Carolina. But hey, that’s the convention biz, eh?

I’m not prepared to admit how many of these festivals I’ve attended since number one, but I’d be willing to wager that there aren’t many around town who can top me. Maybe John Levine. And John Schreiner. And Andrew Quady—his California all-sweet-wines winery has grandfathered itself into the mix nicely, and we’re all glad that Quady is still pouring for us.

All those ancillary events are fine and tasty, but the heart of the festival remains, as it always will, the three nights of tastings. Yes, they’re crowded and noisy, but they’re what the festival is all about: an opportunity to get close to a winery principal, and sometimes even a winemaker; get a taste or two, or 10; and ask some questions, make some notes, and go out the next day and buy some wine you liked.

Or do it right then and there. Not all of the wines being poured are available in B.C.—some of them are fishing projects, or loss leaders, whatever. But every single one of the 1,600 is for sale at the LDB’s on-site wine shop. A sure gauge of what’s terrific in the tasting room is to visit the wine shop about an hour and a half into the Thursday-night tasting and see which shelves have already emptied. We’ve got a lot of savvy wine buyers in this city.

I can’t tell you about all 176 wineries, nor would I want to, but here’s where I’ll be stopping for a taste. Remember, the wineries are organized alphabetically starting from A in the main room, while the Italians are grouped together in a separate section.

Let’s begin there: Antinori, Donnafugata, Masi, and Carpineto, for sure. It’s your call on the other 48 under the red, white, and green.

From Australia: Peter Lehmann, Wolf Blass, and Yellow Tail, just because. Discover the others for yourself; it’s a fascinating trip.

From B.C.: Sumac Ridge first—it’s become my palate-treat tradition over the last decade. I start my tasting with a hit of the current vintage of Steller’s Jay Brut, then meander around as long as my feet and taste buds can stand it. Then it’s back to the Steller’s for a chapeau de nuit, a digestif, a tummy soother. Don’t miss stopping by Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate for some of their Discovery Series wines; See Ya Later Ranch for three-ways with three Pinots (at least); Tinhorn Creek Vineyards for Sandra Oldfield’s comparison Merlots (just ask); Gray Monk for the sake of quality and history going hand in hand; and Mission Hill, just to see that, as Julio Gallo used to say, “You don’t have to be small to be good!”

Check out Chile’s Anakena for some intriguing organics; Quinta do Crasto for a fascinating update on what’s happening in Portugal; and if you’re still drinking French, Cave de Tain for one of the best taste experiences you’ll have in this whole festival, and Nicolas Feuillatte for the new order of champagne.

This year’s South African contingent has diminished dramatically compared with previous years. Why is that? One good thing—one very good thing—is that Saxenburg is still here. Try everything and reserve your favourites.

From California, check out Clos du Bois, J. Lohr, and the aforementioned Quady, and maybe see if Francis Ford Coppola is pouring any of that Sofia pink bubble that comes in the cans. Fun.

That’s my must list, but like all such things, it’s entirely personal and seriously subjective.

Lots of other people will have told you about festival etiquette, so you don’t need that lecture from me. Just remember one vital thing: eat something before you come and taste. There is food in the room—bread and cheese and pí¢té and such—but you’ve never seen such frenzied hoovering in civilized society as when they bring the trays out.

Enjoy the 30-year-old. They’re modest down at the Playhouse—although they have no reason to be—when they say it’s one of the biggest and best festivals in North America. I’ve been to hundreds, and I say it’s—still and all, crowds and more crowds—maybe not the biggest, but certainly the best of its kind. Yeah, in the world.