Malbec will flow at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

Steel yourself—your palate in particular—for a mass of Malbec, a sea of Sauvignon Blanc, a plethora of pinks”¦ Stop me before I alliterate again! The 32nd annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is looming large on our events horizon. It’s later than usual this year, but where would they have found a big enough space for this extravaganza in February or March?

Each year, there’s a “theme region”. This year there are two: Argentina and New Zealand. Which means big, bold reds—those being the Malbecs—and spicy, sharp whites—Sauvignon Blancs, the specialties of these two wine countries.

There’s also a “global focus” each year, usually a wine or a grape variety. This year, it’s the pinks—rosé, with dinners and other functions shining a spotlight on what used to be kind of an infra dig tipple. Enough of that, said the wine drinkers of the world, me among them; let’s get this stuff into a glass and get guzzling. Here’s a chance to work your way through as big a bunch of pink wines as have ever met in a single room.

All found, there are 60-plus events scheduled, among them tastings, tutored or random; seminars and similar sessions to elucidate and educate—and, in not a few cases, send you nodding off—winery dinners; parties; and casual get-togethers as well as formal ones. A prime feature of the festival is the Bacchanalia Gala Dinner and Auction, a lavish big-ticket party ($400 per person/$3,200 for a table of eight, plus what you are exhorted to spend on auction items) always on a Wednesday night (April 21 this year), which starts around 6 p.m. and lasts forever.

The festival runs April 19 to 25 at the Vancouver Convention Centre and benefits the Playhouse. If you like numbers, here are some more: approximately 1,700 wines will be poured, 761 of them in the International Festival Tasting Room, on the three nights of public tastings (April 22, 23, and 24); 197 participating wineries, 36 from Argentina and 41 from New Zealand; 14 wine regions participating, including B.C. (Remember, the festival began as the California Wine Festival with only one winery taking part. Guess which one it was and win a bottle of Welsh claret!)

Attendance, based on previous performance, is estimated at 25,000. Every single one of those people will crowd into the Tasting Room and try to get to every single winery table to taste every single wine.

It can’t be done.

Selecting two Southern Hemisphere countries, each with a unique specialization, covers wine of both official colours. For years, Argentina watched enviously as major currency flocked to neighbouring Chile, which was producing major volumes of excellent-value wines of both colours. On my single journey so far to Argentina, about a decade-and-a-half ago, I was struck—not impressed, just struck—by huge vats full of rough and raunchy reds, more likely to induce peristaltic action than sighs of satisfaction.

That’s changed in a major way. Winemaking styles did a 360, old-wood aging went out the window, style and subtlety replaced hamfistedness and high alcohol. Malbec was recast and reborn in a New World style.

Malbec is one of the five French red varieties that can go into a Meritage wine. In Argentina, they pretty much leave it on its own, varietally speaking, to produce rich, mellow, assertive food wines that have become one of the country’s big specialties. Considering the fact that 12, 15 years ago we saw maybe 10 Argentine wines in our liquor stores, it’s worth noting there are currently nearly 50 Argentine Malbecs alone listed by the “gummint”, as Pogo used to call it.

These come at prices ranging from $9 to $164. Now, I haven’t shelled out the big bills for that one yet, but I’ve spent plenty of pleasant moments at the $10 to $20 end of the spectrum, sharing quite a few with you here. Argentina has also come to be something of a leader in the production of the white Torrontés; a number of those are being poured here too.

On the other side of the world, New Zealand has emerged as one of the leading producers of Sauvignon Blanc, with a sharp and edgy style favouring impressions of grass clippings, underripe gooseberries, and yes, cat’s pee. Someone has taken what was initially meant to be pejorative and turned it into a label: Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush is a crowd-pleasing Sauvignon that sells here for around $16. I’m sure it will be part of the showing at the festival.

While New Zealand also sends us quite a bit of red wine—almost all of it Pinot Noir—plus Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and some adequate if not inspired Riesling, the real thrust is Sauvignon Blanc. Of the 55 New Zealand whites the LDB currently lists, 49 are Sauvignons, from Auntsfield Estate Long Cow to Zed, mostly middling-priced and ranging from $16 to $35.

As for the rosés, just remember that the days of candy-floss-flavoured White Zinfandel are pretty much a thing of the past. Expect to taste outstanding food wines with a pretty pink hue, from France and Italy and Australia, and especially from British Columbia. If the folks from JoieFarm are in the house, ask for a sip of their sensational ReThink Pink! rosé, or have a taste of St. Hubertus Frizzante (new vintage just released) or any of the 20 or so other B.C. pinks. Get set for some serious surprises for the taste buds.

Festival executive director Harry Hertscheg gets the last word: “2010 is all about altitude, latitude and attitude.” Expect a major party.

Anything else you want to know can be found at playhousewinefest.com/, tasting tickets and reservations too.