Wine lovers line up for limited Bordeaux release

VANCOUVER — People were lining up for over 12 hours last night, but it wasn’t for the latest Apple product or concert tickets.

Instead, wine aficionados were gathered in front of the Signature BC Liquor Store on 39th St. and Cambie, hoping to get their hands on limited Bordeaux wines released today.

The 2011 vintage – which went on sale at 9:30 a.m. – is available on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the Liquor Distribution Branch.

“I would describe it as a classic vintage; it’s something where you would recognize the wines as Bordeaux. Medium body, they have red fruits as well as black fruits,” Barb Philip, master of wine and European Wine Portfolio Manager, told Global News.

Philip said 2011 was an interesting vintage because of the weather patterns in France, which were cloudy and moist during the summer months, making some of the grapes susceptible to mould.

“It’s a vintage where you have to make, as a buyer, a real selection,” she says. “Unlike the outstanding 2009 and 2010 vintages.”

However, as a result of this, Philip said the prices are 15 to 20 per cent lower than last year – but so are the quantities.

“We had to be careful in what we selected, so therefore quantities are lower, but the wine are all very good,” she says.