I'm not an oenophile (although I'm enough of one to know what it means) but I enjoy good wine and will always jump at the chance to go to wine tastings and swirl, sniff and sample. I nod knowingly and look like I am really tasting the notes of mango, cinnamon, cigars, cat pee or God knows what else the vendor describes in the wine. Really, I just know what I like and what I don't and anyway, it's kind of fun to pretend to be a snob for an evening.

So with media pass in hand I ended up at the New Zealand Wine Fair the other night. Now my knowledge of New Zealand wine consists of a couple sauv blancs I tried a few years ago that were decidedly "meh." But boy was I in for a treat.

Not only does New Zealand make sauv blanc they are also emerging as a name in the pinot noir category and also have some really great rieslings and pinot gris, both being wines that I always seem to hear are "hard to do well." There are also sparkling wines, syrahs, chardonnays, roses and dessert wines of varying qualities.

And for those who are attempting to green their diets, these may not be locally grown or certified organic (although many wineries don't use pesticides) but new Zealand is working to make its wine industry 100% sustainable by 2012. Already over 75% of wineries are operating under sustainability programs. You can find out more about their program here.

I started off the night with a lovely sparkling wine from Soljans Estate which wasn't too dry (which I hate) and had really nice, tiny bubbles that tickled the tongue.

Some of the biggest wines I tried were from Borthwick Vinyard, located along east coast of the north island (most NZ wine comes from the Malborough district on the north end of the south island). The pinot gris was especially textured, there was a lot of depth in it which I liked, although the riesling was very sharp and somewhat overpowering.

I had to stop at Judge Rock because I noticed they had come all the way out to show just one wine. They are a family winery and only produce pinot noir -- they want to do one wine really well as I was told. And they do. This was one of my favourite wines of the night, with a velvety texture and a smooth finish.

Another favourite was O:TU, again they came with just a sauv blanc but boy was it good. I'll refrain from describing it because I don't think I can and besides, I can no longer read the notes I wrote at this point in the evening.

I also enjoyed the Triplebank pinot gris and the Tohu sauv blanc, which smelled like a bowl of fruit but wasn't to sweet, just really clean.

I saved the dessert wine by Konrad for last, it was the only one on offer at the show and worth the wait. Maybe it was just because I was good and tipsy (I don't do the swish and spit crap -- no point wasting good wine) but the flavours were perfect and it wasn't syrup like many dessert wines.

Unfortunately most of my favourites don't have distributors in Alberta yet but keep watching for them, I know I will, wine this good will find its way here eventually.