Vancouver International Wine Festival 2015
February 20 to March 1, 2015
The 37th Vancouver International Wine Festival, Canada’s top wine show, takes place February 20 to March 1. Over the course of eight days, the festival, which is presented by The Vancouver Sun, pours 1,750+ wines from 170 wineries from 14 countries at 53 events and 30 venues. There are 10 events exclusively for those in the wine and hospitality business.
What sets this festival apart? Vine stars. Every winery at the festival sends a vine star – winemaker, proprietor or senior exec – to Vancouver. You’re quite likely to find that the person pouring your wine has his or her name on the bottle. Vine stars are in their booths in the tasting room, at dinners, lunches, grazing events and everywhere their wines are served. Identify them by the royal blue lanyard holding their name badge.
The festival is headquartered at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and Australia takes centre stage this year. The global focus is on syrah and shiraz. The heart of the action is the Acura Tasting Room, which, along with its stunning view of the harbour and mountains, offers 750 wines from 170 wineries organized by country. The Savour Australia section features 55 Australian wineries, pouring 220 wines by region. And there are 170+ expressions of syrah/shiraz in the room. When you discover wines you like, you can buy them at the BC Liquor Store wine shop onsite. And should you find a wine you like a lot, if it has a BUY THE CASE sign, you may order a case directly from the booth. Whether you buy one or two bottles, or a case or more, BCLS offers free delivery to your nearest store within two weeks of the festival.
If you’re serious about your wine tasting experience and want more room (30 percent more!) and time to interact with the vine stars behind the bottles, Thursday night (Feb 26, 7-10 p.m.) and Saturday matinee (Feb 28, 3-5 p.m.) are guaranteed to have lower capacity than Friday and Saturday night sessions.
Some highlights for 2015: the luxe five-course, 10-wine Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction kicks off the fest on Friday, February 20 and the “wine list is formidable”, says Anthony Gismondi. Among the special events are four top Australian seminars (with three of them moderated by WineAlign writers). Seminars include Barossa’s Old Vine Heritage, moderated by Anthony Gismondi, and Geological Gems, hosted by Wine Australia’s Mark Davidson, both on Feb 27 at 5:15 p.m. And on Saturday, Feb 28 at 5:15 p.m., choose from McLaren Vale Scarce Earth, moderated by Rhys Pender MW, or Mod Oz, with Treve Ring and Mark Davidson moderating. See VanWineFest.ca for details on wines, presenters and vine stars present. Check the Festival at a Glance for availability.
Order online 24/7 or call 604-873-3311 or 1-877-321-3121 weekdays 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Many events are already sold out and others are going fast, so don’t delay. Click here to see the great events still available.
Details at vanwinefest.ca.
