Are you ready to sip? Slurp and taste? “The Wine World is Here!“ The world is coming to the Vancouver International Wine Festival: February 23 – March 3, 2019. With 1450 different wines to choose from, 160 wineries from all over the world, 25 venues to 54 events and 16 participating countries spread out over an 8-day period. Why would you not want to come and stay with us while you’re at it. Not to mention, we also have free parking available to all of our guests and if you’ll be doing some tastings at this year’s festival, won’t that come in handy?
The Vancouver International Wine Festival is coming to Vancouver in late February until early March. This is Canada and one of Vancouver’s premier events. This event has three goals in mind when the event is hosted: to provide an informative, educational and entertaining experience for the public as well as trade. Not to mention this event is also hosted to raise funds for our infamous “Bard On The Beach” Theatre Society. (Stay tuned for a feature blog on Bard On The Beach coming out in mid to late-April.)
This is Canada’s premier wine show and widely considered to be the best event of its kind in North America. With over 25,000 admissions and at 40 years of age, it is one of the biggest and oldest wine events in the world. It has been voted the “#1 Food, Wine & Hospitality Event in Canada” the last five years in a row. The Trade Days Conference, which runs February 27 to March 1, comprises twelve of the festival’s fifty events.
The heart of the festival is the Tasting Room (located in the heart of the Gastown neighbourhood – 45 Blood Alley Square), where the public can choose from 750 different wines at four International festival tastings, and industry professionals can sample those plus an additional 160 wines at two trade tastings. There are over 45 special events that orbit the tasting room (seminars, vintage tastings, winery dinners, lunches, brunches, and more) at which 550 other wines are served.
The 2018 festival featured wines from 16 countries. There is a focus on a different region or country every year. Each featured region has its own section in the Tasting Room and offers thematic seminars with various pairings throughout the week. In 2018, the festival celebrated wines from Iberian Peninsula neighbours, Spain (with over 38 wineries) and Portugal (with over 20 wineries). This year, 2019, the spotlight will be on California (with a whopping 2000-plus wineries in the state alone).
Now if this hasn’t got you excited yet, we don’t know what else would?! We look forward to having you!
