Inside Vancouver

Raise a glass of California wine at the Arts Club’s annual fundraiser

by Shawn Conner in Food & Drink on March 20, 2018

The Arts Club Theatre Company is behind some of Vancouver’s best and liveliest theatre. This season alone, the company has brought audiences the Broadway hit Fun Home, the stunning, award-winning Angels in America Part II: Perestroika, and the family favourite Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

To help deliver these and other great shows every season, the Arts Club holds an annual fundraiser. The California Wine Fair Fundraiser is an all-inclusive, social tasting event that lets wine lovers sample selections from the Golden State.

This year’s event boasts a selection of over 400 wines from 150 of California’s top wineries. The tasting takes place Monday, April 9 at the Vancouver Convention Centre East (999 Canada Place). To find out more about the event, and upcoming Arts Club shows, keep reading.

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Raise a glass of California wine at the Arts Club’s annual fundraiser

Last chance tickets (and hotel deals!) for 2018 Vancouver International Wine Festival

by Shawn Conner in Food & Drink on February 8, 2018

Vancouver International Wine Festival 2018 tasting room and available events

Spain and Portugal are the featured countries at this year’s Vancouver International Wine Festival.

The International Tasting Festival is the heart of the Vancouver International Wine Festival (Feb. 24-March 4).

Held in a cavernous ballroom at the Vancouver Convention Centre (1055 Canada Place), the tasting brings together all of the festival’s participating wineries gather to pour their select wines over three evenings and one afternoon. It’s a chance to discover new wines, or return to your favourites. And it’s a great social occasion; Sunday sippers and veteran tipplers, and everyone in between, can not only share tasting notes and finds with fellow enthusiasts but chat up winery reps, grape growers and more industry experts.

While many VIWF events, including the March 3 Saturday night Tasting Festival, are sold-out, tickets are still available for three other Tastings (Thursday evening March 1, Friday evening March 2, and Saturday afternoon March 3). Book a room before Feb. 15 through StayVancouverHotels.com at a participating downtown hotel and get a free Tasting Room ticket (promo code: VIWF).

Still hesitating? Here’s what you need to know about the Tasting Festival, along with some intel on the last remaining events with available tickets.

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Last chance tickets (and hotel deals!) for 2018 Vancouver International Wine Festival

Last days of the 2017 Vancouver Int’l Wine Festival – tickets still available!

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on February 17, 2017

The Vancouver International Wine Festival tasting room at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Feb. 16 2017. Robyn Hanson photo.

The 2017 Vancouver International Wine Festival ends this weekend. But if you haven’t experienced the nine-day festival this year – or even if you have, and you want more – tickets are still available for some events.

While the seminars and many of the tastings are sold-out, oenophiles can still indulge in some fine Canadian wines at the Celebrating Canada’s 150th lunch on Saturday, Feb. 18. All 76 participating Canadian wineries will be there, with wines to accompany a menu featuring coast-to-coast delicacies, including West Coast king crab and Nova Scotia-style pan-fried oysters.

For the more casual wine drinker, tickets are still left for two sessions of one of the wine fest’s most popular events.

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Last days of the 2017 Vancouver Int’l Wine Festival – tickets still available!

Highlights of the 2016 Vancouver International Wine Festival

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on January 15, 2016

The 2015 Vancouver International Wine Festival. Photo by Jeff Vinnick.

Tickets are now on sale for the 38th annual Vancouver International Wine Festival. And this year’s spotlight country is one that you may have heard of in regards to wine – Italy.

This means that wines from different regions in the country will be the subject of seminars, dinners and other special events. Of course, wine from a number of other territories will be poured, sipped and savoured by the tens of thousands of oenophiles who flock to this popular event. Let’s look at some of this year’s highlights.

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Highlights of the 2016 Vancouver International Wine Festival