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.
This year’s VIWF features 173 wineries from 16 countries, including featured countries Spain and Portugal. All will be represented at the Tasting. Besides individual exhibitor stalls and an area devoted to the featured countries, the Tastings will also feature Regional Tasting Stations from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Many wine- and food-related exhibitors will also be offering their wares.
Pro tip—According to the festival website, Thursday (March 1) is the best night to interact with the winemakers. “Attendance is guaranteed to be 30percentt lower than the other two evenings,” the website says. The Saturday (March 3) matinee has a 20 percent lower capacity, and offers a less expensive, albeit shorter, tasting experience. This is the one to attend if you want to take advantage of the ballroom’s view looking out across Coal Harbour.
As of this writing, tickets were still available for the following events (availability subject to change):
Feudi: The Beautiful South—Winery dinner Feb. 28 from 6:30-10 p.m. at Beach Bay Cafe and Patio (1193 Denman St.)
Graham’s Tawny Port—Seminar March 1 5:15-6:45 p.m. at VCC West, meeting room 118
Decanter World Wine Awards—Seminar Saturday March 3 5:15-6:45 p.m. at VCC West, meeting room 118
Torres: History Builds Future—Seminar Thursday March 1 5:15-6:45 p.m. at VCC West, meeting room 121
Pinot Noir California Style—Seminar, Friday March 2 5:15-6:45 p.m. at VCC West, meeting room 118
California Crush—Mingler, Wednesday Feb. 28 8:30-11 p.m. at Waterview (2nd floor, 1661 Granville St.)\
For a hotel/VIWF 2018 Tasting Room package visit StayVancouverHotels.com.
For more info on the 2018 Vancouver International Wine Festival visit winefest.ca.
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