Get ready to swirl, sniff and do a lot of sipping as the 36th annual Vancouver International Wine Festival (VIWF) pours its way into YVR this week. That’s right, if you haven’t heard yet the Vancouver International Wine Festival will be taking over the Vancouver Convention Centre from February 24th to March 2nd – featuring 1,750 different wines from 178 global wineries, with this year’s theme celebrating all things French.
Known as one of the best wine festivals in North America, VIWF is definitely one worth checking out and offers a plethora of ways to get out and enjoy exploring the world of wine and cuisine. Whether it’s a more formal event you’re after, a slightly more serious seminar, tutored tastings or larger public tastings, VIWF has it all covered.
We’ve sifted through the festival’s 54 different event options and pulled a few of our top picks you ought to consider attending. Don’t wait… they will sell out before you know it!
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Skip out of work on Wednesday and book the morning off for the festival’s Blind Tasting Challenge at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. This fun and quasi-serious challenge is a great way to warm up your palate for the week ahead; with wine and culinary pros going up against consumers to blind taste a series of wines using the WSET method. Post reveal, enjoy noshing on treats courtesy of the PICA team of talented chefs-in-training.
The Acura Tasting Room will land you in a sea of wine. With more than 780 different varieties available to taste from 177 wineries representing 14 countries, you’ll be in oenophile heaven. Friday and Saturday night tickets are already sold out, but there are still tickets to attend Thursday evening’s kick-off ($89) or the new Saturday afternoon event ($69). Grab your spot and gear up that palate accordingly.
Give your tastebuds a bite of Australia’s national comfort food – pie with a side of vino – on Saturday, March 1st at the festival’s first ever Life of Pie tasting event. You’ll head on a trip Down Under and sample an assortment of meat, veggie and seafood pies (courtesy of the Aussie Pie Guy). To wash it all down, sip your way through a few dozen Australian wine offerings. Tickets are still available for $69 and the event takes place at Loungeworks starting at noon.
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Will you be heading to Vancouver’s International Wine Festival? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @ViewTheVibe.
