The schedule for the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023 has been posted. There are dinners, seminars, minglers, trade events, and of course the International Festival Tasting room where you will be able to taste the wines from all 151 participating wineries. But which to choose? I have a few suggestions for you.
First, you should attend the International Festival Tasting room. You have a chance to taste wines from around the world, plus may be able to talk to one of the winery principals. The tastings are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, plus on Saturday afternoon. The least busy tasting is on Thursday night.
Dinners. There are many dinners at quality restaurants. Really, they all look great. So it may depend on what kind of wine or food you like. The 250th Celebration of MASI (Valpolicella wines from the Veneto region of Italy), Icons of South America at Five Sails winery (featuring wines from Viñedo Chadwick, Seña, and Arboleda), A Night with Marques de Riscal at Homer St Cafe and bar (wines from Rioja), and A Taste of Victory: Cedar Creek (BC wine) at Blue Water Cafe are all choices that peaked my attention.
All three grazing lunches on Saturday are good choices if you then go to the Festival Tasting room later that evening.
If you are in the Wine Trade, I think the Southern Exposure seminar would be a good choice if you are not that familiar with South American wines. Also for Trade people, A Tale of Two Terroirs, sounds interesting. I don’t which terroirs would be covered, maybe one Old World and one New World?
For the general public, The Shape of Wine, seminar should be very informative. I think it is a wine tasting using Riedel glasses. I was registered to attend last year, but it was cancelled. I hope to attend the seminar this year. If you want to taste some top-level wines from around the world, sign up for The Global Cru seminar.
I hope my musings have helped you pick some events to attend. The tickets are not yet on sale and details of each event are not yet posted. Ticket sales:
- Winery dinners go on sale Wednesday, March 1 at 9:30 a.m.
- All remaining public events go on sale Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30 a.m.
- All trade events go on sale Wednesday, March 15 at 9:30 a.m.
