Events to hit, glass in hand
There’s no shortage of things to do over the course of a Vancouver summer, and many things are made even better with a glass of something delicious in hand.
One of the biggest events of the season, the Honda Celebration of Light, will have thousands flocking to beaches and balconies around English
at Dancing on the Edge; local artist Jon Park preparing for Vancouver Mural Festival; below left, Tatsuya Nakatani brings his gong artistry to the Powell Street Festival.
Volcano
The Bottle from page 24
near the banks of the Fraser River, a great chance to try what this writer considers some of the best wines in British Columbia is made all the more fantastic by the fact that it is free of charge. Next Tuesday and Wednesday (June 26 and 27), the Vancouver location of Everything Wine will be presenting the wines of Vancouver Island’s Averill Creek Vineyard between 2 and 6 p.m. at its tasting bar.
Located in the Cowichan Valley, Andy and Wendy Johnston’s 16-hectare estate features a mix of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Maréchal Foch, Foch Cabernet, Cabernet Libre, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. At the tasting, although Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer will be poured, what I’m most excited for attendees to try is Averill Creek’s Pinot Noir, potentially their flagship variety.
Winemaker Daniel Dragert, who has made wine in the Okanagan Valley as well as in New Zealand, where he got his viticulture-and-enology degree, has a way with Pinot that makes for consistent quality year after year. Breezy and elegant with plums and red berry fruit, his Pinot Noirs have a buoyancy as well as a juicy character, seemingly tailor-made for local salmon on the barbecue. For more information on the tasting, as well as a glance at Everything Wine’s busy calendar of tastings and events, hop over to everythingwine.ca/.
Finally, for those looking to do a little something in wine country without being too far from the city this summer, there are plenty of happenings close to home in the Fraser Valley. Backyard Vineyards has a music series with various performers every weekend to provide a soundtrack to your tasting experience, while Township 7 Vineyards and Winery hosts a Fraser Valley White Dinner on June 23, plus a handful of Romeo and Juliet “Bard in the Vineyard” performances in July.
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