Dine Out festival will offer more choice than ever
Some good news to end the year and something to look forward to is the return of our very own Dine Out Vancouver Festival, Canada's largest food and drink celebration.
This season, diners can enjoy 31 days of feasting fun from Feb. 5 to March 7. Diners can look forward to a wealth of special menus and socially distanced gastronomic experiences that will adhere to all public health order restrictions and COVID-19 safety practices.
New this year, hundreds of participating restaurants will dish up menus in different price ranges rather than fixed prices to allow more flexibility and choice for patrons and expect special takeout offers. Reservations open, and menus are available on Jan. 25. Check out the website for more information.
Vancouver-based Statera Academy is an approved program provider for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust out of London, U.K., teaching levels 1 through 3 for qualifications in wine, spirits and sake.
After COVID regulations forced the academy to close temporarily, it pivoted and relaunched online courses with online exams. That means you get to take the course from home and complete the final exam from your home or office. For class offerings and more, there is info at Statera Academy.
B. C. WINE OF THE WEEK
Therapy Riesling 2019, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley $24.99 I 88/100
UPC: 626990308966 Winemaker/viticulturalist Jack Kempf continues to turn the Therapy ship around.
Look for intense floral, lime blossoms, white flowers flecked with orange.
Similar flavours mark the palate from front to back with some underlying mineral poking through the palate, rich in texture and minerals and a touch of complexing oxidation.
No rush to drink this.
You can use it as a squeeze of lemon now or wait for its full glory to jump forth by 202325.
WINE FOR THE CELLAR
Antinori Pèppoli Chianti Classico 2018, Tuscany, Italy
$26.99 I 90/100
UPC: 8001935001362
The move to Bargino and the new winery signalled a significant commitment by the Antinori family to raise the level of Chianti Classico to another level. Pèppoli is an Antinori single estate making top-flight Chianti Classico. In 2018, volumes returned to more normal levels, and while it was a warm year, it wasn't super hot, allowing the Sangiovese to ripen without baking. Look for bright red fruit with a savoury, forest floor undercurrent and juicy cherry notes. The textures are silky, the acidic fresh, and the finish long. A solid effort and it will pass easily through 2025 and beyond.