True Grape: Check out the Taste of Wine tent

Events aim to educate, elevate the quality of guests’ experiences

Good quality wine does not have to be expensive. A visit to Taste of Edmonton (ToE) this summer (July 17-26) should hit that point home for some half a million attendees expected over the 10-day event.

ToE organizer Paul Lucas, who is Events Edmonton’s general manager, possesses a philosophy that more festival organizers should adopt. The desire for Lucas and his team is to elevate the quality of their guests’ experience.

If you are a wine lover or just learning about wine (or just like to drink it), this year’s ToE should make you pretty happy.

The Taste of Wine tent will feature a selection of great quality, affordable wines that could very easily serve as a shopping list for consumers.

All the wines over-deliver with respect to their pricequality ratio, and many represent the best examples of their respective styles and grape varieties for their prices.

The Navarro Lopez Old Vines Tempranillo, for example, is considered internationally as one of the best value wines in the world (retails for under $15).

A visit (or several) to the Sip ’n’ Savour tent is also a must. Each night (6-10 p.m.) will feature different themes, chefs and beverages. I Dare You on Friday, July 18, gives you the opportunity to taste great quality wines that you may not have heard of before (Vermentino, Marsanne, Nero d’Avola, etc). Wine & Swine (July 21) brings you killer wines that pair well with pork. In the Wild (July 25) features bold and flavourful wines to pair with wild game. You get the idea.

There will also be experienced wine professionals onsite to guide you through the experience, answer questions and help demystify the world of wine. Wine shouldn’t be intimidating. It should be fun and accessible and you shouldn’t have to compromise on quality.

This year’s ToE is taking a big step toward that goal. It’s time for other festivals in our city to follow Taste of Edmonton’s lead.

For complete listings and tickets to Sip ’n’ Savour visit tasteofedm.ca/

Edm onton Journal /file Taste of Edmonton brings in chefs like the New Asian Village’s Khusro Syedmohammed, seen here in July 2013, to show off their specialties. This year’s event begins July 17.