THE 2016 OTTAWA WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL: NEW LOCATION, EXCITING NEW EXPERIENCES
Stomp grapes like a traditional winemaker. Confer with the world’s newest cheese master while sampling exceptional cheeses from around the world. Taste inventive dishes from a premier Ottawa chef in his own kitchen. Stir up a mocktail or decorate a cupcake for the holidays. Unwind on the beach with a rum punch.
These experiences and more await visitors to this year’s Ottawa Wine and Food Festival, Nov. 4-6 at the EY Centre. This is a new venue for the 31-year-old festival, and allows it to move to the next level, says show producer Joan Culliton. “The EY Centre gives us the perfect canvas to expand and develop innovative visitor experiences that are hands-on and immersive.”
The centre’s location on Uplands Drive off Hunt Club Road is a spacious site for the festival, she says. “It’s a 12-minute drive from downtown. For the 84 per cent of our attendees who come from other parts of the National Capital Region and Ontario, many will find the trip shorter than in previous years.” The neighbourhood surrounding the show boasts a varied collection of food and beverage experiences, as well as several boutique restaurants.
At the festival, decor Culliton describes as “vineyard chic” will set the scene for a flight of new experiences: Stomp the Grapes: Always wanted to climb barefoot into a vat of grapes and trample out the juice before it’s turned into wine? Here’s your chance. Daily, 1-3 p.m. included in your day pass. The Cheese Vault: Enter this impressive 5,500-sq.-ft. space to taste 24 cheeses from Italy, France, Holland and Canada curated by Afrim Pristine, a certified cheese master, or maître fromager. One of just six Canadians and the youngest person in the world to have achieved this designation, Pristine has created a cheese specially for the festival. The Cheese Vault experience
kicks off with a 20-minute Q&A session where participants can ask Pristine absolutely anything about finding, storing and serving the perfect cheese. (And if you sampled every cheese in the vault, you’d be eating over one pound of cheese. Go ahead – we dare you!) (see times online), $19 plus day pass
VIP Tasting Alley: The brandnew Infinity Centre, a dazzling 20,000-sq.-ft., $20 million facility with a 23-foot water wall, fireplaces and 225,000 crystals, plays host to the VIP Tasting Alley, an event that perennially sells out. In the Tasting Alley, participants can sample 75 curated wines, visit gourmet tasting stations and join in the fun at the first-ever Kitchen Soiree, hosted by Chef Jason Peters. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris, Peters has over 15 years of experience in fine dining in Canada and internationally, and brings to his cuisine a deep appreciation for local, sustainably produced food. Fri-Sat, 6-8 p.m. $105 Après! A Masterclass in FUN!: Learn to prepare artisanal cocktails and mocktails, nosh on cool late-night food and party on with music, dancing and more. Saturday 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. included in your Arrive after Five ticket. VVV VIP All-Access Pass: Arrive any time, come and go as you please, be part of a one-hour “lockdown”
in the cheese vault – beer, wine and cheese included – and stay for Après – A Masterclass in FUN! Saturday only. $75
Arrive after Five: Arrive any time after 5:30 p.m. on Saturday for VIP entry/immediate access to the Tasting Floor as well as admission to Après – A Masterclass in FUN! $49.95
Hit the beach: Stroll a 300-sq.-ft. indoor beach for a chance to win a trip to the Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival including VIP tickets, airfare and five nights for two at the Oceanfront – Slice of Life Hilton Barbados. Daily
These new attractions will complement established favourites. All included in your $25 day pass, Sunday anniversary pricing $19.85: the Tasting Floor, offering samples of top-notch regional, national and international wines, beers, spirits and foods; Prep School’s free howto workshops with leading mixologists, craft beer makers and foodies; and the Local Food Emporium, showcasing handmade artisanal foods.
For those who want to make a night of it, the festival has partnered with the new Hampton and Holiday Inn Express hotels on special rates, including free breakfast and parking. Parking at the EY Centre is $8 and cars may be left overnight until noon the next day at no extra charge.
“It’s all about offering people the latest and greatest in food and beverage in a fun environment to sip, savour and learn,” Culliton says.