Saturday July 18, 2009
10:00am-12:00noon
Inn at Laurel Point
Venue Map

The female vintners in BC are on the rise!  Taste: Victoria’s Festival of Food and Wine is proud to present a stunning six-pack of fabulously smart and interesting women who are leaders in BC’s wine industry.

The Women of BC Wine are joined by the province’s sparkling and comical wine personality, David Scholefield for a light seminar with some serious sips, Saturday, July 18 at 10 a.m. at The Inn at Laurel Point.  Stephanie Leinemann of Peller Estates, Katie Dickieson of Calona Vineyards, Kathy Malone of Hillside Estate Winery, Brooke Blair of Jackson-Triggs Estate, Sandra Oldfield of Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and Elaine Kozak of Garry Oaks Winery will share their stories, their wines, and some secrets of their success!

All of our Women of BC Wine are from the Okanagan with the exception of Salt Spring Island’s Elaine Kozak.  Elaine began her winemaking career picking grapes in the Champagne region with a band of gypsies.  She then paused to return to Eastern Canada and get degrees in psychology, information sciences, and international political economy, and that pause lengthened to many years doing public policy work related to industry and trade development.

Finally, in 1999, Elaine and her husband left the corporate world to turn their love of the country and good wine into a way of life. They purchased a hundred-year old sheep farm on Salt Spring Island and began the long process of converting it from grazing to growing.

Over the next three years, seven acres of vines were planted and a winery built. A century-old orchard of apple, pear, plum and cherry trees was rehabilitated to enhance the beauty of the site and retain the diversity of its flora. A stand of magnificent Garry Oak trees was preserved and gives the winery estate its name.

Like a great wine that’s constantly evolving, the potential is boundless for these revolutionary women of BC’s wine industry.  Meet them now so that you can say you “knew them when…” Tickets for the Women of BC Wine Seminar and Tasting are $59 each and available at www.VictoriaTaste.com.

Taste: Victoria’s Festival of Food and Wine, includes over 20 events between July 16 and 19, 2009, around Victoria, the Cowichan Valley and the Saanich Peninsula. Wine and food seminars, chocolate and tea tastings, a behind-the-scenes look at BC’s seafood industry, an urban foraging expedition and a pig roast, ensure that there really is something for everyone who enjoys a bite or a beverage. Individual event tickets are priced between $10 and $169 and are on sale now at www.VictoriaTaste.com.  A complete schedule and description of Taste Festival events is available at www.VictoriaTaste.com/events