The Wine Islands Vintners Association (WIVA) is holding its annual wine tasting event featuring wines, ciders, meads and spirits from over twenty of the islands best wineries. A sampling of the wineries attending are Averill Creek Vineyard, Beaufort Winery, Blue Grouse Winery, Carbrea Vineyard, Chase & Warren Estate Wines, Cherry Point Vineyard, Church & State Wines, Divino Estate Winery, Garry Oaks Vineyard, Merridale Ciderworks, Mistaken Identity Vineyards, Mooberry Winery, Morning Bay Farm, Muse Winery, Rocky Creek Winery, Salt Spring Vineyard, Saturna Vineyard, Sea Cider, Silverside Farm and Winery, Starling Lane Winery, Tugwell Creek Meadery, Venturi-Schulze Vineyards, and Zanatta Vineyards. This occasion will be held at The Inn at Laurel Point on Thursday, May 13th. It will be open to industry members from 2 – 4 pm and open to the public from 5 – 7pm. Tickets for the public are $25.00 and are available at the Spinnakers in the James Bay Square – 425 Simcoe Street, Victoria (250.590.3515) – and Spinnakers Spirit Merchants – West side village 176 Wilson Street (250.360.1333). Trade must register for tickets in advance, and may do so by sending an email to wiva@wineislands.ca.
“Following the success of last year’s inaugural tasting, we have been urged by many of those that attended last year, as well as many of the folks that really enjoy our local wines, ciders and meads, to have more of these types of functions,” says WIVA President, Janet Docherty. “It allows us to sample many of the local wines at one time and really get a true understanding of what this region has to offer.”
The region’s best and award winning wines, ciders and meads will be paired with some of the island’s most notable artisan bakers and cheese makers. Breads from the Merridale brick oven bakery, cheeses from Hilary’s Cheese and Little Qualicum Cheese and fresh shucked oysters from Evening Cove Oysters will be on hand to enhance your culinary experience.
WIVA will also be launching their Wine-Islands Passport at the wine tasting. This will be a fun way to encourage vineyard exploration in your own backyard! There will be a limited number of passports released and the more stamps your passport gets, the better your chances are to win great prizes of wine, accommodations and culinary excursions. Those unable to attend the tasting will find the passports available at tourism information centres and high-traffic wine stores.
Vancouver Islands and its surrounding islands are one of North America’s fastest growing wine regions, now with close to 40 wineries. “We can be proud of the wines, ciders, spirits, meads, and foods of our region,” stresses Janet, “by purchasing locally, we support our local economies, reduce our carbon footprint and, we will have a great time doing it!”
If you are one of the many residents of Victoria wondering what all the fuss is about, or have been mulling over the idea of visiting a local winery one day… now’s the time to get a great snapshot of what the Wine Islands have to offer.
