You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘BIBWC’ tag.
This calendar takes us through to September. Please remember that it can change. Our email list receives a reminder so please feel free to drop your email address off at the store.
All tastings are 3pm to 6pm unless noted.
- June 27 Friday – “Wines of Gabriel Meffre” hosted by Greg Pollard of Diamond Wines
- July 4 Friday – Hosted by Annette Goliath of Grady Wines
- July 5 Saturday – Meet the Cidery – Seacider hosted by Sara Park of Seacider on Vancouver Island
Steamship Days July 11-13
- July 11 Friday – Hosted by Liza McCauley, Delf Group
- July 12 Saturday – Meet the Brewery, Howe Sound Brewing
- July 18 Friday – “The Italian Job” racy Italian wines at a steal for value. Hosted by Burrows Luongo importers
- August 1 Friday – Hosted by Thea Cuevas, Constellation Brands
August 8-9 Fri-Sat – BIBWC Annual BC Wine Festival
- August 8 Friday – BC wine sampling hosted by Paul Rickett
- August 9 Saturday – Meet the Winery, Tim Martiniuk, GM of Stoneboat. Community Sponsor – BIAC
- August 15 Friday – Hosted by Select Wines
- August 22 Friday – Hosted by Selwyn Rawstron, Empson (think NZ P. Noir and Sauvignon Blanc)
- Sept 12 Friday – Meet the Winery, Sandra Oldfield, CEO Tinhorn Creek 20th Anniversary tasting
- September 18 Thursday. Bowen Children’s Centre Fundraiser 1st Annual Wine Fair, Lodge at Old Dorm. Tickets available via BCC and BIBWC. We aim to have over 60 wines for tasting at this event.
We have an action-packed tasting schedule in the works for the next few months and expect to add more as we go along. This year I have invited the wineries, importers and distributors to come in and open some their wines that we carry for tasting. The name attached to the date is the agency. We’ll generally decide on the specific products to be tasted nearer the time.
We will send email alerts to our mailing lists too and post notices of upcoming events on Twitter and Facebook. If you are not on either our beer or wine mailing list please drop your name and email address in at the store or email me at pdrickett@hotmail.com so we can add you.
Dates and presenters are subject to confirmation nearer time
Tastings (3pm to 6:30pm in-store unless noted)
• March 14 Friday – Constellation -(4 BC VQA wines)
• March 15 Saturday – Central City Brewing (Red Racer beer and Betty’s coolers)
• March 28 Friday – Authentic (Cono Sur wines)
• April 17 Thursday – Delf (Easter weekend) – (import wines)
• April 25 Friday – Renaissance (import wines)
• May 2 Friday – International Cellars (imported wines)
• May 9 Friday – Liberty (imported wines plus at least one BC wine)
• May 24 Saturday – Averill Creek, Meet the owner, Andy Johnson #BCwine
• June 6 Friday – Appellation (likely mainly BC wines)
• TBD June Saturday – Central City Brewing (Red Racer Summer Edition)
• June 20 Friday – Select (import wines)
• June 21 Saturday – Seacider (Cider from Victoria)
• July 4 Friday – Grady (import wines)
• July 11 Friday – Delf (import wines)
• August 1 Friday – Constellation (import and BC wines)
We have commitments from 2 more agencies to come in plus a couple of BC wineries (including a return date with Tinhorn Creek’s Sandra Oldfield). In addition working on setting up a Mead tasting with the Tugwell Creek rep.
The #1 selling wine on Bowen Island is Italy’s Villa Teresa organic Prosecco. Please join us on Friday Nov 29 between 4pm and 6:30pm for a free tasting with Liza McAuley from Delf Group. Delf are the importing agents for the wine.
In addition to the Prosecco, we will also be pouring their Pinot Grigio, Merlot, and the very popular Rose frizzante.
Special offer: Buy 6 bottles of Prosecco and receive a complimentary 375mL bottle – great opportunity to stock up for the Holiday Season and get a stocking stuffer.
We’re celebrating Bowen Island Steamship Days with a free tasting of our newly arrived Spanish wines. In the line-up will be
Bodegas Bogarve La Cruz – 100% Sauvignon Blanc, very crisp new world style
Bodegas Zagarron Hacienda Zargon – 100% Macabeo, nice light patio wine
Altavins Viticultur Almodi red blend – Syrah, Garnacha, Carignan and Merlot delivers a big spicy complex wine
Bodegas Fernando Castro Piedras Rojas – 90% Tempranillo,10% Syrah. Good all rounder for BBQ and under screwcap too
Bodegas Isidro Milagro La Rioja – 100% Garnacha from Spain’s premier wine region Rioja. I love this wine
Bodegas Isla Oro – 100% Crianza Tempranillo, medium body and great taste.
Ego Bodegas Atalaya Dorada – 50/50 Monastrell/Syrah, super value for an easy drinking wine
All these wines will be 10% off too on Saturday. Great opportunity to taste and stock up.
Where: In-Store at Bowen Beer and Wine Cellar
When:
Friday 17.8 – 3pm to 6pm+
Saturday 18.8 – 1pm to 5pm+
Sunday 19.8 – 1pm to 5pm+
Our annual BC Wine showcase is our biggest tasting event of the year. 3 days of sampling BC wines this Friday to Sunday in conjunction with BowFEAST eat/drink locally.
Start and end times are above but we often have wine left so don’t be afraid to drop in after the official end time.
This event will feature 15+ BC wines over the weekend. Each day we’ll have at least 5 different wines open to taste. As befits the season, the emphasis is on white wines but there will be at least one red each day too. Since we received outstanding support from our winery partners we will also be doing a red wine focused BC wine tasting early in September.
Our feature wineries this year are:-
Both Fort Berens and Perseus are relatively new wineries and this is the first year we have carried their wines. Fort Berens is based in Lillooet, a new wine growing area for BC.
Hope you can join us for a fun event.
There have been two small but very important changes to liquor laws recently. Hopefully they are the harbingers of a more complete overhaul of the liquor distribution system in BC which is positively antediluvian by global standards and riddled with inane and inequitable rules that collectively do not serve the industry’s or the consumers’ best interests.
Bill C-311
First off, Bill C-311 passed into law on June 28th. This Federal Act removed an 84 year old prohibition on the transportation of wine across Provincial borders. Effectively the Federal Government stepped out of the alcohol control business and pushed it firmly into the hands of the individual Provinces and Territories. It is now up to each Province to set their own rules on how a consumer can import wine for personal consumption from outside their Province of residence. After some confusion and double-tracking the BC Government came up with a new policy that places no limits on what you can buy and import into BC as long as it is 100% Canadian wine. It is still illegal to purchase, and bring to BC, beer, imported wine, spirits etc. The net effect is that you are legally able to purchase directly from wineries in other parts of Canada and have the product shipped to your home.
The movement to “liberate” Canadian wine for Interprovincial shipping has been loud and vocal on social media, especially from BC. If you want to follow the discussions just search #freemygrapes on twitter. Sadly, while BC has done the right thing for the Canadian Wine Industry, the two biggest wine-consuming Provinces have not yet reciprocated so the BC wine industry is locked out of direct markets in Ontario and Quebec.
Bring Your Own Wine (#BYOW, #BYOB)
Of possibly far more importance to most consumers is the announcement last week by the BC Government that it is now legal for restaurants to allow you to bring your own wine (and pay corkage if applicable) to a BC restaurant. This policy again only applies to wine and not beer, spirits etc. It must be stressed that it is entirely at the restaurant’s discretion on whether they allow #BYOW and how much corkage they charge. In Vancouver, we are seeing corkage rates ranging from $10/bottle to $65 (Barefoot Bistro in Whistler), but the initial average seems to be settling out between $15 and $25 per bottle where the restaurant actually permits you to #BYOW. There is a good blog post by Jake Skakun of L’Abbatoir on his policy and thoughts here.
Note that #BYOW is only legal in restaurants licensed for liquor in the first place. If the restaurant does not have a liquor license then it is still illegal to bring your own wine.
I canvassed our local restaurants the day after the policy change to see how they were going to react but none of them were actually aware of the new rules at the time. I have asked them to let me know if they’ll support #BYOW and what rules and corkage they will apply. I’ll post once I hear from them – but if you like the concept it would be worth letting them know your views directly.
If you are thinking about taking your own wine to any restaurant it is always better to check with them ahead of time on what they allow and how much they charge.
Where: Bowen Island Beer and Wine Cellar, 103-996 Dorman Road, Bowen Island (604) 947-2729
When: Saturday June 9, 2012 1-5pm
Hard to believe we’ve been open in the new store for a whole year but here we are. Thanks to everyone on and off Bowen Island who have supported us in the new location. To celebrate our first Anniverary we are offering a complementary tasting of Oyster Bay Wines including both their sparkling wines.
Oyster Bay is the most popular New Zealand wine in Canada.
Look forward to seeing you here.
P.S. From June 9 through June 30 we are offering a 5% discount on purchases of 6 bottles of wine. And of course you still get 10% on cases of 12+
Saturday May 19: 1-5pm
at
Bowen Island beer and Wine Cellar, 103-996 Dorman Road (under the Ruddy Potato)
Chenin Blanc is one of the under-appreciated white grapes. It can be made into stellar dry white table wines, delectable sweet wines and smashing sparklers. Its spiritual roots are in France’s Loire Valley where it has been grown for nearly a 1,000 years.
This tasting will focus on table wines suitable for a long and, hopefully, hot weekend on the patio or deck. Expect a line up of quality wines, including a couple of Chenin blends, from BC, France, California, and South Africa. Working on adding a sparkling Chenin into the set as well.
Bowen Children’s Centre (BCC) is holding a wine tasting at Artisan Eats cafe Thursday May 3, 2012 from 7-9pm.
The event features a guided tasting by BC`s 8th Generation winery. A flight of 7 wines from their selection will be served along with cheeses provided by Artisan Eats.
8th Generation are one my favourite BC wineries so this is an event well worth attending. You will also be able to order the wines at winery price at the event and pick them up from us later.
The Bowen Wine Blog 