{"id":19152,"date":"2019-03-07T16:08:38","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T00:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=19152"},"modified":"2020-01-14T17:24:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T01:24:11","slug":"walking-one-of-the-biggest-wine-tasting-rooms-in-the-world-at-vancouver-international-wine-festival-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/walking-one-of-the-biggest-wine-tasting-rooms-in-the-world-at-vancouver-international-wine-festival-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking one of the biggest wine tasting rooms in the world at Vancouver International Wine Festival 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was glad to return to\u00a0Vancouver International Wine Festival<\/a>\u00a0(VIWF) as media.<\/p>\n

The 41th annual (founded 1979) lasted 8 days and sold out 25,000+ admissions, featuring wines from 16 countries, 54 events, and 1,450 bottles of wines!\u00a0 I was fortunate to cover a few events, including the “California Crush<\/a>“,\u00a0and the “International Festival Tasting\u00a0<\/strong>including the Thursday night tasting and the Saturday matinee tasting.<\/p>\n

As they had always said, this event is Vancouver\u2019s annual wine lovers\u2019 delight, but dishwashers\u2019 nightmare, as\u00a082,000 wine glasses were used by the time the festival wrapped up on Sunday. The\u00a0Tasting Room<\/strong>, however, was even more impressive. The 53,000 square foot hub of the festival with its stunning views of the harbour and mountains, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It is home to four\u00a0International Festival Tastings<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and two\u00a0Trade Tastings, presented by ContainerWorld<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0Dinners and other events are hosted by top restaurants and hotels throughout the city.<\/p>\n

International Festival Tasting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you attend only ONE event at VIWF, make it an International Festival Tasting<\/strong>. The main tasting room at the Vancouver Convention Centre was the heart of the festival, where all participating wineries gathered to pour the 750 wines during the 4 sessions of the International Festival Tasting (Thursday evening, Friday evening, Saturday matinee, and Saturday evening).\u00a0 \u00a0This year the theme was “Wines from California<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n

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Fundraising<\/h3>\n
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Since 1979, VanWineFest has raised $9.2 million for the performing arts. The festival was a founded as a fundraiser for the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company and continued as such until it closed in 2012. Since 2013, proceeds have gone to\u00a0Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 The fest contributed $280,000 to Bard in 2018. This year\u2019s Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction raised $233,500; the total 2019 donation to Bard will be announced at the opening of the 2019 Bard season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Quick tips<\/h3>\n