Vancouver International Wine Festival 2016

It was a busy week for wine lovers in Vancouver, BC and we were quite happy to join in the fun...at least for the final weekend of festivities. We were turned-on to the Vancouver wine festival about a year ago by our columnist and friend, Pam Miller. She’s been attending these, along with a group of friends, for many years. This year’s focus was on the wines of Italy.

The week is packed as you can tell from the schedule at a glance.

Due to time constraints (i.e. vacation time available) we decided to go up on Thursday night and stay until Sunday. We arrived too late on Thursday to take part in any of the fun that evening, which you should know is possibly the best night for the Grand Tasting and access to the Delta Lounge (more later). The crowds arrive in full force Friday and continue to the closing event, the Vintner’s Brunch on Sunday.

We stayed at an event-sponsored hotel, the Pan Pacific Vancouver. It’s adjacent to the conference centre (note the English spelling...when in Rome...) and is a pretty nice place to stay, if a bit pricey ($409 CN per night), but first the wine event, then a review of the hotel.

This was our itinerary.

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 – Leaving Seattle, travel to Vancouver, BC.

• Check-in Pan Pacific Vancouver
• Walk about neighborhoods, Downtown and Gaslight, and call it an early night.

Friday, Feb. 26, 2016

• Rest and enjoy the hotel, especially the fitness center and salt-water swimming pool.
• 5:30-10pm - Delta Tasting Lounge and Grand Tasting. See our friend and contributor, Pam Miller’s post (coming soon).

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016

• Noon-2pm – Taste Italia!
• 7-10pm – Grand Tasting

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016

• 11:30am-2pm – Vintner’s Brunch
• 2:30pm – Late check-out, starting the journey home.

Oh, my goodness. Where to begin?

We'll begin with the Taste Italia! in our next post here.