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Becoming practically legendary for its various wines and vineyards, so too are Vancouver Island’s wine festivals. There are few things I enjoy as much as making myself present for an evening of sampling, sniffing, sipping and swishing.

The second annual Parksville Uncorked Wine and Food Festival, highlighting the very best of BC’s wines and the Oceanside Region’s cuisine, splashes its way into Parksville on February 25-28, 2010. Kicking off on Thursday evening with a tasting, the weekend-long festival will be held at various venues throughout Parksville and Qualicum Beach, including Tigh-Na-Mara Resort and The Beach Club Resort. Particularly featured you’ll find samplings from Fanny Bay Oysters and Little Qualicum Cheeseworks (their brie is melt-in-your-mouth amazing).

A number of ticket and accommodation packages are available to help you make the most of this memorable event in one of Vancouver Island’s most scenic communities. Please visit Parksville Uncorked online for more information.

What girl in her right mind would say “no” to attending an event solely dedicated to wine? Not this one, that is for certain. Oddly enough, neither is my sister-in-law Laura, so the two of us headed out for a ladies’ night with lots of wining and not so much dining.

This past weekend, Mount Washington Alpine Resort hosted its 11th Annual Alpine Wine Festival at the gorgeously inviting Raven Lodge. Nearly two dozen wineries were represented with more bottles of fine wines than I had the time – or capacity – to sample.

The Comox Valley’s own Natural Pastures Cheese Company was on hand, offering tastes of their many varieties of soft and hard cheeses. When I inquired about whether any of the products in their range contained rennet, the head cheese-maker told me that none contain rennet simply because, as he put it, “to do so in cheese-making is a barbaric practice.” One more reason to love them…

I am both a self-professed pinot noir “snob” and nine times out of ten will always buy a BC-produced wine. Not only did the wine festival provide me with the opportunity to try wines from various regions around the globe, it also expanded my palate into a number of varietals. Though that said, the brand new pinot noir from Two Oceans, out of South Africa, gets my vote for best wine at the festival.

I have never, ever found a shiraz that I enjoyed, but did find the 2007 Three Winds Syrah to be incredibly delicious. You may find it interesting to know that shiraz and syrah are essentially the same wine and developed from the same grape but that syrah originated in France, whereas Australians and South Africans prefer to refer to their wines as a shiraz.

After hearing much raving about Vancouver Island’s Sea Cider from both John and Rebecca, I believe the hype! Nothing beats the crisp and refreshing taste of local apples combined with belly-warming sensations.

No wine festival would be complete without a selection of ports and dessert wines. While there were a few offerings vying for our favour, both Laura and I agreed that the 2008 Framboise from Elephant Island Orchard Wines was the hands-down favourite for us. Sweet raspberries dancing with 16% alcohol makes for quite the party in one’s mouth.

While I’d be hard-pressed to choose a wine I didn’t enjoy, some noteworthy highlights for me include:

What may impress you the most about all of the wines featured at the festival is that every bottle sampled is a completely affordable wine. None were over $30 and most were priced well under $20. Whoever said you had to spend a lot to enjoy a fine night in clearly hasn’t tried the right wines.

It goes without saying that I’ll be lining up for next year’s festival. In the meantime, it’s hard to believe that it’s only a matter of a few short months before the snow starts falling once again.

For now, check out Mount Washington online for a full list of summer events still to come – including how you can purchase an early bird winter season pass and win some great prizes. The mountain is also on Twitter, so be sure to follow them.

Finding ourselves with time to kill on Friday morning, I suggested to Rebecca that we visit Little Qualicum Cheeseworks. Needless to say, she didn’t take much convincing at all – especially when I let her know that wine was also produced on site. Counting on a vino tasting combined with cheese sampling was all we expected, but that was more than enough for us gals.

Somehow I had it in my head that we’d be arriving at a storefront, so you can imagine my surprise as we made our way up the dirt drive and onto an expansive farm overlooking Mount Arrowsmith.

As it turned out, Little Qualicum Cheeseworks is situated on an active dairy farm with far more than just cheese and the cows that produce the milk to make it with.

Realizing this, our first stop was the gift shop to get our bearings with a self-guided tour map. Within moments, we were greeted by Little Qualicum Cheeseworks’ Phil Charlebois. He was more than happy to tell us a bit about the farm and the cheese-making process while showing us around.

Adjacent to the sterile environment in which the various cheeses are carefully crafted and made is the farm’s gift shop. If it’s farm or cheese-related, it’s in there!

Perhaps the best part of the gift shop, aside from the copious cheeses for sale, is the ability to sample each and every one of them. The farm produces everything from award-winning brie to curds, fromage frais to feta, and a few creatively inspired varieties of their own – including Monterey “Jill”.

For the grown-ups, right next to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks’ farm, is a collection of berry bushes designated solely to berry-based wines that are produced on site. None of the newly-launched Morningstar Creek wines contain any grapes and instead are fermented with gooseberries, raspberries, cranberries and blackberries among others.

The winery is truly a pride and joy for Phil, but unfortunately, due to a trademark on the name “Morning” in a winery, Morningstar Creek Winery will soon be known as MooBerry Wines. None of these wines are available in restaurants or liquor stores, so you’ll have to pay a visit yourself if you’d like to get your hands on a bottle.

My absolute favourite part of the tour was setting my sights on all the animals that call Little Qualicum Cheeseworks home. And on that note, I should mention that the farm is the only SPCA Certified dairy farm on Vancouver Island. Click here to read more about what that means for the health and welfare of farm animals.

These baby piglets were only four weeks old!

The only ram on the farm, Dodge (get it?) was one friendly boy.

These young calves were happy to receive attention. I think the black and white girl in front may have mistaken me for her mother as she took my entire hand in her mouth and tried to nurse it.

Photo: Miss604 on Flickr

Being an animal-friendly farm, the dairy cows are provided with a fabulous lifestyle and are free to roam the vast acres when not being milked.

The view of Mount Arrowsmith is simply breathtaking…

Cute? Yes. Friendly? Not really.

You can imagine my excitement when I spotted an ice cream stand serving Island Farms ice cream. Also featured were several flavours from The Udder Guy’s Ice Cream Company out of Duncan, BC on the south Island. While I’ve never tried their ice cream, all 24 flavours are made from scratch so it would seem it’d be safe to say that they make for tasty cones!

Tried, tested and true, I stuck with Moose Tracks in a waffle cone.

Photo: Miss604 on Flickr

Be sure to read Rebecca’s re-cap of our visit to the farm here.

Little Qualicum Cheeseworks is open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Allow for plenty of time on your visit to partake in a self-guided tour, but guided tours and hay rides are available for groups of eight or more. The farm is located at 403 Lowry’s Road between Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

For more information, please visit Little Qualicum Cheeseworks’ website or call them toll-free at 1-877-248-4353. The various cheeses are available in most grocery stores on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland, so keep your eyes open for it and grab one variety or four!

Australian writer Germaine Greer once said “The essence of pleasure is spontaneity.” Surely she must have experienced a weekend on Vancouver Island.

Since Andrea was planning meet up with a friend of hers in the Comox Valley and I was headed there to visit family, we grabbed the same ferry together and ended up having one of those weekends made up of memories and magic.

We met so many amazing dogs on the ferry, but this Rottweiler named Beth was the star of the show. She was really just a big cat who, the more we cuddled her, the more she rested lazily against our legs.

No doubt Jordy is a water baby just like his mama. We started Saturday early by grabbing him and Charley, a couple coffees from McDonald’s and hit the beach at the Courtenay Airpark.

The water was warm and glassy, the sun hot and bright and the sand was like wet baby powder under our feet.

It’s no secret that I’m currently engaged in a passionate love affair with Vancouver Island wines, so I made sure to bring Andrea by Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery.

They had some swings.

I’ve never been to the Courtenay Museum & Palaeontology Centre. I don’t think you’re supposed to snap pictures, but I grabbed this one anyways. Yes, dinosaur bones and fossils have been found all over the Comox Valley.

After Miss A’s rendez-vous, she met up with my mom and I at Atlas Cafe for some dinner. I had the veggie enchilada again.

After dinner, we didn’t head straight home. Instead we found ourselves on Headquarters Road and pulled over by Casawood Farms. The space is home to many, many cows and is one of the Island’s producers of milk for Island Farms.

I wasn’t thrilled to see their ears tagged (though how different can it be than a mom piercing her baby’s ears), but I suppose it’s important for identification purposes. I was, however, excited to see that the cows had an eating area separate from their clean, dry sleeping area.

None of the cows had docked tails, none were forced to sleep in pens, none were hooked up to milk machines and there were acres and acres of green grass for them to roam during the day. The ladies let us pick up handfuls of their muck and feed them by hand. This was a great idea until my (mom’s) camera fell into the feeding trough.

Who knew cows peed out of their bums?

Really? You feel okay knowing that such beautiful girls are callously butchered like something out of a horror movie just so you can enjoy that burger? Oooookay.

A few kilometres further down the road we found another private farm with a few horses roaming the field. All it took was a sweet whistle and they came running towards us.

Like the lovely cows, the horses also let us feed them by hand with handfuls of grass we pulled from the roadside.

I think I kinda like animals.

First discovery on the ferry: Jordy left his mark on my leg.

No, not that kind of mark.

Oops… forgot this beauty shot from Coombs.

Since it was sunny, we decided to ditch the dog area and opted for a picnic on the deck instead.

Comox Brie from Natural Pastures, BC-grown cherries and über healthy crackers.

Yummmmmmy!

We met Mitch on the way back, a one-and-a-half-year-old black labrador/mastiff cross. I couldn’t tell if he was more interested in Jordy or the brie cheese, but we didn’t mind his company either way. His tongue was bigger than two of Jordy’s paws put together!

After stuffing our bellies, all three of us laid back under the big, beautiful sun for an afternoon nap.

That’s all for now, kids.

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love wine and am an admitted “wine snob”. I’ll never pass up a glass of rich pinot noir, will sometimes settle on a merlot and wouldn’t be caught dead sipping a shiraz. With warm summer evenings on the horizon, I’m anticipating more than my share of glasses of chilled chardonnay as the sun sets.

For centuries, wine-making was synonymous with European tradition emerging from the likes of Italy and France, among others. In recent decades, countries such as Chile, Argentina and Australia have been showcasing their vino craft in the global market. On this continent, California’s Napa Valley has also made a name for itself among giants.

Photo: dklimke on Flickr

While the Okanagan region of British Columbia is becoming more widely recognized as terrific turf for vineyards, I’m proud that Vancouver Island (and the surrounding Gulf Islands) has been slowly carving a wine-production niche all its own. High quality, family-run vineyards have been emerging throughout the Saanich region of the south Island and slowly spreading north.

Rain, sun, fertile soil and the moist rainforest environment have added up to a unique and diverse climate. The conditions on Vancouver Island are ideal for more than just one or two kinds of wine – including a variety of organic bottle. Wines from the Island are luscious in their bold flavours. Berry fruits, orchard apples, vanilla notes and earthy tones seductively dance to tease the tongue. Those seeking a little bit of local flavour can expect to find everything from Gewürztraminer to pinot gris, from merlot to pinot noir and everything in between. The options truly are limitless.

What makes Vancouver Island wines truly a special treat is the craft and care gone into each and every bottle. While internationally-known vineyards often come from multiple generation of vintners, the Island’s wine producers have a fresh take on a timeless tradition. While the technique of pigeage (grape-stomping) is rarely employed, a wine-making heritage is developing within an entirely new culture. I have no doubt that we will be seeing Vancouver Island wines for many, many generations to come.

Photo: jandazzatron on Flickr

On a final note, there are few things that go with wine as well as cheese. Lucky for us, staying within the 100-mile diet is also simple in this regard. Aside from the countless dairy farms dotting the Island, it is also home to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks in Qualicum Beach and Natural Pastures in the Comox Valley (their brie is to die for). Next time you’re enjoying an entertaining night in, pick up something local and savour the Island’s flavours!

For a nearly-complete directory of Vancouver Island wineries and vineyards, please visit Wines of Canada. From there, you can also link to the locations on the Gulf Islands. The majority of the Island’s vineyards are open to the public for tours and tastings, so consider that option as a brief summer getaway.

Personally speaking, I recommend grabbing a bottle from either Carbrea Vineyard on Hornby Island or the Comox Valley’s Beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery. The pinot noir from Saturna Island Family Estate Winery is also a fantastic sipping wine for nights on the couch (and a bargain at less than $20 per bottle).

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The first time Tony and Tina got married in Vancouver, the production sprung out of Tanja Dixon-Warren and Michael Fera’s dream to bring the popular New York show to the West Coast. With $300 raised at a garage sale and negotiations between St. Andrews Wesley Church and Vancouver’s Chardonnay restaurant, Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding began. That was 14 years ago, and Tony and Tina have been getting married again and again every week since then.

Photo: Hoarse Raven Theatre

Truth be told, though I’d been hearing about Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding since the beginning, I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was an interactive production, but was in for a delightful surprise when I learned just how interactive the cast and audience really become! The evening began at St. Andrews Wesley Church where we were all witnesses to the nuptials. From moment one, the audience was drawn into the drama, excitement, laughter, family gossip and lovers’ quarrels as the Nunzio and Vitale families come together in holy matrimony.

By the time the entire wedding party and attendees (Rebecca and myself included) made the procession from the church to The Other Space at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for the reception dinner, it’s difficult not to feel like you’re attending a true Italian wedding. What happens next is anyone’s guess – and surprise! From a Las Vegas-style duo acting as emcees to Uncle Vinnie’s charismatic catering style (how would the Italians describe “je ne sais quoi“?) and Sal the photographer capturing every moment in between, laugh-out-loud fun is an inevitability. In fact, it took a solid hour after the lights went down before my cheeks stopped hurting.

Photo: Hoarse Raven Theatre

It’s almost time for the honeymoon to begin, as Tony and Tina will be walking down the aisle for the last time on May 30, 2009. Productions run Thursday through Saturday with church doors swinging open at 6:30 p.m. (beware of the groomsmen’s charms – they’re difficult to resist) each night. Tickets range from $70-85 and are available by calling (604) 665-2373, and include a full dinner buffet of Nona Nunzio’s best recipes. Visit the website for more information.

Join Tony, Tina and their families before the curtain falls for the final time. Eat, drink and be merry but, like any wild wedding, don’t be surprised if you still feel the buzz from Vinnie Black’s red wine the next morning.

Since my favourite busybody, Rebecca, was otherwise occupied with preparations for this weekend’s WordCamp Whistler, she asked yours truly to slip into her shoes and check out the second annual Taste BC last night at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

A large number of BC wineries and restaurants participated in this great event to support the BC Children’s Hospital – Oak Tree Clinic.

While I wish I could tempt and tease you all with in-depth reviews of everything I came across that I enjoyed, the truth is that this blog post would turn into a novel.

The winner of Rebecca’s contest was none other than my pal Lindsay.

The Hyatt’s grand ballroom was packed with other “foodies” like me, wine glasses in hand, prepared to indulge and delight their senses. Amy was my date for the night, so between the two of us (plus Lindsay and her comrade Laura), we knew we were in for a fun night.

One of the first samples of my evening was from Forbidden Fruit Wines, an organic vineyard from Cawston. Their pride and joy should easily be their “Earthseries” 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, designated to promote sustainability of our planet with partial proceeds going to the David Suzuki Foundation.

Wild sockeye salmon on artisan bread with hot smoked salmon, sea salt and mustard cream cheese from Two Chefs And A Table. I’m pretty sure my tongue melted.

“Hippie Juice” wine basket prize – all wines from Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands.

I also really loved talking with the proprietor of Averill Creek Vineyard, Andy Johnston, who clearly has a passion for his craft. I’m looking forward to summer BBQs paired with their 2006 Pinot Gris (the 2006 Pinot Noir also did a nice little dance in my mouth).

Amy’s bright red satin number went well with Sympathy For The Devil’s 2005 Merlot, with vineyards in both the Okanagan and California’s Napa Valley. And yes – you guessed it – the brand is a partnership with the Rolling Stones. I’m dying to try their Pinot Noir icewine!

The Benton Brothers were on hand with a selection of local artisan cheese, including some from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks on Vancouver Island.

Tucked in the far corner, Lindsay and I discovered the Fort Wine Co. out of Fort Langley. Many fruit-based wines simply taste fruity, but theirs were earthy and true. The 2007 Isle Queen Blackberry dessert wine – made with naturally-grown blackberries from the Queen Charlotte Islands – is unbelievable!

A chocolate fountain with decadent truffles from Rogers Chocolates? Um, okay!

Amy told me that I simply had to try the tonic water at the Fentimans booth, but I was skeptical. As it turns out, she was right. Created through a process of brewing and fermenting with natural herbs, Fentimans’ time-honoured tradition produces something unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. Zesty, tingly and completely delicious. Dash in a bit of gin and you’ve got yourself a fantastic Friday night!

It goes without saying that the four of us had an amazing time and the event it certainly something I’d like to check out again next year. I owe a huge thank you to Rebecca for the honour. To read a more in-depth review, head over to Miss604.com.

If you’re interested in trying any (or at least most) of the wines featured at Taste BC, visit your local Liberty Wine Merchants shop.

Greetings from Sweetwater Creek

Located in an undisclosed and secluded setting on central Vancouver Island, Sweetwater Creek is the Island’s premiere collective living community.

Photo: forestgladesiwander on Flickr

Surrounded by picturesque mountains and nestled on the shores of a bustling stream, Sweetwater Creek is a shared place where those who dwell have come together to seek a quiet and peaceful lifestyle by residing in a place that is safe and free from an existence polluted by delusions (and delusional people).

Don’t let our 10-foot walls intimidate or fool you – once you pass through the gates of our community, our home becomes your home. Instantly you will find yourself in the middle of nearly 30 beautiful, unique and independent estates on our 40-acre property, proudly built in an unending ring. Within the circle is Sweetwater Creek’s shared organic garden where all residents contribute to the planting, maintenance, growth and harvesting of fresh corn, beets, peas, carrots, succulent apples, juicy peaches, brightly-coloured flowers and soothing lavender plants.

Photo: Artcatcher on Flickr

While the shared garden is a special feature of Sweetwater Creek, the true botanical pièce de résistance is the expansive vineyard featuring pinot noir grapes buried deep into rich and fertile soil. All residents share time harvesting the grapes and preparing copious wine to keep all of Sweetwater Creek’s residents glass deep in vino. Wine-making, baked goods and lumber production are the three key revenue sources for Sweetwater Creek, and all residents are expected to participate in at least two of these chores.

The property also features a number of exciting and interesting amenities, including a meeting/banquet hall, full-service recreation facitilty, craft hut (with fantastic space to paint, knit, draw, sculpt and design), playground, spacious dog kennels and 3 penned-in acres for your pooches to run and play, industrial kitchen and BBQ pit, heated outdoor swimming pool, and spa and hot tub facility.

Oh, but there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. Residents of Sweetwater Creek are carefully selected only after a rigourous screening process. In fact, chances are that unless you are part of my family or an otherwise close and personal friend of myself or the family, Sweetwater Creek will be off limits for you. There are no TVs, no internet on the computers, telephones are for important use only and guest passes will be restricted and at the discretion of the residents as a collective.

Sweetwater Creek is much like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory: “Nobody ever goes in… and nobody every comes out.” Emphasis on nobody ever going in.

The fire’s still burning, South Park is playing in the background and everyone is in bed but me. Technically it’s Boxing Day, and I couldn’t be more glad that Christmas is over. Normally, it’s one of my most favourite times and days of the year. This Christmas was the exception and I feel far less merry than I normally would.

All was not lost though…

I woke up at 8:00 a.m. to find Charley eagerly licking my face. I think she must know when it’s Christmas and feel the excitement.

After I set the table on Christmas Eve and laid gifts under the tree, Charley marched back and forth, sniffed the presents and laid next to them as if to guard them all. On top of that, she was so eager and full of beans all day today.

My mom created a gorgeous centrepiece for our Christmas meal.

For some reason, “Santa” still spoils me rotten on Christmas this many years later. Among other lovelies, I got a fistful of gift cards, amazing cookbooks and an 8G iPod Nano.

After baking breakfast buns and hopping into a quick shower, I slipped into couture and headed for the kitchen. Taking over the turkey dinner reigns from my mom was something I welcomed with open arms a few years back.

On the menu? Three-day buns, turkey, stuffing, applesauce, buttermilk mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, yams, red cabbage, carrots and sweet gherkin pickles.

I was fortunate enough to have my longtime friend Rebecca join us for Christmas dinner this year. Her and her bottle of red wine were a welcome sight at my front door this evening.

After packing in a full meal, we all still managed to find some room for sweet goodies and tempting treats. My peanut butter cup cookies were the first to go!

Sending love and holiday wishes from Dawson Creek, Trevor and Laura (and baby Mellis – 6 months!) modeled their new Christmas threads for us.

Despite what could have been, there were still shimmery glimmers of goodness throughout my day, and everyone at my dinner table was someone that I love.

Perhaps I feel anticlimactic, perhaps I’m just getting older or perhaps life has jaded me somewhat. The one day I feel is always filled with magic instead seemed empty, void and not unlike an unfinished painting. I’d like to say “here’s to a better Christmas in 2009,” but instead here’s hoping for an entirely different Christmas…

One of the perks of working at a law firm is all the free stuff given to me at Christmastime from other firms, transcription companies, courier companies and the like. Today was the day the gifts started rolling in. Who am I to turn down such generosity?

The first gift was a pair of luxe (faux) fur-lined down booties from Restoration Hardware. Suffice to say I’ll be putting these toasty babies on my tootsies immediately following this evening’s hot bath.

Gift number two will come in handy after work on Thursday. Amy and Lindsay will be stopping by for some pre-drinks and prettying up prior to the Best of 604 awards reception. A little chardonnay will come in handy before our venture to the Cellar. (Psst…if you haven’t voted in the 15 categories yet, do it now.)

Okay, this was by no means free – far from it, in fact. But sometimes when life decides to shit all over you, buying something pretty makes everything seem okay for a little while. Best of 604 Awards? Prepare to meet the best of Diane von Furstenberg.