The Dark Prince of Walla Walla Charles Smith makes Wines of Substance

Chef Meets BC Grape

Plus Vikram Vij and Jill Spoor

THE SHOW

Chef Meets BC Grape / Okanagan

The Taste of the Okanagan signature tasting event Chef Meets BC Grape will take place on Saturday, August 26 at the historic See Ya Later Ranch in Okanagan Falls where guests are invited to spend the day with celebrated star chefs and various award-winning BC winemakers.

The day will include a variety of food stations prepared by the country’s top chefs Chefs Mark McEwan, Nicole Gomes Top Chef winner and many more. Also master class wine education seminars with Rhys Pender plus food and wine pairing demonstrations over 40 BC VQA Wines to sample and much more.

Have a listen to these guests and then make your plans.

Nicole Gomes – Top Chef Canada Winner Nicole Gourmet/Cluck and Cleaver Calgary

Trevor Bird – Fable Kitchen and Fable Diner. Vancouver Finalist Top Chef Canada

Josie Tyabji – BC Wine Institute.

Rhys Pender – Master of Wine. Little Farm Wines. Educator. Judge. Husband.

Tickets and info at

www.chefmeetsbcgrapeokanagan.com

Charles Smith – Wines of Substance

Sir Charles Smith

The man who created

K Vintners

ViNO

SIXTO

B.Leighton

CasaSmith and more.

Has now created Wines of Substance http://www.kvintners.com/

In celebration of their new, special release, barrel-aged K Vintners Jet City Riesling, they are hosting the first-annual Jet City Riesling Revolution on Saturday, August 26 at Charles Smith’s Jet City in Seattle.

Bringing together 18 premier wineries primarily from the Pacific Northwest and a few favorites from Germany to showcase the best Riesling including Charles & Charles Riesling, the famed Kung Fu Girl Riesling, and K Vintners Jet City Riesling, which is only available for a limited time at the event and in the Jet City tasting room. Following the tasting, performances by Calexico and a rare solo act from Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse front man, making this a truly one-of-a-kind event.

Local food trucks – The People’s Burger, Sam Choy’s Poke To the Max, Nacho Mama’s and more – will be serving signature dishes.

Tickets are available online now for $45 and $55 at the door if not sold out prior to the event. Follow @KickAssWaWine on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates. Ticket price includes complimentary Riesling tasting from 4:30pm-6:30pm and live performances.

“Riesling has been one of my favorite varietals,” said Charles Smith, winemaker, and owner of Jet City. “We’re excited to bring together so many producers and a killer music lineup to give the varietal a worthy celebration.” Sir Charles

The debut Jet City Riesling Revolution will feature Riesling from winemaker Charles Smith and wineries including: Airfield Estates Winery, Brooks Wines, Charles & Charles, Charles Smith Wines, Dr. Loosen, Fritz Haag, J. Bookwalter Winery, K Vintners, Maximin Grünhaus, Mercer Wine Estate, Milbrandt Vineyards, Pacific Rim, Robert Weil, Ryan Patrick Wines, Savage Grace, Sparkman Cellars, Ste. Michelle Wines Estates and Wit Cellars.

We found Charles sitting on the end of his dock, fishing and tasting a magnum of Bubble. It was his 56^th Birthday!

Not sure how the day turned out.

Vikram Vij – Vij The Book

What kind of person would stop his car in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge and jump out to celebrate being a free man?

This guy.

Vikram Vij

Vij reveals the story of Vikram Vij, one of Canada’s most celebrated chefs and entrepreneurs. Co-owner of the world-famous Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver, his story is a true rags-to-riches tale of a college dropout from northern India who made it to Europe’s temples of high cuisine, then with a one-way ticket bound for Canada, found fame serving some of the world’s most transcendent Indian cuisine.

Vij’s Restaurant, originally a fourteen-seat establishment known for its extraordinary flavours and spice blends, along with a firm no-reservation policy, received accolades from restaurant critics and patrons alike.

A culinary journey that began in India as a boy enjoying the praise of visitors for his chai and biscuits, Vikram’s passion for Indian cooking and his lifelong mission to bring awareness to the culture he left behind have fueled his tireless drive in building a world-renowned food empire.

Driven to succeed, Vikram realized his dream to launch five major initiatives under the Vij’s brand by age fifty, but with challenges and sacrifices along the way.

For the first time, Vikram opens up about his struggles with prejudice, his mentors’ lasting lessons, and the painful demise of his marriage—both the successes and the failures that have shaped and sharpened one of Canada’s most unique and revered culinary talents.

That’s what the press release wanted you to know. Fair enough.

I knew some of the story but what I really wanted to know was the rest of the story!! This interview attempts that reveal.

Lamb Popsicles

Vikram Vij was born in India and grew up in Amritsar and Mumbai. He studied hotel management in Salzburg, Austria, before moving to Canada to work at the Banff Springs Hotel.

He opened the original fourteen-seat Vij’s Restaurant in 1994, and has appeared on many television shows and regularly cooks for events, including the James Beard Awards gala in New York.

A certified sommelier, he is passionate about pairing wines with Indian food. In addition to running Vij’s and Rangoli with Meeru, Vikram is the chef and owner of My Shanti.

The RAW version of the interview can be heard on TastingRoomRadio.com

www.vijs.ca

https://youtu.be/DBVGzZD_Yn4 Check out Vikram’s wonderful TedX Talk

Jill Spoor and Christine Coletta – Okanagan Wine Campus

Jill Spoor

Okanagan Wine Campus, created in 2011 by Okanagan Crush Pad, is a mentorship program that provides selected Vancouver Sommeliers with the unique chance to make a small lot wine using the grape variety and style of wine they wish.

The proceeds from the sale of the wine are given to the BC Hospitality Foundation wine scholarship fund to support students pursuing their higher level wine education certification.

To date, $30,000 has been donated from seven projects including Kurtis Kolt (2010), Owen Knowlton (2011), Terry Threlfall (2012), Samantha Rahn (2013), Mike Bernardo (2014), Jason Yamasaki (2015) and Jill Spoor (2016).

Jill Spoor joined Fairmont Pacific Rim in 2011 to open Giovane Winebar, implementing an all-Italian wine program. Spoor’s enthusiasm and dedication to the wine program at the hotel led her to her role as Wine Director.

Jill Spoor has developed Botanist’s wine program to reflect exclusive terroir-driven wineries that support sustainable, organic and biodynamic farming and winemaking practices.

Recently, Spoor was designated Okanagan Crush Pad Winery’s ‘2016 Harvest Intern,’ and has been hard at work developing her own wine label – a beautiful white blend.

The wine label was designed by her niece Taryn Brown, who is a gifted artist living in Victoria.

Jill recommends pairing with scallop or ling cod from the Botanist menu. Juicy green melon with entrancing high-notes of newly cut grass, fresh thyme and sage. A rounded mouth feel on the mid-palate gives way to a refreshing, zippy lime finish.

Assembled specially by Jill Spoor, Matt Dumayne, David Scholefield and world-renowned terroir expert, Dr Pedro Parra, this blend of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc is a pure expression of what the Okanagan does best.

About the blend:

Juicy green melon with entrancing high-notes of newly cut grass, fresh thyme and sage. A rounded mouth feel on the mid-palate gives way to a refreshing, zippy lime finish. Assembled specially by Jill Spoor, Matt Dumayne, David Scholefield and world-renowned terroir expert, Dr Pedro Parra, this blend of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc is a pure expression of what the Okanagan does best.