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It’s Tofino Two – The Industrial Way Artisans and The 17^th Food and Wine Festival.

THE SHOW

Last week’s show was all about  spending weekdays in Tofino.  The Chefs of Tofino / Ucluelet  and Willie Mitchell..The Prince of Tides.

 This week, it’s about the craft artisans on Industrial Way  (Charcuterie, Brewing, Spirits & a very popular bakery.)

Summit Bread Co

Then it’s off to the 17^th annual Tofino Food and Wine Festival.  Most wine festivals take place in hotels, conventions centres and meeting rooms.  Not this one.

As always it takes place in the Tofino Botanical Gardens.

As you stroll to the many tasting stations you come to realize you’ve left the “gardens” behind and now you’re surrounded by a Rain Forest.

Surreal and very memorable.

I swear the location makes  the wines taste better.  Just saying!

As a stark contrast we start the show on Industrial Way in Tofino.

Like all other towns and cities, Tofino has an industrial area where craft businesses share space with construction equipment, fishing supplies, boat and floats.

As Tina Windsor from Picnic Charcuterie  says of Industrial Way  “there’s no point in putting lipstick on a pig.  It is what it is but still people seek us out.  It’s high class, low brow”

Besides Picnic, we’ll spend time discovering the people and the craft behind Tofino Brewing, Tofino Distillery and Summit Bakery.

Picnic Charcuterie

At the Tofino Food and Wine festival we’ll taste and talk with:

Kira Rogers The Food and Wine Fest  Producer, Culmina, Black Market, Pentage, Tantalus/Stoneboat/Summerhill/Township 7 and Burnt Timber.

Then a wonderful surprise,. I bumped into David Gouge  co-owner of Sea Star Vineyards. (Pender Island/Saturna Island)

and  got caught up on one of the really fine winery stories in BC.

 Today’s guests are:

From Industrial Way:

Tina Windsor – Picnic Charcuterie https://www.picniccharcuterie.com/

Bryan O’Malley  – Tofino Brewing   http://tofinobrewingco.com/

Neil Campbell – Tofino Craft  Distillery https://tofinocraftdistillery.com/

Brendan Foell/Cassidy McCaughan – Summit Bread Company https://www.summitbreadco.com/

From 17^th Tofino Food and Wine Festival

Kira Rogers – Producer https://tofinofoodandwinefestival.com/

Sara Triggs – Culmina Vineyards  https://www.culmina.ca/

Rob Hammersley – Conviction Ridge Vineyard/Black Market Wine Co. https://blackmarketwine.ca/

Paul Gardner – Pentage Wines   https://pentage.com/

David Gouge – Sea Star Vineyards https://seastarvineyards.ca/

Chris Smith (WayWestWines) – Tantalus, Burnt Timber, Summerhill, Township 7, Stoneboat.  https://twitter.com/waywestwines?lang=en  

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Jim Cuddy – Cuddy by Tawse Wines

A special feature on “field blends”

Fire Season in The Okanagan

BC Shellfish Festival / Courtenay-Comox

Cowichan Valley Wine Festival

Assorted Chefs, Willie Mitchell & Brendan Morrison  speak out on their/our  role in saving fishery

Chris Tolley Moon Cursor

Fort Berens

Andrea Sartori and 121 years of Italian Winemaking

Jason Priestley – 90210 and his California wine.

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THE SHOW   

When someone says  “Go West ” Tofino is as far as you can go in Canada.

Originally  is was nick-named  “tough city” now shortened to “Tuff City”.  That’s because the road,  which was formidable, ended in Tofino.

For many years stories on this stunning coastline were about the surfing and fishing. Then it started to get noticed as a culinary destination. That’s because the  entire area was loaded with chefs. (The local food truck Tacofino became so popular they moved operations into Vancouver and now have 8 locations including Tofino.)

What’s remarkable is that there are less than 2,000 Toficians in town but almost 500 business licences.

Summer brings what feels like “The World.”  Walking miles of beaches, forest walks here are called forest bathing , swimming, surfing, fishing, diving  and dining have become part of the allure.

1909 Restaurant

This is part one of four days spent in and around Tofino.  Trying to answer the question, what’s Tofino like on a Wednesday or  Thursday?  Is it different from crazy times on the weekend?

Every guest on this show has a story to tell and one of them reveals a surprising announcement.

What doesn’t seem to change is the food and the accommodations.

I found both at the world famous Wickaninnish Inn.   I also discovered their new breathtaking “Howard’s Wine Cellar.”  That’s where we start.

Howards’ Wine Cellar at the Wick

 Guest Toficians  include:

Charles McDiarmid – Managing Director/Founding Family The Wickaninnish Inn

Ike Seaman – Director of Food & Beverage/Sommelier/The Howard Wine Cellar  The Wick

Ike Seaman,, Photo Credit: Michael Becker,

Executive Chef Carmen Ingham – The Pointe Restaurant , The Wick

Chef Carmen Ingham The Point

Chef/Owner/Author Lisa Ahier (eye-aye) – Sobo

Lisa Ahier – Sobo

Willie Mitchell – X-NHL, Partner/President at Tofino Resort and Marina

Willie Mitchell

Executive Chef Paul Moran – Top Chef Canada Winner  1909 Restaurant at Tofino Resort and Marina

Chef Paul Moran

Chef Warren Barr and Lilly Verney-Downey – Pluvio Restaurant & Rooms  Ucluelet

Warren and Lilly Plovio

https://www.wickinn.com/

https://thepointerestaurant.ca/dining/

https://thepointerestaurant.ca/wine-cellar/

http://sobo.ca/site/

https://tofinoresortandmarina.com/

https://tofinoresortandmarina.com/restaurant/1909-kitchen/

https://www.pluvio.ca/

https://tourismtofino.com/

https://www.tourismvi.ca/

(NEXT WEEK  -Part Two features craft artisans on Industrial Road and The Annual Tofino Food and Wine festival)

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Jim Cuddy – Cuddy by Tawse Wines

A special feature on “field blends”

Fire Season in The Okanagan

Tofino Part Two – Includes food and wine festival

BC Shellfish Festival / Courtenay-Comox

Cowichan Valley Wine Festival

Chefs speak out on their/our  role in saving fishery

Chris Tolley Moon Cursor

Fort Berens

Andrea Sartori and 121 years of Italian Winemaking

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TOP DROP 2019 / FIRST TIME IN VICTORIA

The press release came in loud and clear.

For the very first time Top Drop was coming to Victoria.

Frankly, that’s all I needed to know.

I’ve been happily covering this small wildly successful wine gathering for
Six Years but Top Drop in Victoria is a whole other event. Why? Because
Victoria is a great wine town.

TOP DROP is Vancouver based so they needed a Victoria Host. Turns out the
Vessel crew have been watching this independent, craft wine festival seed
and grow in Vancouver, and spread to Calgary in 2018. This was their year to
launch it in Victoria for ONE DAY .

Victoria International Marina

Top Drop is an opportunity to celebrate authenticity in farming, terroir
and wine, with winery principals from around the globe.

Mirroring Top Drop Vancouver and Calgary’s flagship experience, the public
event is a walk around, grazing-style tasting where attendees enjoy sips
and stories from the principals of international and local wineries. There
has never before been a wine tasting of this scope and caliber in Victoria.

For me and TRR, the voice and face of Top Drop has always been Kurtis Kolt.
Wine educator and Wine writer for the Georgia Straight.

Kurtis and TD

Because of the foul weather, Kurtis and his partners were delayed in
Vancouver and could not attend while I was there.

Once again Kurtis Kolt and his partner Jeff Curry and a sensational team
have convinced some of the very best winemakers to pour at Top Drop.

What they have in common is craft and care!

In Kurtis’ column in the Georgia Straight he said this:

“Each year, our process begins the same. Our team casts out a wide net to
British Columbia-based importers and wineries, asking for winery
applications to participate in the event. First and foremost, Top Drop
wineries must fit with our general philosophy: that wines, indeed, express
terroir or offer a sense of place.

Whether we’re talking vines grown in mineral-rich soils or under
cool-climate growing conditions bringing bright acidity or in sun-drenched
regions offering generous, opulent fruit and so on, we want those elements
to be notable in the glass and for them to have arrived there authentically,
rather than via heavy-handed additions in the winery.

Sustainable farming is also key. There is a high priority on those who
employ these methods while farming their own fruit or who work with growers
who fit the mold.”

Winemaking Guests in Victoria:

(Check them out – Winners All!!)

Ross Borland Managing Partner/Vessel Liquor Victoria www.vesselliquor.com

Mitch Renaud Asst manager Vessel Liquor Victoria www.vesselliquor.com

Rhys Pender (MW) Little Farm/Similkameen Valley
http://www.littlefarmwinery.ca/

Angus Thomson Urlar/ Gladstone NZ http://www.urlar.co.nz/

Kelsey Rufiange – Echo Bay/OK Falls www.echobayvineyard.ca

Grant Biggs – Kitsch wines/Kelowna www.kitschwines.ca

Tyler Knight = Lightening Rock/Summerland www.lightningrockwinery.com

Larry Gerelus – Stags Hollow/OK Falls www.stagshollowwinery.com

Michael Shindler – A Sunday in August/Similkameen Valley
www.asundayinaugust.com

Dan Wright – Unsworth/Cowichan Valley www.unsworthvineyards.com

https://topdrop.ca/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Ann Sperling Making new direction wines at Sperling Vineyards

Tofino Food and Wine

Charles Smith and Rose Gathering/Jet City Seattle

A special feature on “field blends”

Fire Season in The Okanagan

The Wickaninnish Inn opens a spectacular cellar

Tofino mid-week experience. Chefs and more chefs

BC Shellfish Festival / Courtenay-Comox

Cowichan Valley Wine Festival