Starting the New Year with a look at the year that was… 2014 in review - part one of two long posts...
By Leeann Froese
It is remarkable that it is already the first Wine Wednesday of 2015!
2014 had been quite the amazing year for our team at Town Hall. The saying that ‘it takes a village’ is certainly true, especially as you apply it to what we're doing here. It takes a committed team and also a supporting cast of characters to really make all that we accomplish on behalf of our clients possible.
We feel blessed to have a cohesive team that really enjoys each other's company both while at and outside the office, and we love our clients, because as well as quality offerings, they carry so much passion and personality.
Also in the village we rely heavily on social thought leaders, bloggers and journalists to support our efforts to help spread the word on behalf of our clients, and we can't thank everyone enough for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for everything that we're doing here.
There is too much to detail, so to follow are a few highlights from what was an incredible year.
January
Wine for the Year of the Horse
Haywire Lunar wine launched… and sold out in days. This was an unprecedented program to create a wine for the local market specifically crafted to pair with Asian cuisine, and this wine symbolized the Year of the Horse. Our team did the packaging and PR. The program was a huge success and will be repeated for this year, the Year of the Sheep.
Wines of France educational seminar
On behalf of Sopexa Canada our team coordinated three days of training for the senior managers and product consultants of the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch, highlighting Alsace, Beaujolais, Bourgogne, Languedoc-Roussillon and Rhône Valley wines. On the heels of this, it was so exciting having Wines of France be the theme region for the Vancouver International Wine Festival in 2014.
Dawn Chubai goes Under the Covers
14 years after her award-winning début album, vocalist turned TV personality Dawn Chubai releases Under the Covers. Our design team was proud to do the layout on her album cover.
February
Pure Chablis
An exclusive dinner format never done before in Vancouver: three up-and-coming sommeliers (Brooke Delves, Jason Yamasaki and Roger Maniwa) competed to pair wines from Chablis to a menu created by chef Jefferson Alvarez of Secret Location. Invited guests to #PureChablisYVR voted by private individual electronic ballot, and the winner was Roger Maniwa.
The International Wine Festival
The 2014 International Wine Festival featured 178 wineries from all over the world, and the theme country was France. Mike Bernardo of Vij's was named the Sommelier of the Year. The wine world gathers to taste and connect. Selfies were taken.
March
Kosher Wine from BC
Canada's first uncooked Kosher wine was created by Summerhill Pyramid Winery with the release of Tiferet (loosely translated, means beauty).
Eight unique curries compete
In another first, the inaugural Curry Cup took place on behalf of the Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia; eight chef teams competed and the winner was chef Taryn Wa of Savoury Chef.
April
Vancouver Dining gets Social with Serendipity
Serendipity Winery is the exclusive wine partner for the second annual #DinnerpartyYVR. Hobby chefs prepared meals in their homes with all proceeds to charity.
May
Dish n Dazzle
The BC Hospitality Foundation and Wines of New Zealand presented Dish N Dazzle with proceeds to support those in the hospitality industry in dire financial need. The event featured New Zealand Wines, a spirits competition and food from top Vancouver restaurants.
Spotlight on Portuguese Wines
For the first time in 20 years (maybe more) vintners from Portugal arrived en masse - 27 in all - to Vancouver, many displaying wines that were not available in Canada yet. We were proud to implement this program, which was a guided tasting led by Treve Ring, followed by a walk-around tasting. We were delighted to see how engaging the vintners are, how well the wines showed and how much the trade appreciated these wines.
Portuguese wines are on the rise globally, and we can see why.
Spot Prawn Festival
Presented by the Chefs’ Table Society of BC, the 8th annual Spot Prawn Festival took place at Fisherman's Wharf. The Spot Prawn Festival celebrates the start of spot prawn season in BC's coastal waters. The event involves many local chefs, and more than 2000 people attend this celebration of sustainable seafood.
Wine In the Garden
The Bottleneck Drive Winery Association from Summerland held their first event in Vancouver: Wine in the Garden, at the beautiful VanDusen Gardens.
June
Provence Rosé
We were delighted to present a program on behalf of Wines of Provence, celebrating the wonderful wines and flavours from the south of France. the program included media appearances by Provence's François Millo and Viktorija Todorovska and a tasting for retailers.
Preparing BC wineries for Fame
I was joined by DJ Kearney and Kathy Michaels to present a media training session to the BC Wine Institute member wineries.
Finding the Best Canadian Wines
The Wine Align National Wine Awards of Canada judging took place in Penticton, BC. It was a thrill to see the judges, many of whom I have worked with for more than 15 years (!) but never get to see, and help host them at Okanagan Crush Pad.
A huge highlight for me as well was meeting Jamie Goode, a visiting wine author from the UK. He is a marathon runner and kindly slowed down enough for me to join him for a run in paradise.
Welcome Calvin
Our Felicia had a baby! Welcome Calvin! 9lb 2 oz and 100% cute!
July
#WBC14
The Wine Bloggers Conference took place in Santa Barbara California, following a pre-excursion to Paso Robles. While there we presented a handful of BC wines in a hotel suite, exposing the wines to leading bloggers. We also got to see parts of California wine country and taste some incredible wines from the region, not to mention meet amazing people we now remain in touch with throughout the year.
Golfing to help the industry
The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation’s annual golf tournament took place in Vancouver. Amazing support was shown from the industry.
Joining Us
In July we were also pleased to welcome the Blue Grouse Vineyards and Winery team as well as financial consultant Judy Poole of Raymond James into our roster of clients. Wonderful people with lots to share.
Next week I will finish off from August onward, this post is lengthy enough!
Did you attend any of these highlighted events? What were the highlights of your year?
2015 already promises some projects and exciting events to emerge so stay posted.
We can't wait to tell you what else our clients are going to be up to and I look forward to seeing you very soon!
Happy New Year - let’s all #gogetit!
On Saturday, April 9, 2016, Serendipity Winery will support the charitable DinnerPartyYVR (#DPYVR) for the fourth consecutive year. The Naramata winery is generously donating their BC VQA wine to simultaneously-hosted dinner parties across Vancouver with over 500 anticipated home cooks and diners. 100% of ticket sales from each dinner is donated to a charity of the hobby chefs’ choice. To date, Serendipity has helped participating hobby chefs raise more than $30,000 for charities across BC.
Founded in 2013, DinnerPartyYVR has connected hundreds of hobby chefs, diners, charities, and partners around dinner tables across Vancouver for great conservations, marvellous meals, and a whole lot of fun. This year, more hobby chefs than ever will be invited to host dinner parties in their homes while raising funds for their favourite charity. 100% of ticket sales are donated. After dinner, everyone gathers to celebrate at an after party featuring live entertainment, treats and more opportunities to mix and mingle with new friends and charity representatives.
