Coffee and Town Hall Brands

By Kathleen Beveridge Today is National Coffee Day or as Howard Schultz would say, "I can't imagine a day without coffee."

That being said I am not a coffee drinker, my choice of hot beverage has always been tea BUT there is something to be said about the smell of coffee brewing, the sounds of a coffee shop and the time spent with a warm mug in hand with friends, family and co-workers.

What I've noticed since joining Town Hall Brands last year is that our team loves coffee and that coffee is integral to our creative process to ensure we provide the best work for our clients. Whether creative design or communications you can bet each team member has a cup of coffee on their desk bringing focus and creative stimulation.

Now there has been studies that say coffee does not increase creativity however, for the team here I'll respectfully disagree. Coffee keeps us fueled up and when we need those mental breaks the walk to the coffee shop usually clears the mind enough that productivity is when returning to our desks.

In case you were wondering here's how the each team member enjoys their coffee!

Leeann

I like my coffee with just a little bit of milk and I like it to be strong. When I have a latte I like four shots of espresso and soy milk. No sugar. I'm sweet enough.

Andrew

Depends on whether it’s good coffee or not. If it’s good coffee it’s black.

Felicia

Often. With lots of cream.

Sujinder

With two (almost) vegans and one with dairy allergies in the house, we rarely have regular (cow’s) milk in the fridge, even though that’s my personal preference. That, and half a teaspoon of brown sugar. Always brown. I rarely get a hot cup of coffee at the home office, but my Stanley mega-thermos keeps it hot enough for the commute to Town Hall HQ. Other than that, I have a Nespresso ‘pixie’ which has served me well for years. My favourite pod is the Arpeggio. It’s intensity is 9/10. Just like me. And for the record, being environmentally-conscious, we scoop the grinds in the compost and recycle the aluminum. Love you, mother nature!

Laurisha

COFFEE IS MY EVERYTHING. IT DESERVES ALL THE ALL CAPS. I need it to be piping hot, fresh ground, and something like Kickinghorse, Ethical Bean or Salt-Spring. I like cream and sugar in it (not too much of either).

Amy

Americano black.

Kathleen

Tea please! Any and all kinds. Or if I have to choose a coffee make it sickly sweet-Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Mocha's, Carmel Machiattos. I may love the smell but the taste not so much.

Grace

Office coffee with 2 creams every morning. Sometimes with sugar if I’m feeling lazy and go to a café.

Genevieve

I like plain Jane drip coffee with almond milk and HONEY.

Cheers to National Coffee Day! May your day be filled with your favourite brew.

WBC16: Connection & Engagement

By Sujinder Juneja We’ve said this many times before, including in a post directly following the 2015 event, but the Wine Bloggers Conference is more than just a conference, it’s a community. I’ll come back to this idea of “community” in a moment.

Leeann and I from Town Hall Brands attended the 2016 showcase in Lodi, California (August 11-14). This was my fourth conference in a row, and Leeann’s fifth. For the first time though, I was honoured to be asked by conference founder Allan Wright to moderate a panel discussion in front of an audience of 300 or so bloggers, journalists and other wine professionals. Gulp! Yes – I was thrilled to be asked and I was also nervous as heck. But more than that, I knew right away that I wanted to make it special, for both the audience and the panellists themselves.

My panel was a dream. I got to moderate the Panel of Wine Blog Award Winners, featuring five winners of the 2016 Wine Blog Awards. The awards have been in place since 2007 (the year before the first Wine Bloggers Conference), honouring excellence in online wine writing. This year’s panellists included Sophie Thorpe from Berry Bros. & Rudd, Mary Cressler from Vindulge, Jill Barth from l’Occasion, Susan Manfull from Provence Wine Zine, and Jerry Clark who received Best Blog Post of the Year.

Within my job in communications, yes, I do get to talk about wine and winemaking all day long, helping to celebrate the stories behind the labels of our passionate winery clients. But any success we have with the media comes down to the relationships and connections we build with the writers, editors, and producers that help share our client achievements. Within this panel and within the audience itself, I wanted to make sure to build that same connection and engagement.

First step: Google “how to moderate a panel.”

Check. This gave me the structure I needed to follow.

Second step: Arrange for some one-on-one time with each of the panellists in advance so that we could get to know each other better and to flesh out ideas for discussion.

Check. This, to me, was the most valuable part of the panel, as it connected us in a way that the audience could see, and that we could feel onstage. In each of our private discussions, we shared ideas, laughs and stories that solidified our personal connections, making us part of that community I mentioned earlier.

I will share that I was personally impressed and inspired by each of the very deserving award-winners, and what I was able to learn from each of them was a gift. Here are some of the gems that I took away from each of them:

Sophie Thorpe: Maybe it’s the Brit in me (my mom is from Reading, England) but I LOVE Sophie’s dry sense of humour, which you can see both on the BB&R blog and on her own, Raised on Champagne. She taught me the subtle excellence of opening the curtain to show the personality behind the writer, and how to let her readers know that they’re in on the joke, shared just between you and them.

Mary Cressler: Mary’s love of wine, photography, food and her family (not necessarily in that order) are infectious. The first time I saw Mary’s photos… the light, the texture, the delicious mouth water-inducing amazing-ness of her work, I knew that better was possible. It will take me some time to get even close to Mary’s talent, but she motivates me to try.

Jill Barth: Once you start reading her blog, L’Ocasion, you won’t stop until hours (maybe days) later. In fact, I whiled away about 45 minutes just prepping to write this little intro! Arguably, that is what made Jill a double award-winner this year: the ability to draw in her readers in such a way that they are sucked down this wine-filled rabbit hole of stories and adventures.

Susan Manfull: ‘P’ for Provence and ‘P’ for Passion. Susan has a heart of gold, which is easy to tell by speaking to her, or by reading her work. The tender care that she puts into each article is wonderful. Our first phone call could have gone on for hours, it was such a joy to speak to her.

Jerry Clark: One of my favourite pieces of wine writing, Jerry’s award-winning piece was evocative and emotional. He invited us into an intimate world, which all of us, including non-wine lovers, can relate to. His thrilling use of the written word remains incessantly inspiring.

Overall, the greatest thing I took away from these talented people is that a gifted wine writer, especially an award-winning wine blogger, is one that gives of themselves, that opens up in a personal way, revealing details not only about their subject - whether it be about a particular wine, an international travel adventure – but one who shares details about themselves. It is this, among many of the other things I learned above, that I hope to incorporate into my own blog when it launches this Fall.

See you in Sonoma at WBC17!

Disclosure: In exchange for a reduced rate to the Wine Bloggers Conference, attendees are required to write at least three blog posts about the conference either before, during or after.

Hot Photographer of Today Uses Wet Plate Collodion Technique of Yesterday

By Leeann Froese In today's digital age, it's easy to forget the roots of photography, when we can whip out our IPhones and take a photo with the tap of a screen in less than a couple seconds.

One renowned Vancouver photographer, Phillip Chin, is taking a step into the past and connecting with a pioneering method of photography called the Tintype Process, also known as Wet Plate Collodion Photography, which was introduced in the 1850s and thrived until the 1880s. Town Hall Brands' team had the privilege of getting their photos taken by him.

The process is not quick. Chin brought with him a light-tight tent as his portable dark room. To begin the photo process, a chemical called Collodion is poured over a plate of glass or aluminium. After this, the plate goes into a Silver Nitrate bath for three minutes, which makes the plate sensitive to light. The plate is then taken (in a plate holder to protect it from light) to a wet plate camera. The shutter is kept open for 6-10 seconds while the person being photographed sits very still.

Back in the 'darkroom', the plate is covered with developer. And then placed in a chemical (Chin used silver thiosulfate) which takes the negative image and turns it into an enchanting black and white photo.

Chin fell in love with photography all over again with the help of Wet Plate Collodion Photography because of the process and the hands-on nature of the craft. Unlike digital photography, a photo is taken every 15 minutes, and he remarks "you really have to put thought into each image to make it count. It also takes a great understanding your camera, chemistry and lighting," a challenge he was willing to immerse himself in.

With the help of Wet Plate Photography, Chin hopes to "capture the true essence of each subject [he] photographs" and "help people appreciate what a great photo really is".

Phillip Chin is a commercial photographer who has been shooting campaigns and images for clients across Canada for more than 25 years. He specializes in capturing images of people, and has had the pleasure of working with families, corporations, chefs, athletes and musicians in action. He shoots on film, digital, and now wet plate formats.

To learn more about Chin and his work, contact him in Vancouver (604) 874 2444, or by email at phillip2446@gmail.com

It's OK to have opinions - and 4 other things I have learned in business

By Leeann Froese

5 Things I have learned on our 2nd Anniversary

I am not sure how that happened so fast, but our little agency is two years old this month.

Andrew and I want to thank our amazing team and our clients for allowing us to us create brands and get the word out on things that celebrate living well: wine, food, hospitality, financial planning, film, and sport.

I have been learning new lessons everyday, and wanted to share a few things that rank at the top of my mind as we celebrate the start of year three #withTownHall.

I'd love to know, if you own a business, what are you learning? Maybe we can learn from each other? Listed as a countdown, but not in strict order:

5. It's OK to have opinions - even if they are unpopular

For much of my career I only cared about being a people pleaser. I still possess this trait, and our team also shares this trait, but not at the expense of giving bad advice or being untruthful.

My mentor, Christine Coletta, instilled in me the saying 'we're not here for a haircut', meaning that people don't look to my expertise so I can blow smoke, or not make things happen. As such, people can count on our team for good content and to get things done.

I have also realized since opening Town Hall that after almost 20 years in the industry I have knowledge to share and I should provide not only expertise, but also the truth and my own opinions, especially if they defend clients, and even if these opinions or truths are unpopular or are not what people had hoped to hear.

So now, I give my complete opinion when asked, or call out situations when I need to. An example of this is my recent post about those who ask for wine donations. Sorry, everyone who wants free wine.

4. The right team is everything

There is no way that Andrew and I could deliver strong programming to our clients without the contributions of a strong design and communication team. I'm so proud of the work that our team does to create identities and raise profiles.

It has taken the full two years, with some personalities coming and going (and this may continue as the business evolves) but when the fit is right, as it currently is, the culture and work output can be magic.

Thank you Sujinder, Felicia, Amy, Laurisha, Ali, Lindsey, Kathleen, Lindsey, our newest member, Carole, and our consultants Alana and Irene, for being so key in the team's success. We would be nowhere without you all!

3. A home office can only hold so much

We are seeking a new space, and ideally, by our 3rd birthday we will be in a different office. We are working with a realtor but the Vancouver market is hot. Wish us luck!

2. We need to tell people what else we do

Many people don't realize we are a full service agency and think that we only offer publicity services, or that I am singularly a PR person.

So can you please help it be known: we offer packaging, media relations, social media outreach, logo and graphic design, advertising campaigns, events and marketing strategy.

Also, we are not the popular Joseph Richards Group owned Townhall Public House.

We named our company “Town Hall” based on collaboration, which we feel is so important, especially in this era of crowd-sourced information and real-time customer feedback.

It is our constant goal to be a lifestyle destination, and deliver projects that inspire and celebrate the good life.

1. We are just getting started

In the scheme of a growing business we are really just getting started. The learning curve for sure is super steep.

I was looking after a lot of the agency work at Coletta and Associates before we closed the doors there, but there's nothing quite like being the one who's the air traffic controller and holding the bag and making sure that everybody's rent gets paid.

We are super thankful to our clients who believe in what we're doing at our little agency. We truly love you!

Life is too short to work with people you don't like and products you don't fall in love with.

We thank everybody for coming along for our ride #withTownHall

We are very social with what we do - so converse with us on your favourite social network @townhallbrands.

Keep up with what we do and talk to us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

We look forward to what the next year brings!

Meet Town Hall's participating BC wineries and more at the International Wine Festival

 

The Vancouver International Wine Festival, Canada’s premier wine event, will be returning for its 37th year with wine tasting, performing arts and delicious food to create a super fun event from Friday, February 20 to Sunday, March 1.

The festival will showcase 170 wineries from 14 countries, pouring more than 1750 wines and hosting 53 events throughout the city. This year, the focus of the festival is Australia, with Syrah at the heart of all festivities. The event promises to be educational and entertaining for all visitors.  

We encourage all attending public, trade and media to stop by the following wineries to experience what BC wine has to offer your taste buds. 

Journalists and bloggers: Interview opportunities are available with visiting winery principals listed below and Alan Sacks of the BC Hospitality Foundation.

BC Hospitality Foundation

Of special note:

• Visit the BCHF booth to get your digital caricatures done courtesy of Cruelty Free Cartoons, available throughout the trade tasting days: Thursday 1:30-5pm, Friday 1:30-5pm.
• In 2014, with the support of a number of dedicated volunteers and partners, the BCHF raised more than $85,000 to support current and future industry members.

Who will you meet:

Alan Sacks has worked or been involved in the Hospitality Industry for over 30 years. Educated in the UK he has an Honours Degree in Hospitality Administration. His Canadian Hotel career with Delta Hotels and Resorts included positions as General Manager of three properties and Corporate Director of Food and Beverage. Alan formed his own business in 1991 and has worked exclusively within the hospitality industry providing a variety of services focused on procurement and project management. He joined the BCHF team in October 2009 and now serves as executive director. 

About BCHF:

Formed in 2006, the British Columbia Hospitality Foundation is the industry's charity of choice, providing support to individuals within the hospitality community in their times of financial need as they cope with any extraordinary health or medical conditions. The BCHF raises funds through various fundraising events in order to support the industry’s next generation by providing scholarships to selected students enrolled in hospitality, culinary and wine programs in partner post-secondary institutions in BC.

For more information, visit bchospitalityfoundation.com, Like on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Kelowna BC

Of special note:

• Summerhill Pyramid Winery will pour Cipes Brut, awarded Best Sparkling Wine in Canada at the All Canadian Wine Championship. 
• The winery is known for organically and biodynamically growing grapes from the pristine Okanagan Valley.

Wines to taste:

• Cipes Brut
• 2010 Syrah
• 2011 Spadefoot Toad Syrah
• 2013 Organic Syrah Rose
• 2011 Syrah Icewine

Who you might meet:

Ezra Cipes is proud to carry on the family legacy at Summerhill Pyramid Winery as CEO. Like his father Stephen, Ezra has a multitude of passions and talents. At Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Ezra Cipes is responsible for day to day operations, marketing, and leadership. He is a talented musician, and has completed courses in vineyard management and in permaculture design.

Eric von Krosigk is winemaker and viticulturist at Summerhill, and as the winery’s first winemaker, has been associated with Summerhill since its inception. Leading the winery’s organic growers, von Krosigk works with some of the Okanagan’s best grapes to produce world-class wines. Despite the fact he wins numerous awards each year, Eric remains one of the most approachable and humble BC vintners. Also notable is that Eric is president of the Okanagan Wine Festival board.

About Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Summerhill Pyramid Winery, located in the Lakeshore district in Kelowna, BC, is Canada’s largest biodynamic and organic winery, producing more organic wine than the rest of the Canadian wine industry combined. In addition, Summerhill is Canada’s most visited winery and foremost producer of sparkling wine. Winemaker Eric von Krosigk oversees the portfolio of BC VQA wines that earned the winery the Canadian Wine “Producer of the Year” trophy at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London, England in December 2009 as well as a trophy for “Best International Bottle Fermented Sparkling Wine” from this same competition in 2010. The winery, owned by the Cipes family, is also home to Summerhill’s organic Sunset Bistro, serving food grown and raised by local organic producers, including an onsite permaculture-style vegetable garden. The mission of the entire Summerhill team is to produce exceptionally good tasting wines organically, support local organic food growers in the bistro and provide unforgettable experiences for all its guests.

For more information, visit summerhill.bc.ca, Like on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

Haywire Winery, Summerland BC

Of special note:

• Okanagan Crush Pad is the first winery in Canada to extensively use concrete tanks during fermentation, and carry the raised in Concrete designation.
• The Haywire Canyonview Pinot Noir 2012 was recently featured in Wines in Niagara and was awarded 92 points by wine expert Rick VanSickle.
• Haywire is co-owned by Christine Coletta, who is leader in BC's wine industry.

Wines you will find at the Haywire table:

• Haywire Canyonview Pinot Noir 2012
• Haywire Syrah 2012
• Haywire Sauvignon Blanc 2013 
• Haywire Switchback Pinot Gris 2012
• Haywire Free Form 2013

Who you might meet:

Alison Scholefield is arguably the youngest winery principal you will find in the room and she has been in the wine industry since birth. Now as the winery ambassador and sales team liaison for Haywire, it's her job to communicate with customers, the public and wine club members. You can ask her about where to find the wines, and anything that's happening at the winery. Also find out why she has Haywire’s Sparkling wine the Bub named after her.

Julian Scholefield is the operations manager at the winery, and also president of the Summerland area Bottleneck Drive winery association. Julian oversees the coordination in the cellar of Haywire, Bartier Scholefield, client Bartier Brothers as well as several other client wines, including bottling, deliveries, on-site activities, as well as liaising with the vineyard teams, including the team that is planting the new Garnet Valley Vineyard.

Matt Dumayne is the winemaker for Haywire. Originally from New Zealand, and with 25 vintages under his belt crafting award-winning wine in Central Otago, California, Australia, and Oregon, Matt brings unparalleled insight and passion to the winemaking program. You can speak to Matt about the ways that he is approaching the Haywire portfolio, as well as some of the special projects he's working on which *sneak peek* include an orange wine…

You can also meet their enthusiastic sales representatives including Mike West, Amy Hollenbach, Rebeka Eriksson and Whitney Law.

About Haywire

Haywire is an old Canadian term that refers to wire once used for baling hay, which tended to tangle in a chaotic way. It is also an apt description of Christine and Steve’s transition from the city to owning a vineyard and winery. The learning curve was steep, but as the first wines hit the market (in 2010) it became apparent that the journey was the reward. Since planting the 10-acre Switchback Vineyard, Christine and Steve have gone on to open Canada’s first purpose-built custom crush facility (Okanagan Crush Pad Winery in 2011) and are now getting ready to plant the first 20 acres of vines at their 312-acre Garnet Valley Ranch. Haywire is committed to crafting wines that tell the story of the New Okanagan.

For more information visit haywirewinery.com, Like on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

TIME Estate Winery, Oliver, BC 

Of special note:

• All TIME Estate wines are grown and made on Canada's most-awarded, Sundial Vineyard in Oliver, BC.
• Harry McWatters, owner, will launch the inaugural TIME Estate Syrah at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Only 100 cases of the Syrah have been produced.

Wines you will find at the TIME Estate Winery table:

• TIME Estate Winery Syrah
• TIME Estate Winery Meritage (Red)
• TIME Estate Winery Meritage (White)
• TIME Estate Winery Sundial (White)
• McWatters Meritage (red)

Who you might meet:

Harry McWatters is the owner and winemaker of TIME Estate Winery and is a leader in the thriving British Columbia wine industry in which he has been involved for over 40 years.  He was the founder of British Columbia's first estate winery and has been the driving force in the development of British Columbia's wine industry. In 1980 he led a group of wineries and local businesses to establish the Okanagan Wine Festival Society and acted as the founding president. Harry was also instrumental in founding VQA Canada, a trade association that spearheaded the development of national wine standards for Canadian vintners and served as the first Chairman.

About TIME ESTATE Winery:

A progressive new building is currently under construction for TIME, which will feature an extensive hospitality centre (including a commercial kitchen) and luxury guest suites, all with stunning Valley and lake Osoyoos views. When completed, the winery will focus almost entirely on Bordeaux-style premium wines created from the estate parcels. Harry's vision to create the very best wines in the Okanagan is about to be realized. Its about time.

For more information on TIME Estate Winery, visit timewinery.com, Like on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

 For more information

If you are unable to attend the Vancouver Wine Festival but would like to learn more about our clients, please contact Sujidner Juneja at sujinder@townhallbrands.com or 604-367-6745

October is a Month of Foodtivities

  By Amy Chen

October, perhaps the most delicious month, is home to Thanksgiving, Halloween and now… Pizza Month.

To show support for North American’s growing pizza love, Gerry Durnell, pizzeria owner and founder of Pizza Today Magazine, launched a national pizza-focused magazine in October 1984 and designated the month as Pizza Month. If you don’t already know, Town Hall is all about celebrating the bounty of good food and great wine. When we sat down with our team to plan this special foodie month, we unanimously agreed that any idea we came up with needed to include what we love most: wine. With this in mind and a certified wine scholar on the team (Sujinder Juneja), it only made sense for us to do a series of wine and pizza pairings to share with all of our friends! For the next five #WineWednesday in October, grab a slice of pizza, sit-back, and follow us on our blog to find the perfect wine pairing for that slice in your hand. Let us know if you have a favourite wine and pizza pairing that we can share with our readers. Looking forward to celebrating Pizza Month and #WineWednesdays with you this October.

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WEEK 1 (OCTOBER 1)

October 1^st is not only the start of Pizza Month but also World Vegetarian Day. It makes perfect sense for our very first #WineWednesday #PizzaMonth post to pair great wines with vegetarian pizzas. Michael Pollan, in his acclaimed book In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto (Penguin Books, 2009) suggests that as a responsible species, we should “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” With a cornucopia of sustainable, locally-sourced and delicious fruits and vegetables to choose from in British Columbia, the possibilities for veggie-themed pizzas are near endless. Here are a couple favourite pairings from two of Town Hall’s sustainably-minded wineries:

Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s 2013 Small Lot Pinot Gris is a certified-organic custom blend from winemaker/viticulturalist Eric von Krosigk, which includes 8% Chardonnay and 5% Viognier, both fermented in oak barrels, plus 2% Pinot Blanc, each of which add gorgeous aromatics and balanced structure. The bright stone fruit and citrus tones of this wine will pair perfectly with pizza topped with fresh sliced pear, caramelized onions, extra virgin olive oil, organic goat cheese and coarse sea salt.

Already well-known for terroir-driven Pinot Gris, Summerland’s Haywire Winery has created quite a stir with their 2012 Gamay Noir, which offers a nose of bright red fruit and sweet earth, leading to flavours of raspberry, strawberry and cherry. Consider pairing with a vegetarian pizza topped with spinach, Portobello mushrooms, sweet and spicy peppadew peppers with a homemade garlic pesto base.

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WEEK 2 (OCTOBER 8)

100% Okanagan and 100% to charity. The gold-medal winning (2014 BC Wine Awards) 2013 Rosé from The Girls (produced and distributed by Time Estate Winery) is a food-friendly blend that shows a soft pink colour with an intensely fragrant, floral nose of raspberry and wild strawberry. It’s dry and medium-bodied, with a thread of refreshing acidity. Pizza toppings with a bit of “spice” would work very well with this vivacious charmer – try with your favourite ground meat (spiced and pan-fried before baking), black olives, green onions, fresh BC tomatoes, pickled jalapeños and a mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese.

A new favourite of ours is the just-released 2012 Quill Red blend from Blue Grouse Estate Winery in the Cowichan Valley. It’s a unique and deliciously balanced blend of Cabernet Foch, Marechal Foch, Merlot and Cabernet Libre sourced from Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley. This robust red calls for a hearty pizza with pepperoni, spicy capicola, Italian sausage, red onions and mozzarella cheese with a tomato sauce base.

Both wines are priced at under $20 – you might just want to grab two of each and share with friends.

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WEEK 3 (OCTOBER 15)

Well Seasoned is THE foodie paradise in the Fraser Valley. The store has just celebrated 10 successful years of being the go-to gourmet superstore in the region and has just moved to a brand new location at #117-20353 64 Ave in Langley. Angie Quaale,Well Seasoned’s owner, believes that the best pizza can only be made with the best ingredients and a few key tools.

Angie says the best homemade pizzas are made in the oven with a pizza stone, guaranteeing your pie even heat distribution so that the crust cooks evenly on the top as well as the bottom. You can get a good oneat Well Seasoned for around 20 bucks. She also recommends a pizza ‘peel’ – a handle with a flat wooden carrying surface – to keep the pizza from falling on the floor as it goes in and out of the oven. They are a great investment for any serious pizza maker.

Of course, it’s not even toppings that matter most, but the base that will make the pizza perfect.

Angie suggests always having a package of frozen pizza dough on hand (she uses the ones from local Calabria Bakery). Making your own sauce from canned and peeled Italian tomatoes is always a great idea, seasoned with your own choice of dried herbs and specialty salts. Well Seasoned has plenty to choose from. Be creative. Have fun. Eat Pizza!

Need more inspiration? Well Seasoned is offering a “Killer Pizza” class with Chef Carl Sawatsky on October 30 at 6:30pm. For just $60, you can learn to make pizza like a boss.

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WEEK 4 (October 22)

This week, we’re pleased to introduce you to a newcomer to the BC wine scene – Kamloops’ Monte Creek Ranch. Their wines are now arriving at select liquor stores and restaurants across the province and we know you’ll be impressed. Amazing flavours, great packaging and a unique history all add up to a sensational experience. Their 2013 Riesling offers mid-week friendly low alcohol, fresh acidity and notes of balanced minerality, along with a crisp lemon/lime citrus and grapefruit finish. Try it with a pizza topped with savoury grilled chicken and pineapple, on a freshly-made crust brushed with olive oil, lemon juice and citrus sea salt. A dollop or two of gooey mascarpone cheese would round things out nicely.

While the debate rages on about what a “signature grape” could or should be for the British Columbia, there’s no doubt that Syrah is often name-checked as one of the front-runners. Mt. Boucherie Family Estate Winery has been farming grapes throughout the valley since the late 1960s and their passion for the land is evident in each and every one of the wines they produce. Their 2010 Syrah is sourced from family-owned vineyards in the picturesque Similkameen Valley. Aromas and flavours of dark plum, blackberries, leather and black pepper lead a velvety long finish. To balance the rich fruit and spicy notes of the wine, we’re thinking Genoa salami, bacon and ham with a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheese over a tomato sauce base.

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WEEK 5 (October 29)

Ever since we first met Judy and tasted through her wines, we were hooked. The love, care and attention that she and her team devotes to every bottle is earning them accolades beyond our provincial borders. Planning a visit to Naramata? Make sure you stop in to say hi to Judy and her second-in-command, Katie, who are always there to greet visitors with a smile and a glass. We’ve long been fans of their Viognier, and the 2013 vintage shows notes of orange blossom and tangerine with notes of toasted coconut, blood orange and apricot, balanced with refreshing acidity. How about a pizza with a creamy Thai curry sauce base, topped with wild shrimp (Ocean Wise, naturally), red onions, red and orange peppers, pineapple, coriander and mozzarella.

Oliver’s legendary Sundial Vineyard was planted on the Black Sage Bench in South Okanagan in 1992. For more than 20 years, the vineyard has produced some of the most sought-after and award-winning wines in the province, based mostly on Bordeaux varietals. TIME Estate Winery, launched by vineyard owners Harry McWatters and Bob Wareham continues the tradition of producing premium fruit under direction of viticulturist Richard Cleve. The 2011 Meritage (Red) is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It offers classic aromas of red berries, black cherries and pepper with a character that suggests rose petal and sage. Inspired by the artisan thin crust pizza from Summerland’s Local Lounge • Grille, we suggest a pizza topped with olive oil, arugula, roasted local garlic and braised short rib.

Thank you to everyone that followed along with our #PizzaMonth wine and pizza suggestions. Were you inspired to try these recipes yourself or do you have other suggestions to share? We’d love to hear from you. Send a photo, write us an email or leave a comment below. Happy eating!

Town Hall takes the #ALSIceBucketChallenge

We were nominated by Robert Stelmachuk and his team at Cibo Trattoria to take the #alsicebucketchallenge and we accepted! Here we have our Town Hall team: Sujinder Juneja, Amy Chen, Leeann Froese, Laurisha Bardall and Andrew von Rosen and we are at Scotiabank Field.

We have made a $100 donation on behalf of our team, and we pass the ALS Ice Bucket challenge along to Darnelle Moore at Eastside Fitness, Eric von Krosigk of Summerhill Pyramid Winery and Megan Moyle of Constellation Brands.

ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed. Kind of like how it feels to be doused in ice water? Every day two or three Canadians die of the disease.

Why is it called Lou Gehrig's Disease?

Lou Gehrig was an American baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. He set several major league records during his career, including the most career grand slams (23) (until this record was broken in 2013) Gehrig's streak ended in 1939 after he was stricken with ALS, a disorder now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease in North America, which forced him to retire at age 36 and claimed his life two years later.

Thank you to Rob Fai for editing this video for us and to our own Felicia Fraser for filming us.

Please share this, and remember to make a donation. Learn more here on the ALS Canada site.

#gogetit #wettshirt #donate #alsicebucketchallenge #stopALS

Meet Sujinder Juneja With Town Hall

By Leeann Froese If you have been following what we do, you know that every Saturday we like to feature a personality #withTown Hall.

This week, as we round the corner to our 2nd year of business, we decided it's time to take #withTownHall here to the source.

This week #withTownHall we are celebrating our own. Our Sujinder Juneja is not only our communication director, he is a true lover of wine.

We could go on, but the case in point that we want to highlight is that he just passed his French Wine Scholar exam

The French Wine Scholar Program covers French wine law, grape varieties, viticulture, winemaking and all of the French wine regions. Developed and administrated by the French Wine Society with the support of the French Ministry of Agriculture, this specialization program  is designed for advanced students of wine, whether professionals or serious wine hobbyists.

Way to go Sujinder - #gogetit!

We will be asking Sujinder not only to share his good story ideas, but also for his French wine recommendations to be sure!

Everyone - please help us congratulate Sujinder with a comment below - or go give this post a like or share on Facebook or Twitter.

Happy New Year! Wishing you the best for 2014 and hope to see you #withTownHall

Happy New Year from Town Hall By Leeann Froese

At this time on behalf of our entire team I want to wish everybody the best of the holiday season as we turn the corner into 2014.

2013 has been a pretty challenging, yet amazing year. The easiest way to say it, is that it has just been incredible, full of change, positivity, amazing people, and hope for what lies ahead.

After spending 16 years with an agency that we did a vast body of work with, and that taught us so much, to go out on our own was a bigger move than I anticipated. It is our blessing that our clients have come with us, and new ones have joined us too, and we have a team of 7 professionals that step up to do their best every time they are on the job, yet, can celebrate life and have fun on the flipside.

As I write this all I can say is that I am filled with gratitude. I'm so thankful to everyone around me: my family, friends, coworkers, clients and the media who support us. Plus, everyone has just spread so much goodwill and been supportive over this year - this year that has been so big and so full of change as we launched Town Hall.

I would love to personally reach out and say to every single person how meaningful my relationship with you is, but I'm going to do this in a mass way right here on this blog and say very best of the season to you all.

I wish you a Happy New Year as we welcome 2014, and I can't wait to see you in person, talk to you on the phone, or swap an email with you and strengthen our relationship as time unfolds.

And so I don't leave you with a totally mushy ending - here is a fun how-to that we did just in time for the holiday season.

Cheers!

If you are on mobile and cannot see the You Tube embedded - here is the click through.