The GOODS from Vancouver Urban Winery

Vancouver, BC |Vancouver Urban Winery is excited to announce the return of Sunday School, a series of informal and irreverent wine seminars hosted by Sommeliers David Stansfield and Lisa Cook. The first session was a runaway success with each course selling out. The second session – the #200 Series – picks up where the first left off. It consists of three interactive and inexpensive seminars geared towards wine lovers of all levels. Class is in session August 25 and runs every second Sunday evening until September 22.

The goal of Sunday School is to demystify wine by presenting it without pretense in a fun, interactive environment. “Wine scares people,” states Stansfield. “It’s like the bogeyman in a bottle. That’s silly. It’s just booze. We’re here to dispel that fear, through drinking. I suppose that makes us the Ghostbusters of wine.”

“Even after our first series of classes,” adds Cook, “I still get a lot of freaked out texts from friends who are lost in the liquor store bewildered by rows and rows of unfamiliar labels. Obviously there’s still work to be done; hence the second series.”

Stansfield and Cook are both fixtures in the Vancouver wine scene. Stansfield works as the in-house Sommelier for Vancouver Urban Winery, as the Corporate Sommelier for the Daniel Hospitality Group which includes the Tap & Barrel, and as a consultant for east side restaurants Bestie and Cuchillo, while Cook is the Cellar Manager for the award-winning Joey Wine Room. Despite their professional experience in wine, their courses are not meant to produce the next batch of Sommeliers, but savvier wine consumers.

Each seminar features multiple flights of wines corresponding to a set theme. The first in the second series – #201: Better Know A Country: France – takes on the mother country for all things wine, the gauntlet through which all wine lovers must pass, France. The second – #202: BC vs. the World (the Rematch) – sees the return of the first series’ most popular seminar. This interactive, blind tasting pits BC’s best versus a line-up of international heavyweights. BC came out on top last time, but this time they’re in tough. Forget Rocky II, this is the true rematch of the century. The final course – #203: He Said/She Said: the Sommelier Smackdown – sees Dave and Lisa pit their favourite wines against each other in a vicious cage fight for wine geek supremacy. Two Sommeliers enter the cage. Only one exits with their ego intact. Tickets can be purchased individually or at a discounted price for the whole course…

SCHEDULE

August 25 – #201: Better Know A Country – France
September 8 – #202: BC vs. The World (The Rematch)
September 22 – #203: He Said/She Said: the Sommelier Smackdown

Doors + Tours: 6PM
Seminar: 7PM – 9PM
Mingle + Wine: 9PM – 10PM

TICKETS

$40 per class
$100 for 3 classes
Available at the Winery or online at http://www.vuw.eventbrite.com/

Details

Vancouver Urban Winery
55 Dunlevy Ave | Vancouver BC V6A3A3
Telephone: 604-566-9463
Email: [email protected]
Web: vancouverurbanwinery.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Gallery

The People Who Make It Happen

Steve Thorp | Co-Founder, COO
Mike Macquisten | Co-Founder, CEO
Wayne Holm | Partner
Kate Marshall | Facility Coordinator
Tony Trieu | Design, Logistics
Kelly Symonds | Winemaker
David Stansfield | Sommelier

About Vancouver Urban Winery

Vancouver Urban Winery is located two blocks off Gastown in the historic heart of Vancouver’s Railtown. The 7,700 square foot urban winery is the first of its kind in Vancouver and also operates as a unique special events space. The winery features a tasting bar where consumers can learn about British Columbia wines, and the exploding wine-on-tap category.

Alongside the tasting bar sits a boutique wine shop full of local items, wine merchandise, artisan foods and beverages……and plenty of wine!

The winery manufactures, packages, imports and distributes wine for multiple brands including Roaring Twenties Wine Co. The operations of FreshTAP, which specialize in packaging quality wines in stainless steel kegs for the emerging wine-on-tap category also takes place within the Vancouver Urban Winery.

As an urban winery the business is not attached to a specific vineyard. This enables the winery to source wine grapes and finished product from any appellation in the world.

The urban winery concept brings the consumer closer to the winemaking experience in a more meaningful way than a simple wine bar or retail space might. Wine aficionados traditionally travel to remote areas to learn about winemaking firsthand and to taste the offerings of a wine producer in the setting in which they were made. Now, many urban dwellers can hop in their car for a short drive, take public transport or even walk to enjoy an authentic winery experience.