Lumière 10th anniversary celebration dinner a BC wine exclusive

Chef Rob Feenie pairs BC food with Lieutenant Governor award-winning wines – BC Wine Institute focuses on wine, food, travel

BC food and BC wine is a match made in heaven, and heaven is at Vancouver’s Lumière restaurant tonight.

For this event in his celebration of Lumière’s 10th anniversary, owner and chef Rob Feenie has chosen to focus on BC wines only – in particular, the ten winners of the 2005 Lieutenant Governor Awards of Excellence in BC Wines. Nine of the ten are Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wines.

“We are extremely pleased and honoured that Chef Feenie is celebrating tonight with BC wines,” said Peggy Athans, executive director of the British Columbia Wine Institute (BCWI) which administers the VQA standard. “With his drive and vision, Chef Feenie has made Vancouver one of North America’s top culinary destinations. He has always been committed to using local produce, and he has long been a great supporter of BC wines.”

As BC’s wine industry matures and as consumers become more knowledgeable about food and wine, the BCWI is beginning to develop a comprehensive strategy for developing wine tourism. This includes working with BC’s agritourism and culinary tourism sector in an effort to support what Rob Feenie has already done: get consumers to select BC wines in BC restaurants, pair BC wines with local BC produce, and to get out and travel around BC so they can taste local food and wine right where they are made.

“Our research tells us that the potential for expanding wine tourism is tremendous, and our marketing efforts over the past year have urged consumers to go to where the wines
are made,” said Athans. “Yet because of our increasing emphasis on tourism, we are planning to dedicate even more of our time and resources toward marketing BC as a great place to visit, to tour wineries, and to taste BC foods and other products while touring. It is all about wine, food and travel.”

The BCWI has contracted Strategex, the firm that developed the provincial tourism plan for the 2010 Winter Olympics, to develop a strategic plan that integrates wine tourism with other tourism sectors. Market analysis of other jurisdictions and in-person consultation with 30 industry leaders is complete, and the plan is now being written. A draft will be presented to the BCWI board of directors at the end of November. The plan will be completed in December and Athans expects it to be rolled out to industry at sessions in the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island in January 2006. “We are coordinating it at this stage, but it is a plan for all industry, not only for the BCWI or the wine industry,” said Athans.

The Lieutenant Governor’s awards, established in 2003, are gaining profile as a made-in-BC competition which reflects BC’s maturing wine industry. “The judges are British Columbians, the wineries that enter are from all of BC’s wine regions, and the Lieutenant Governor’s awards are a reflection of our home-grown quality,” said Athans.

2005 Winners:

Hawthorne Mountain VineyardsSee Ya Later Ranch Brut 2003

Summerhill Pyramid Winery Ehrenfelser 2004

CedarCreek Estate Winery Platinum Reserve Chardonnay 2003

Wild Goose Vineyards and Winery God’s Mountain Riesling 2004

Domaine de Chaberton Estates Gewürztraminer 2004

Jackson-Triggs Vintners Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Shiraz 2002

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Syrah 2003

Sandhill Wines Small Lots Syrah Phantom Creek Vineyard 2003

Poplar Grove Winery Benchmark Cabernet Franc 2002

CedarCreek Estate Winery Platinum Reserve Meritage 2002

Based in Kelowna, the BCWI promotes the Wines of British Columbia (BC VQA) and the Wine Regions of British Columbia brands.


For further information:
Lindsay Anders, Communications Manager
tel (250) 762-9744 ext. 103 toll-free 1-800-661-2294
landers@winebc.com www.winebc.com