Discover Italy at the 2024 Vancouver International Wine Festival Featuring 149 Wineries from 12 Countries

Discover Italy at the 2024 Vancouver International Wine Festival
Featuring 149 Wineries from 12 Countries

The Vancouver International Wine Festivalinvites you to Discover Italy at the 45th annual festival, which takes place February 24-March 3, 2024. This yearly celebration of the grape will feature 149 wineries from 12 countries, including 71 wineries from theme country Italy. Participating wineries will be pouring ~1,150+ wines at 43 events over eight days, including winery dinners, seminars, lunches, minglers, and the International Festival Tastings, returning to the West building of the Vancouver Convention Centre.

View the winery list here.

DISCOVER ITALY
This is the year to learn more about storied wines of Italy, with 71 wineries from 13 different regions featured at the festival. To help festivalgoers navigate the complex world of Italian wine, the festival is pleased to welcome wine journalist and educator, Filippo Bartolotta, as this year’s keynote speaker. Bartolotta was a featured speaker at the 2023 festival, co-moderating the seminar, The Global Cru. In 2024, he will moderate several Italian-themed seminars, as well as speak at the Wednesday keynote luncheon.

“I’m thrilled to return to Vancouver and the Vancouver International Wine Festival to explore the myriad facets of Italian wine, food and culture,” says Bartolotta. “Italy contributes some 20% of the world’s wine, yet for many it remains a relative mystery. The magical boot of Europe boasts hundreds of varieties, wine styles, interpretations, and breadth. This festival, we’ll discover the rich history, modern innovation, and renaissance of Italy’s classic wines and historical wine regions.”

All Italian wineries will be featured in a special section of the Tasting Room, as well as at the spectacular Saturday lunch, La Dolce Vita. Festival week will feature more than 20 Italian-themed events, including vine star seminars, vintage tastings, winery dinners, and a Pinot Grigio wine party.

THE WINE WORLD IS COMING
VanWineFest 2024 will welcome 149 different producers from 12 countries, more than 25% of them attending the festival for the first time.

“I’m very excited that we’ve had such an outstanding response from Italy, with a record 71 Italian wineries participating in the festival this year,” says A. Mark Taylor, co-chair of the VIWF Winery Selection Committee. “From the rest of the world, Canada and the US lead the way with a combined 43 wineries, while France, Spain, Croatia, and Greece are also representing Europe. We have wineries traveling from Argentina, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere, and sake brewers from Japan. In all, the Tasting Room will feature nearly 800 wines, many of them festival exclusives. If you’re looking to start or build your cellar, the onsite BCLIQUOR store is the place to start.”

The festival is headquartered at the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC), returning to the West building in 2024; in addition, select restaurants and venues around the city will host winery dinners, lunches, seminars and wine minglers. The sumptuous Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction, presented by National Bank Private Banking 1859, and benefiting Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, will take place on Saturday, February 24 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The heart of the festival is the Tasting Room at VCC West in downtown Vancouver, where all 149 wineries will gather for four International Festival Tastings and two Trade Tastings on Thursday, February 29, Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2. Advance tickets for the International Festival Tastings go on sale Wednesday, November 15 at 9:30 a.m. Festival goers can get a free ticket if they book a downtown hotel via StayVancouverHotels.com and then take in more festival events and enjoy award-winning dining in Vancouver. The offer is available November 15 to February 15, while supplies last.

VINE STARS
What makes VanWineFest unique is the presence of global “vine stars” – winemakers, proprietors, senior executives – who come to Vancouver every year to pour and discuss their wines with festivalgoers. Each winery will be represented at events by a principal, a senior representative from the winery. Seek out the royal blue lanyards at tastings and special events to meet our vine stars face-to-face.

TRADE DAYS 
Trade Days, which run February 28-March 1, will feature 10 events, including two Trade Tastings, presented by ContainerWorld, seminars and masterclasses, and three trade lunches: a Keynote Luncheon featuring Filippo Bartolotta; Principals Welcome Lunch, presented by HillebrandGori; and the Celebrating Excellence: 20th Annual Awards Lunch Featuring Italy, presented by ContainerWorld. The Trade Days Pass, which includes a selection of events on the Thursday and Friday of Trade Days, goes on sale December 13, while individual trade events go on sale January 17.

SAVE THE DATES

• • Advance tickets and StayVancouverHotels ticket offer go on sale Wednesday, November 15 at 9:30 a.m.
  • Trade Days Pass goes on sale Wednesday, December 13 at 9:30 a.m.
  • Winery dinners go on sale Wednesday, January 3 at 9:30 a.m.
  • All remaining public events go on sale Wednesday, January 10 at 9:30 a.m.

STAY IN TOUCH
For more information about the Vancouver International Wine Festival go to VanWineFest.ca and read our Quick Facts.

Twitter: Follow @VanWineFest for announcements, including e-news, festival updates & media releases. Join the conversation at #VIWF.
Facebook / Instagram: @VanWineFest
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vancouver-international-wine-festival

ABOUT VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL WINE FESTIVAL
Canada’s premier wine show will mark its 45th edition of pairing wine, food and the performing arts from February 24-March 3, 2024. The festival will showcase 149 wineries from 12 countries, featured in 43 events over eight days. The Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction, presented by National Bank Private Banking 1859, is the main fundraising event of the festival and kicks off the festival on Saturday, February 24 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Trade Days takes place Wednesday, February 28-Friday, March 1. The festival is consistently ranked the #1 Food, Wine & Hospitality Event in Canada by New York’s BizBash. The festival is produced by the Vancouver International Wine Festival Society, which has three mandates: provide an informative, educational and entertaining wine experience for public and trade; be a premier marketing opportunity for the wine industry and festival partners; and raise funds for the Bard on the Beach Theatre Society. Since inception in 1979, the festival has raised more than $10 million for the performing arts. Major sponsors are Delta Air Lines and The Vancouver Sun; major industry partners are the BC Liquor Distribution Branch, BCLIQUOR, and the Import Vintners & Spirits Association. The Vancouver International Wine Festival gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

ABOUT BARD ON THE BEACH 
Bard on the Beach is one of Canada’s largest not-for-profit, professional Shakespeare festivals, presented on the waterfront at Sen̓áḵw/Vanier Park. The festival offers Shakespeare plays, related dramas, and popular special events in two performance tents every June through September. Over 2 million patrons have experienced Bard since its inception, growing to annual attendance close to 100,000. Next year’s festival dates are June 11 to September 28, 2024, and scheduled plays include Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, and Measure for Measure. Bard also offers a range of education programs for learners from eight to 80. Full details and education program information are at bardonthebeach.org.

Media release and image provided by Shannon Heth, Think Milk.