2008 SATURDAY EVENTS

Averill Creek
Come and join us Saturday afternoon on our patio, purchase a glass of wine and listen to the sounds of The Nanaimo Musician's Association Big Band. We will have a full range of Averill Creek wines available for tasting and tours of the winery will be offered throughout the day. Local chef, Sean Napier, will be offering tapas plates to pair with the wines.

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Arbutus Ridge
Winemaker’s Dinner
6:00 pm.
Enjoy a four course dinner featuring ingredients sourced from the Cowichan valley and wine pairings courtesy of Averill Creek Vineyard. Winemaker Andy Johnston of Averill Creek and Chef Cory Pelan will be speaking about each pairing and will be available to answer questions. Please join us for a special evening filled with quality local food and some of the best wine the Cowichan Valley has to offer.
$55.00 per person including wine parings.
Phone 250.743.5100 for reservations
See Winemaker's Dinner pdf file >>

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Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn

Five Course Winemaker's Dinner
Chef Dan Mattews and winemaker Rodger Dosman of Alderlea Vineyards will host this special dinner in the restaurant "Choices."

Reception begins at 6 pm
Seating and Dinner at 6:30 pm

Book tickets by calling 250-748-2722
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Cherry Point Vineyards

Daytime Activities
- Complimentary tastings 10am-5pm
- Complimentary Tours on the hour 11am-4pm
- The highly anticipated release of 2007 Pinot Noir Reserve and
  2007 Coastal Red
- Bernard Callebaut Chocolate Extravaganza!
- Pulled Hardie Honey BBQ Rib Lunch Buffet, $15.00 + tax
- British Columbia Shellfish Growers Association Oyster Booth
  12pm-4pm
- Oyster tickets, wine by the glass & coolers tickets will be
  available to purchase at the vineyard
- Pacific Northwest Raptors Demonstration 12pm, 1:30pm and 3:00pm
- Enjoy Local Artist Displays throughout the vineyard
- Live Entertainment 11am-4:30pm
- Island Saving Free e-mail photos 11am-5pm!

Evening Activities
Theatre Under the Stars....
Friday September 19th and Saturday September 20th
Sheila Jordan is ....Shirley Valentine, a comedy by Willy Russell
Curtain 7:30pm. Theatre tickets $20 per person (available at Cherry Point Vineyards Wine Shop or by calling 250-743-1272). Theatre Dinner Buffet 6:00pm -7:30pm, $20 per person, Limited seating, reservations required
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Echo Valley Vineyards
Enjoy Wine Tastings and the sounds of "The Cowichan Horn Quartet"
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Hilary’s Cheese Farm
The farm will feature many local producers, crafters and entertainers to display, sample and sell their beautiful local products.
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GBS Glass Blowing
Free glass blowing demonstrations
10 am – 5 pm
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Godfrey Brownell Vineyards
Live music 11-4.
Locavore food & wine pairings all day.
Inaugural James Barber Lecture Series: 4 pm.
Evening dinner dance: 7 pm.
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Merridale Ciderworks
Saturday Daytime
Hayrides at 1pm and 3 pm for the children and any adults who continue to love this tradition. Special Brandihouse Tour and Seminar at noon ($10 per person plus GST and Gratuity, prebooking required) with the opportunity to taste our new products in anticipation of their first release in the fall.

Saturday Evening
Renowned local theatre company Bard at Brentwood will be performing excerpts from Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. A medieval menu to compliment the lively theatre offering will commence at 5:00 pm with the play beginning at 7:00 pm $69 per person. Reservations required

Throughout the Festival Merridale’s complimentary tastings will continue. Self-guided tours are welcome anytime between 10:30 am and 5 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Oceanfront Grand Resort & Marina
Wine & Seafood Gala, tickets $79 per person, 7pm to 11pm

Free Seminars
10 am - Marilyn Venturi, Owner of Venturi-Schulze Vineyard
Seminar Theme: Discover the purest, most natural, 100% estate grown balsamic vinegar in the world. Giordano Venturi brought a thousand year old Italian tradition with him to Canada when he started his first Canadian family barrel back in 1970. Now you can taste and learn about the Venturi-Schulze family's pure and natural ancient method balsamic vinegar, grown in their Cowichan Valley vineyard since 1989.

11 am – David Stanley and Alison Philp, two of the owners of Damali Lavender Farm in Cobble Hill will talk about some of the things you can do with culinary lavender. From baking, jellies and herbal teas to marinades and dressings for meats and salads. Lavender is a very versatile herb so come and discover how to use it in your kitchen.

12 noon John Schreiner, Author of nine books on wine including British Columbia Wine Country
Seminar Theme: Blackberry wines: are they becoming the flagship wines of the islands?

1 pm – Speaker TBA
2 pm – Speaker TBA
3 pm – Speaker TBA
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Rocky Creek Winery
11 am – 4 pm
Join us during the day for complimentary tours and tastings. While walking our grounds take the time to admire the work of our special guest internationally exhibited potter Mary Fox who will be working on her latest sculpture.

3 pm  Specialty Pinot Noir Seminar
Experience the Pinot Noirs of the Northern Climate. This special tasting will compare wines from Washington State, Oregon and France and show how our very own Rocky Creek Pinot Noir 2006 stands up.

$25 per person. Each seminar will include a gift set of 2 glasses of the Oregon Pinot Noir Riedel glass.

Only 50 seats available per day. Reserve by calling 250-748-5622
Payment will be in advance through visa no later than one day before the event.
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TLC Keating Farm Estate
Events TBA
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Zanatta Winery
Complimentary Wine Tastings - 11am to 5pm