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September 27, 2010 (Vancouver, BC) – ChefmeetsGrape, the largest BC food and wine event in the city, toasted BC’s winemakers, winery proprietors and chefs, to a packed crowd last week. The sixth annual event put on by the BC Wine Institute paired ten of Vancouver’s finest chefs with 66 BC VQA wineries serving the ‘best of BC’ to close to 400 people at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.

The competition for the top awards was quite stiff. As in past years, the competition for top awards was fierce with chefs from Le Gavroche, Pair Bistro, Cibo Trattoria and O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar participating with six other restaurants in the evening’s wine and culinary challenge. The panel of celebrity judges were very impressed with the dishes the chefs prepared for the crowd. The Judges’ Choice Award for Best Dish went to Chef Daniel Chiang and his team from Mosaic Bar & Grille for their “braised oxtail ravioli with pickled chanterelle, charred scallion relish and Peking duck jus” (paired with the 2007 Burrowing Owl Vineyards Syrah) while Executive Chef Blair Rasmussen and his team from Vancouver Convention Centre Catering received the award for Best Wine & Food Pairing with their “pan seared smoked quail breast with herb spaetzle, chanterelle sauté, and amarene black cherry reduction” that paired perfectly with the 2007 Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin.

As in previous years, attendees also determined their top dishes of the evening. Once the ballots were counted, judge David Scholefield announced the People’s Choice Best Dish and Best Pairing awards. This year, Best Dish was awarded to Chef Ryan Gauthier and his crew from Italian Kitchen for their “seared scallop with heirloom tomato puree and chervil cream” that paired nicely with the 2009 Desert Hills Estate Winery Pinot Gris. The coveted Best Pairing award went to Executive Chef Dino Renaerts and his team from Fraȋche Restaurant for the succulent “turkey boudin with sage and caramelized onion serve with a fennel and apple salad” that was perfectly paired with the fresh, fruity notes of the 2009 Tantalus Vineyards Riesling.
ChefmeetsGrape is an annual fall event that brings together the fresh flavours of the province with BC VQA wines to celebrate the best wine & food BC has to offer. For event details for next year’s Chef meets Grape, and other BC wine events, please check the events calendar at winebc.com

2010 Participating Wineries:

• 8th Generation Vineyard
• Aces Okanagan Estate Winery
• Arrowleaf Cellars
• Artisan Wine Co.
• Black Hills Estate Winery
• Black Widow Winery
• Bonitas Winery
• Burrowing Owl Vineyards
• Calona Vineyards
• Camelot Vineyards
• CedarCreek Estate Winery
• Church & State Wines
• Clos du Soleil Winery
• Crowsnest Vineyards
• D’Angelo Estate Winery
• Desert Hills Estate Winery
• Dunham & Froese Estate Winery
• EauVivre Winery & Vineyards
• Fairview Cellars
• Fort Berens Estate Winery
• Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery
• Garry Oaks Winery
• Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery
• Gray Monk Estate Winery
• Hainle Vineyards Estate Winery
• Hester Creek Estate Winery
• Iniskillin Okanagan Vineyards
• Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate
• Kalala Organic Estate Winery
• La Stella Winery
• Lake Breeze Vineyards
• Lang Vineyards
• Laughing Stock Vineyards
• Little Straw Vineyards Estate Winery
• Mission Hill Family Estate Winery
• Mistral Estate Winery
• Mount Boucherie Estate Winery
• Neck of the Woods Winery
• Nk’Mip Cellars
• Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery
• Osoyoos Larose
• Painted Rock Estate Winery
• Peller Estates
• Poplar Grove Winery
• Quails’ Gate Estate Winery
• Red Rooster Winery
• Road 13 Vineyards
• Robin Ridge Winery
• Sandhill
• Saturna Island Family Estate Winery
• See Ya Later Ranch
• Stag’s Hollow Winery & Vineyard
• Stoneboat Vineyards
• St. Hubertus Estate Winery & Oak Bay Vineyard
• Sumac Ridge Estate Winery
• Summerhill Pyramid Organic Winery
• Tantalus Vineyards
• The View Winery
• Therapy Vineyards
• Thornhaven Estates Winery
• Tinhorn Creek Vineyards
• Township 7 Vineyards & Winery
• Twisted Tree Vineyards & Winery
• Vista D’oro Winery
• Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery
• Young & Wyse Collection

2010 Participating Restaurants:

• Cibo Trattoria
  • Prosciutto wrapped sablefish with citrus, chili and roasted pepper salsa.Paired with 2008 Poplar Grove Winery Chardonnay.
• Fraȋche Restaurant
  • Turkey Boudin with sage and caramelized onion served with grape and apple salad. Paired with 2009 Tantalus Vineyards Riesling.
• Italian Kitchen
  • Seared scallop with an heirloom tomato purée and chervil cream.Paired with 2009 Desert Hills Estate Winery Pinot Gris.
• Kitsilano Daily Kitchen
  • Chilled ‘five hour braised’ Haida Gwaii octopus with roasted heirloom tomatoes, serrano & sweet yam leaves. Paired with 2009 La Stella Winery Vivace Pinot Grigio.
• Le Gavroche
  • Soya bean and dried squid salad with smoked sablefish and lobster emulsion. Paired with 2009 Tinhorn Creek Vineyards Oldfield Series 2Bench White.
• Mosaic Bar & Grille
  • Braised oxtail ravioli with pickled chanterelle, charred scallion relish, Peking duck jus. Paired with 2007 Burrowing Owl Vineyards Syrah.
• O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar
  • Black pepper & Fraser Valley honey-glazed Yarrow Meadows Farm duck breast with house-made yam gnocchi, celery salad and Okanagan cherry gastrique. Paired with 2007 Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate SunRock Vineyard Shiraz.
• Pair Bistro
  • Rosemary black pepper crusted Sidney Island wild fallow Venison with native Cedar smoked bannock, upper Sunshine Coast blackberry chocolate jus.Paired with 2008 Young & Wyse Collection Shiraz.
• Sanafir Restaurant & Lounge
  • Fig and pistachio baklava with Serrano ham and blue cheese mousse.Paired with 2009 Black Hills Estate Winery Viognier.
• Vancouver Convention Centre
  • Pan seared smoked quail breast with herb spaetzle, chanterelle sauté and amarene black cherry reduction. Paired with 2007 Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin

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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 Kelm, Communications Manager
tel (250) 762-9744 ext. 103 toll-free 1-800-661-2294
lkelm@winebc.com