2021 WineBC BootCamp Program

A look at the program and topics our attendees will experience.

MASTERCLASS: WELCOME TO BC WINE COUNTRY

This overview will look at BC’s unique history, wine regions, and terroir, giving a foundation of knowledge to build on over the rest of BootCamp.

MASTERCLASS: BC’S TOP VARIETALS

What are BC’s top varietals? What will BC be known for in the future? This Masterclass will feature a panel of winemakers and experts to debate what they believe are the best grape varieties for BC and why.

Panelists

David Paterson, Tantalus Vineyards
Severine Pinte, Le Vieux Pin & LaStella Winery
Jeff Hundertmark, Rust Wine Co. & Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery
Grant Stanley, SpearHead Winery

MASTERCLASS: REGIONAL TASTING OF BC WINES

This tasting will give insight into the diversity of BC’s wine regions, varietals and its style by bringing together one hundred wines from around BC.

SUPER ‘NATURAL’ BC: ORANGE, WILD FERMENTS, CONCRETE, ANCESTRAL…

Like in many cutting-edge regions of the wine world, BC winemaking is full of experimentation, but with a growing movement toward low manipulation winemaking and organic and biodynamic growing. This Masterclass explores the natural side of BC wine.

Panelists

Matt Dumanyne, Okanagan Crush Pad Winery
Michael Alexander, Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Michael Bartier, Bartier Bros. Vineyard and Winery
Corrie Krehbiel, Mission Hill Family Estate Winery

CHEF AND SOMMELIER PAIRING WORKSHOP

Sommelier and chef teams will create pairings, each dish using a key local BC ingredient and paired with two wines from the regional tasting. Each pairing will be served at dinner the following evening, vying for the prize for Best BC Pairing.  We are excited to be working with these renowned Okanagan chefs on this collaboration:

Emcee: Rhys Pender MW
Judges: Mark Filatow, Shanyn Ward, Matt Wentzell, Rhys Pender, Barb Wild, Van Doren Chan
Chefs: Chef Konstantin Chakhnov (Jack’s Kelowna), Chef Lola Noel (Summerhill Pyramid Winery), Chef Dan Carkner (Modest Butcher)

JUDGES

Barb Wild

Barb Wild is the Wine Manager at BC’s first Wine & Beyond store here in Kelowna. Barb holds a Diploma with WSET Global, is Certified Wine Specialist with Society of Wine Educators, and a Canadian Wine Scholar. She is a wine judge, a writer and a champion for new technology and innovation in the industry.

You may recognize Barb from her online Zoom wine classes with Mark Shipway, Van Doren Chan, Cynthia Opsal and Robert Stelmach!uk. Or maybe you joined a free BC Wine Wednesday event. You can follow Barb’s adventures on social media and her blog under her aka “goodwinegal”.

Mark Filatow

With over twenty years of experience, Mark Filatow represents the pinnacle of culinary excellence and is the driving force behind Waterfront Restaurant and Wine Bar. After being accepted into the coveted Sommelier Guild in 2001, he also gained the distinction of being one of the only chefs in Canada with this level of skill in food and wine pairing. With countless awards and a continual stream of industry accolades from Vancouver Magazine, The Calgary Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Eat Magazine and more, Mark still manages to keep his feet on the ground… and in the kitchen as Executive Chef/Sommelier of Waterfront Restaurant & Wine Bar.

Matt Wentzell

Matt is a life-long hospitality industry professional who pursued a formal education in wine after moving to the Okanagan Valley in 2008. Certified by the International Sommelier Guild, Matt has gained an intimate knowledge of the wines and wineries of the region by working in some of the BC’s top restaurants and through conducting vineyard and winery tours with his company, Experience Wine Tours. A lover of all delicious beverages, Matt is also a co-founder and partner at Kelowna’s Vice & Virtue Brewing Co.

Rhys Pender

Rhys is a Master of Wine who combines his time writing, judging, teaching, presenting, consulting and dirtying his boots at his 4 acre vineyard and winery – Little Farm Winery – in the Similkameen Valley of BC, Canada. He runs a wine school, Wine Plus+, and judges wine competitions nationally and internationally such as the Decanter World Wine Awards, TexSomm as well as the National Wine Awards of Canada for WineAlign. In 2018, Rhys’s contribution to the industry was acknowledged as one of just five global nominees for the WSET Outstanding Alumni Award. To make sure he eats well he has also completed a Professional Culinary Diploma and has been named by Western Living magazine as one of the “Top 40 Foodies Under 40” in Western Canada. He is a regular contributor to publications such as SIP, Vitis, Macleans, Montecristo and Taste.

Shanyn Ward

Shanyn Ward spent many years working in the restaurant business, which was the driving force to her learning more about wine. Shanyn made the move to the retails side of wine in 2015 after completing the Viticulture Certificate at Okanagan College as well as the WSET Diploma program.

Shanyn is the Wine Portfolio Manager for Metro Liquor, overseeing the wine programs for all their retail locations in BC. Most days you can find her in the Kelowna or West Kelowna locations.

Van Doren Chan

She started her culinary career in the kitchen.  She worked her way up to Pastry Chef, honing her expertise at a number of Canadian restaurants including the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver and the noted Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island.  It was at the latter location that she learned to use and source only local sustainable and organic products within 100 miles and gained her passion for wine and eventually transitioned to the front of the house and became a Restaurant Manager and Sommelier at Opus Hotel, Hawksworth Restaurant and General Manger at Le Crocodile. Following her passion, she worked at organic and biodynamic farm and vineyards, she learned about wine making and the significant of relationship between farmers, producers and buyers.

MASTERCLASS: BC IN THE WINE WORLD

How does BC stand up in the world of wine?  This Masterclass will feature a blind tasting pitting BC wines against well known benchmark wines from around the world.

Panelists

David Paterson, Tantalus Vineyards
Severine Pinte, Le Vieux Pin & LaStella Winery
Jeff Hundertmark, Rust Wine Co. & Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery
Grant Stanley, SpearHead Winery

MASTERCLASS: SOILS & GEOLOGY

Each wine region has a unique terroir. Its soils and geology shape the taste, structure and character of its wines. With soil scientist Scott Smith, P. Ag, this session appeals to the inner geologist hidden in all wine lovers.

MASTERCLASS: BUILT TO LAST – THE AGEABILITY OF BC WINE

The unique Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley climates are perfectly suited to making wines built to age, with intense flavour, natural acidity and lots of structure. This Masterclass explores the ageability of BC wine and how ageability is something BC wine might be known for in the future.

Panelists

Kailee Frasch, Quails’ Gate Winery
Ann Sperling, Sperling Vineyards
Barclay Robinson, Road 13 Vineyards
Michael Clark, Clos Du Soleil Winery

MASTERCLASS: DIGGING DEEP

It is often said wine is made in the vineyard.  But what goes into making the vineyard?  This Masterclass will explore a vineyard currently under development and learn what goes into all aspects of soil testing, planning and planting.

Panelists

Scott Smith, M.Sc., P.Ag., Soil Scientist
Galen Barnhardt, Monte Creek Ranch Winery
Erik Fisher, Monte Creek Ranch Winery