Without a single grape vine in sight, Prince George is becoming a wine magnet.
The retail food industry is taking off in the downtown, Northern Lights Estate Winery makes its collection of fruit wine, and Theatre North West has had a sold-out wine festival in operation since 1994. That's what was already happening.
What changed on Friday was all three entities getting together to take the city's wine relationships to giddy new heights. On Oct. 28, the collective wine community of the region pops the cork off of the first annual Northern B.C. Wine Festival.
"As much as Northern Lights is the only winery in northern B.C., this is about the entire wine industry, bringing together the vintners and the wine lovers of the whole province, coming here from all over the province to celebrate cuisine and northern B.C. culture and the way wine ties it all together," said Pat Bell, founder of the winery operated by his family and a core staff of specialists in the agriculture and winemaking industries.
"The concept is to have nine days of wine appreciation classes, cooking classes, food events, wine tastings, music, industry networking, restaurants and hotels engaging with the public and the makers of wine and the indirect industry connections like Wood Wheaton Auto Group who came on as our title sponsor and Pacific Coastal Airlines who came on as our first platinum sponsor," said Bell.
"We will have a whole menu of events, and people can choose which they would like to attend if they can't go to everything. The culmination of it all is the incredibly successful Theatre North West event that has been going so well for years and years, and supports what they do for local culture."
As the province's former Minister of Agriculture, Bell was impressed on a personal level by the agri-food industry and the place of wine in that sector.
When he retired from public service, wine became his next venture, despite the fact he had critics of a new sort: people telling him it wasn't practical to build the nation's most northerly winery.
But he had the know-how and he had the contacts.
He expects "at least 30 wineries will join in this showcase" including the people who own and operate the business of wine, the people who work with the natural chemistry of making wine, the people who supply the tools of the trade, the people who work with food and use wine to enhance that trade, and of course the legions of people who enthusiastically drink it, from the patio gulper to the sommelier.
There are four top-tier wine festivals in the province, said Bell, and this one already has eyes on becoming the fifth, aided by the unique northerly location.
To develop the event, a not-for-profit society has been formed to handle the ongoing arrangements. Stakeholders at the board table include representatives of Northern Lights, Theatre North West, the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Prince George, Tourism Prince George and other interested individuals.
The Northern BC Wine Festival Society has recently released a call for proposals for companies or individuals with organizational experience in events and festivals.
The proposal has a closing date of July 15 followed by short listing and interviews.
Interested candidates should request an information package from Erica Hummel at [email protected].
