Vancouver Urban Winery is launching Sunday School, a series of informal and fun wine seminars hosted by Sommeliers David Stansfield and Lisa Cook. The initial series will include four interactive and affordable seminars geared towards wine lovers of all levels. Sunday School will kick off on April 14 and will take place every second Sunday evening until May 28.
The focus of Sunday School will be on demystifying wine in an accessible and energetic environment. “Our goal is to pair a little education with a lot of wine, and even more fun,” explains David Stansfield. “That’s the great thing about learning about wine. The best way to do it is to drink, and to talk about drinking.”
[Urban Winery’s Steve Thorp and Mike Macquisten]
If you haven’t yet been to Vancouver Urban Winery, it’s a great space to sit back and enjoy wines poured by the tap, perhaps discovering a few new favourites.
[Okanagan Crush Pad event at Vancouver Urban Winery]
Stansfield and Cook are both experienced wine professionals. Stansfield is the in-house Sommelier for the Vancouver Urban Winery, the Corporate Sommelier for the Daniel Hospitality Group, and a consultant for east side restaurants Bestie and Cuchillo while Cook is the Cellar Manager for award-winning Joeys Wineroom. Despite their extensive resumes in wine, their courses are not meant to produce the next batch of sommeliers, but savvier wine consumers.
“I get a lot of panicked calls and texts from friends looking for urgent wine advice, from matching wines with food, finding cheap wines that don’t seem cheap, to picking the ideal wine for meeting the in-laws,” declares Cook. “While I’m always happy to help, it seemed like there had to be a better way to address these all too common wine crises. That was the inspiration for these seminars.”
Vancouver Urban Winery is located in the historic heart of Vancouver’s Railtown. The 7,700 square foot urban winery is the first of its kind in Vancouver, operating as a unique special events venue. The winery also manufactures, packages, imports and distributes wine for multiple brands. The business is not attached to a specific vineyard, allowing the winery to source wine grapes and finished product from any appellation in the world.
Sunday School at Vancouver Urban Winery
April 14: #101 – World Tour of Wine: Wines of the world under one roof
April 28: #102 – Better Know a BC Winery – Joie Farm, includes back vintages and barrel samples, presented by owner and winemaker Heidi Noble
May 12: #103 – BC vs. The World: A blind tasting, brown-bag style
May 26: #104 – How To Buy Wine and Influence People: Learn how to decipher labels, understand wine scores, and outsmart sommeliers
Venue: Vancouver Urban Winery, 55 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver
Doors and tours at 6 pm; seminar 7 to 9 pm; mingling and wine, 9 to 10 pm
Tickets: $35 per class ($120 for all four classes in the series); available at the winery or online
