On October 18th and 19th, foodies and wine lovers can rejoice that the Calgary Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is in town. We can already bet you that something will be double-wrapped in bacon. This is a chance to try a wide selection of wines from around the world, premium scotches, microbrewery beers and some great snacks. New to the event this year is a tasting on Saturday afternoon, where The Grand Tasting Hall will be set up in the Stampede Park BMO Centre with over 200 exhibitors featuring a liquor depot consultant on-site to direct you to the stores and boutiques that carry all these wonderful products.
There will be wines to sample from Australia, Brazil, Canada and Chile; it’s always such a treat to try Canadian wines at these festivals. This year Backyard, Vineyards and Dirty Laundry will be at the show. Backyard Vineyards makes reds, whites and bubbly using grapes from the Langley Vineyard in the Okanagan. These guys are out to make easy drinking wines that are pleasant on the palate and won’t blow your budget. Dirty Laundry, the winery known for their award-winning wines like the ‘Hush’ Blush, take their namesake from the unsavoury history of Summerland, BC, where they make their wines. Apparently, the old laundry in Summerland was a front for a gambling and brothel racket, which gained the infamous nickname ‘Dirty Laundry’. You’ll also want to look out for the winery’s cleverly branded wines, “A Girl in Every Port,” and the “Naughty Chardonnay.”
Of course, we can’t forget to mention all the great beer that will be available. A little closer to home than the Okanagan is the Wild Rose Brewery of Calgary, which always has just the right thing to quench your thirst. Wild Rose makes the Velvet Fog, WRaspberry Ale (made with whole raspberries), Brown Ale, WRed Wheat Ale, SOB (Special Old Bitter) and their IPA, which is described as a beer drinker’s beer.
Alas, make sure you save room for food! The Cactus Club is serving beef carpaccio and butternut squash and prawn ravioli. Buttercream Bake Shoppe is also going to be handing out samples of their delicious desserts. Look out for the pumpkin caramel pecan cupcakes and gluten-free Chai macaroons. For a list of all the exhibitors that will be at the show this year, click here.
Photo courtesy Calgary Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival