The wait is finally over for wine, spirit, cocktail and food connoisseurs anticipating the return of Cornucopia presented by BlueShore Financial with the festival kicking off today November 8 for the next 11 days.
Now in its 22nd year, Cornucopia goes far beyond food and drink, offering a diverse selection of events fit for the keen connoisseur’s palate to those simply eager to learn. From cooking demonstrations and drink seminars to winery dinners, tastings, and evening parties, this year’s festival will leave patrons counting the days until next year.
From cooking demonstrations to drink seminars, winery dinners to tastings and a new after-dark party – Abstract Future – this year’s festival will leave patrons counting down the days until next year.
The Signature event: House Party – Best of BC , a local festival favourite and perennial sell-out gets the party started on November 8th at the Whistler Conference Centre. On the same evening elsewhere in the resort, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s Small Farms wine dinner and Legs Diamond’s Intimate Evening both have tickets remaining should a dinner out be more to your liking. Later that evening, Comedy Kitchen returns for an evening of laughs. Visit the full schedule for the full 11 day schedule of events.
Below are just a few tips for surviving the multiple days of food and drink celebration at Cornucopia:
– Come Hungry! – with multi-course meals, culinary stage demonstrations, Chef Table Luncheons, gourmet dinners and much more – delicious food will not be in short supply.
– Sleep – a bustling evening schedule set to take guests through to the early hours of the morning, so be sure to grab some a restful sleep at one of Whistler’s many hotels.
– Stay “Nourished” – with food and drink in excess, Cornucopia has created the Nourish stage series aimed to balance guests’ food and drink intake with health and wellness-inspired culinary demonstrations.
– Souvenirs! Visit the Cornucopia Liquor Store – guests can purchase their favourite wines, beers and liquors from Cornucopia’s signature tasting events, so they can continue the celebration at home.
Exclusive rates with last minute stay and play packages are still available to help you get more for less. Enjoy the flagship tasting event: CRUSH or top-shelf wine tastings at Cellar Door, plus accommodation starting at just $92 per person, per night when you book on whistlercornucopia.com.
Whistler’s premiere celebration of food and drink is the place to be. From exclusive deals on lodging and events, to incredible dinners, tastings, and intimate chef demonstration, Cornucopia is a culinary festival not to be missed.
For detailed schedule information or to purchase tickets visit www.whistlercornucopia.com.
While traveling through Italy last month, my friend Marissa mentioned we must stop at 
Tommasi Winery is located in Pedemonte, a small village in the heart of Valpolicella Classico wine region, just 10 minutes northwest of Italy’s most romantic city known for love, Verona. It’s a 4th generation family run winery that started in 1902 and has grown exponentially in the past few years acquiring new wineries in different regions throughout Italy. Not only have they owned and operated Tommasi Winery in Veneto since 1902, they’ve also acquired incredible properties to add to their portfolio, extending over 570 hectares across Italy. With a key focus on outstanding terroir and focus in the vineyard, these wineries include Tenuta Caseo in Lombardia, Podere Casisano in Siena (Tuscany), Poggio al Tufo in Tuscany, Paternoster in Basilicata and Masseria Surani in southern Puglia. Each estate has their own history and identity with one goal in common, to produce wines of the highest quality from some of the best vineyards in the country while keeping the heart of operation in the family.
We started our experience with a tour of two Tomassi Vineyards in the heart of Valpolicella wine region. Tommasi Family owns 195 hectares of vineyards located on steep hillsides allowing for maximum sun exposure in the day, and cooling in the evening. As part of our tour, we had a chance to drive up to the mountainside and walk through two of their award-winning vineyards: La Groletta and Conca d’Oro.
Both vineyards are home to some of the most important grapes for Tomassi that make up their incredible flagship wine, their Amarone, which includes varietals Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone, Molinara and Oseleta. We drove up high- 250m altitude- to La Groletta Vineyard which offers beautiful valley views including Lake Garda. The Lake is an important player in helping to shape this vineyard as it offers winds in the evening that naturally cool down the vineyard. With its southwest exposure, sun beams down on the vineyard throughout the day and the limestone mountain behind acts as protection.
The next vineyard we visited, Conca d’Oro, was only a few minutes drive away and offered the most picture-perfect view I’ve ever seen in my life! I took a few moments to myself to take it all in because it was breathtaking. The Conca d’Oro is known as the Golden Shell – because from above the view shows a shell shape figure and the vineyard gets optimum 2/3 sun exposure during the day. What impressed me the most about both vineyards is the care that goes into every bottle of Tommasi wine. Every single grape that is grown on these very steep, terraced vineyards is handpicked.
Casisano Brunello di Montalcino 2012: recently scored 92 points with Wine Spectator
Paternoster Synthesi 2015: vineyard at 450/600m altitude. Made from 100% Aglianico grapes aged in 8 months Slavonian oak. Cherry and plum notes.
Tommasi Masseria Surani Dionysos 2012 Primitivo di Manduria: grapes from Puglia. Old vine Primitivo, full bodies big red.
Tommasi Rafael Valpolicella: Single vineyard, Corvina Veronese (60%), Rondinella (25%) and Molinara (15%). Aged for 15 months in Slavonian Oak Barrels.
Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2013: Blend of Corvina Veronese (50%), Rondinella (30%), Corvinone (15%) and Oseleta (5%).
