BC restaurants employ approximately 170,000 people in over 11,000 establishments that generate $10 billion in sales. It’s a pretty significant industry for our province, with plenty of career opportunities.
Based on the votes collected in Westender’s Best of the City Dining readers poll, excellence within that industry is prized. But honing one’s skills to become a celebrated chef, bartender or sommelier takes time and education – and this, of course, costs money. Thankfully, scholarships exist for people who wish to further their culinary or drinks education. And you can pitch in by simply having a glass (or bottle) of wine.
Les Dames d’Escoffier is an international organization of professional women in the culinary, wine and hospitality industries. The BC chapter has been going strong for 25 years, awarding scholarships to local women pursuing careers in food and beverage. In 2004, I was granted one of those scholarships to help pay my tuition for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) diploma program. Last year, Les Dames BC awarded scholarships, valued at over $21,000, to 22 recipients.
Their latest initiative to raise funds for scholarships is a 550-case wine production. Mireille Sauvé, a certified sommelier and a member of Les Dames, is the winemaker for the project, which launched two wines earlier this year. The 2015 Dames White is predominately Pinot Blanc with a touch of Riesling and Gewürztraminer to lift the aromas, while the 2015 Dames Red is based on Merlot (BC’s most planted grape) with help from Syrah. Both sell for $25-$32 at private wine stores like Marquis Wine Cellars, Liberty Wine Merchants and Legacy Liquor Store.
Okanagan Crush Pad (OCP) is a custom crush facility in Summerland, Okanagan. Besides making wine under its Haywire and Narrative labels, OCP provides other growers and wineries with the equipment and expertise needed to help them create their own brands. The team have also established a wine campus where, each year, one selected BC sommelier collaborates with them to craft a new wine. The OCP Okanagan Wine Campus imposes no constraints on the sommeliers. “We encourage them to create something they’re passionate about,” says OCP owner Christine Coletta.
The sommelier is expected to help sell the limited production of approximately 100 cases. Each year, $5,000 of the proceeds goes to the BC Hospitality Foundation scholarship program for industry professionals pursuing a higher level of wine-education certification.
The OCP’s Wine Campus’s latest release comes from Jason Yamasaki, formerly of Chambar and now Group Sommelier at JOEY Restaurant Group. A fan of BC bubble, he worked with OCP’s sparkling-winemaker Jordan Kubek to produce the jy. 2015 Pinot Noir Ancient Method sparkling. Made with organically grown fruit from OCP’s new Garnet Valley Ranch vineyard site, it’s creamy and vibrant, with flavours of red berries and brioche, and a modest 11.5 per cent alcohol. “I’m thrilled about the drinkability and crushability,” says a beaming Yamasaki.
Available through OCP for a retail price of $39.90, it’s also listed by the bottle at selected JOEY locations. Yamasaki’s pairing suggestions from the menu? “Sushi cones or fish tacos.”
The jy. sparkling represents the sixth project through OCP’s wine campus. There’s still a smattering left of last year’s release from sommelier Mike Bernardo: Head to Vij’s or Rangoli to try his 2014 Mike Bernardo Riesling Cabinett, a medium-dry Riesling that pairs perfectly with Vancouver’s favourite Indian cuisine. For the 2016 vintage, Fairmont Pacific Rim wine director Jill Spoor has been working with OCP to make an aromatic white blend.
I say this is a win-win all around. Sommeliers are getting to make wine, which can only contribute to their knowledge; we get to drink the rewards and, in doing so, we’re helping put up-and-coming talents through the courses they need to get to the next level.
