RCFM is excited to sponsor Naramata on the River, a night of fine wine dining, as part of the 11^th Annual British Columbia Cultural Crawl at the River Market in New Westminster.

Naramata Bench Wineries can be found near Penticton in the Southern Okanagan. It’s not enough that they get less rain and hotter weather than us New Westminsterians, but Naramata Bench also gets to sit on sand cliffs with views of mountains, vineyards and Okanagan Lake with a fresh glass of sun-soaked wine.

The one big perk with Naramata on the River is that you don’t have to drive the five hours to get to the wine: the wine is coming to you. On April 24, 2012, the River Market at the New Westminster Quay will be hosting Naramata Bench Wineries from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Plan a Tuesday night in the town and walk, bike or skytrain to the River Market to taste test new wines.

Rest assured there will be no shortages of red or white wine choices between the 21 members associated with Naramata Bench, including Laughing Stock Vineyards, the 2011 Canadian Wine Awards gold medal winner for Syrah 2009. A full list of the participating wineries is located at the bottom of this post. The Spring wine releases will be paired with dishes from Vancouver restaurants, including the Hamilton Street Grill, Hagensborg Chocolates and Naramata’s personal Hillside Bistro to complete your wine tasting experience.

As if dining by the River listening to live music by the Sarah Kennedy Jazz Trio and New Westminster singer and songwriter Gillian Hobbs isn’t enough, you will get the chance to meet and greet Naramata winemakers and bid on silent auctions for Naramata wines, Naramata Wine Country Getaways, Behind the Scenes Wine Experiences and Canadian artworks.

This event promises to be an evening of fine wining, dining and spending quality time with family and friends.

Participating wineries:

Black Widow Winery
D’Angelo Estate Winery
Elephant Island Orchard Wines
Hillside Estate Winery & Bistro
Kettle Valley Winery
La Frenz Winery
Lake Breeze Vineyards
Laughing Stock Vineyards
Misconduct Wine Co.
Monster Vineyards
Moraine Estate Winery
Nichol Vineyard & Estate Winery
Perseus Winery
Poplar Grove Winery
Red Rooster Winery
Serendipity Winery
Therapy Vineyards
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery
Upper Bench Estate Winery
Van Westen Vineyards
3 Mile Estate Winery

Click here to order tickets online.

Visit www.bcculturalcrawl.com for tickets or more information on Naramata on the River.
Visit www.naramatabench.com to learn more about Naramata Bench Wineries.

Do you ever feel like ditching the big city life of Metro Vancouver for an afternoon, or even overnight, and exploring one of the wonderful farm countries in our area? But maybe you just don’t know where to go? Circle Farm Self-Guided Tours could be just thing for you!

To sum it up, Circle Farm Tours are a collection of road maps in five farming communities around Metro Vancouver.  There is Abbotsford, Langley, Chilliwack, Agassiz/ Harrison Mills and Maple Ridge/ Pitt Meadows. There are brochures available for each of these places, included in the brochure is a road map and a list of places to visit. There are farms, with farm-gate vendors, open air markets, delicious local restaurants and cafes, heritage sites, fairs and special events. Check out the list bellow to see a more detailed report of what you can expect in each place.

Abbotsford

The Abbotsford Circle Farm Tour has thirteen year round stops, and three seasonal ones. There are restaurants (Restaurant 62 designs their menu to be in sync with the season), an Antique store (Granny & Grumpa’s Antiques has possibly the largest personal collection of antiques in BC), farms and dairy’s (Goat’s Pride Dairy produces organic goats milk, yogurt and cheeses), a winery (Mt. Lehman Winery produces delicious organic wines) and more! Special events coming up for the Abbotsford Circle Tour are Grandparents Day at Maan Farms (July 23^rd), Abbotsford Agrifair and Might Fraser Rodeo (July 28 – Aug. 1^st) and the Annual Free Family Fun Day at Campbell’s Gold Honey Farm and Meadery (Aug. 20^th).

Langley

Langley’s Circle Farm Tour has fourteen year round stops. Places include four wineries (Township 7 Wineyards and Winery opens their winery for art shows, live music, wine seminars and more!), farms and dairy’s (Driediger Farms specializes in all of the different berries BC has to offer!), the weekly Langley Farmers Market (every Wednesday, 2 – 4pm), and more (don’t forget to visit Fort Langley!). Events coming up in Langley are the Farmers Feat at Krause Berry Farms (July 17^th), Driediger Farm’s Langley Eats Local (Aug. 28^th) and Art in the Vines at Township 7 Winery (Aug. 28^th).

Chilliwack

The Chilliwack Circle Farm Tour features ten year round stops and three seasonal ones. There are plenty of place to buy souvenirs here (Rustic Soap Co. specializes in natural, herbal soap), farms and gardens (Minter Country Garden is an 18 acre plot that has plants from all over the world), restaurants (Hofstede’s Country Barn can fill you up with a homemade lunch or dinner), and come fall don’t forget to check out the Chilliwack Corn Maze! Upcoming events in Chilliwack are the 9^th Annual Classic Car Show at Minter Gardens (July 17^th), the 3^rd Annual Slow Food Cycle Tour (July 24^th) and the 6^th Annual Greendale Country Sampler Tour (Aug. 20^th).

Agassiz/ Harrison Mills

There are eight year round stop and two seasonal stops on the Agassiz/ Harrison Mills Circle Farm Tour. Their stops include farms and a dairy (Canadian Hazelnut produces a variety of different kinds of hazelnuts), a historical site and museum, a pottery studio (as well as being a pottery studio The Back Porch also roasts their own coffee!), and the Sparkes Corn Barn(enjoy some tasty handpicked corn and strawberries!). Don’t miss these events coming up soon in Agassiz/ Harrison Mills: the Harrison Festival of the Arts (July 9^th – 17^th), the Agassiz Slow Food Cycle Tour (July 23^rd) and the Sts’ailes Art in the Garden (Aug. 6^th).

Maple Ridge/ Pitt Meadows

There are twelve stops on the Maple Ridge/ Pitt Meadows Circle Farm Tour. This Circle Tour features markets (Bruce’s County Market specializes in fresh and smoked salmon, produce, grocery items and even dinners!), farms (Heather Hills Farm Society has plenty of fresh cut heather, hazelnuts and vegetables), a winery (Blue Heron Fruit Winery has a variety of table and dessert wines for you to pick from!), and a few fun stops good for the whole family (Honeyland Canada will introduce you to the world of bees!). Events upcoming in the Maple Ridge/ Pitt Meadows area are: Country Fest at Memorial Peace Park (July 23^rd & 24^th) and Golfing in the Dark at Heather Hill’s Farm (Sept. 24^th).

There are lists of all of the activities for each for the tours available on the Circle Farm Tours website: http://circlefarmtour.com/

The brochures (which include a map and list of stops) are available by pdf.

This week we will be having a special market to support the fabulous non-profit organizations in New Westminster. With over 15 non-profits attending – each one will have their own booth set up – this market is sure to be a blast! Come join us and learn about some of the non-profits in your neighbourhood, attendees include (but are not limited to!): the Wildlife Rescue Association, Fraser River Discovery Centre, Royal City Gogos, FortisGas, BC Hydro, Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition, Abreast in a Boat, and many more!

We will of course have all of our wonderful vendors in attendance, as well as Art in the Park and out Kids’ Craft area – sponsored by Derrick Thornhill. Music this week will be provided by the wandering jazz duo, Quinn and Ogilvie. The Heritage Grill continues to support all of our entertainment at the market. My Garden Footprint will also be in attendance this week, and they will be giving out prizes!

You can reach the market via transit by taking the 106 bus or the Skytrain to Columbia Street Station and walking to the market at 4th and Royal. Parking is available in the neighbourhood or at City Hall’s lot after 4:30. Please respect our neighbours. Our bike rack has temporarily gone missing, but you can drop your bike off to the fine folks at our info desk at the top end of the market.

A list of vendors attending the July 14 market is below, but remember to check back for cancelations and updates!

Non-profits attending this market:

• Abreast in a Boat
• BC Hydro
• Burns Bog Conservation Society
• Cops for Cancer
• Downtown Residents Association
• Kids New West
• FortisGas
• Fraser River Discover Centre
• Kidney Foundation of Canada, BC Branch
• New Westminster Area Community Corrections
• New Westminster Community Gardens
• Royal City Gogos
• Simon Fraser Society for Community Living
• Taoist Tai Chi Society
• Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition
• Wildlife Rescue Association

We are pleased to be associated with a very special event coming up this Canada Day. Food from the Ground Up! is a special one day festival at River Market (formerly Westminster Quay) celebrating the artistic, sustainable, and delicious nature of food. Food from the Ground Up is the brainchild of Laura Vladamirova, who won a community grant from River Market to put on her event. Mary Forstbauer of Forstbauer Farms, Doug Lowe of Greendale Herb and Vine, and Training Wheels Farm will be there with products to sell and the fine folks at Glen Valley Organic Farm will also be contributing. Check out the photo gallery, sample delicious goodies, and a celebration of food origins. Food from the Ground Up is from 11-3 and is a part of Canada Day events at River Market.

Check out a New Westminster NewsLeader article here for a little bit more info. You can email eattheseeds@gmail.com or check them out on Twitter. Hope we see you there!