April Point Resort & Spa’s second Annual Tastes of April Point was nothing but Incredible. We had new faces and familiar faces from all over BC come to indulge themselves on Quadra Island this weekend.
We kicked the weekend off with wine and cheeses from Vancouver Island. Nancy and Ben Gourlay from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks did a fabulous job of pairing their cheeses with wines from South End Winery (Jill Ogasawara and Ben McGuffie), Alderlea and Averill creek Vinyards (Jason Hyde) and Blue Grouse Wines (Jen Gidora). It may have been raining but that didn’t stop anyone from enjoying their evening. Jazz Berry Jam kept the mojo up in the Dining Room for the last time this year.
Saturday started with a Frog Coffee presentation. Perfect! Karla Foster did a great job teaching flavours and origins of coffee from all over the world. Three cups later and everyone was ready for the next event.
Saturday afternoon was a taste of all things decadent. Guests travelled between three venues sipping, smelling and tasting for the afternoon. Thanks to Stacy Talbot from Albion Fisheries and Lesley Brown guests relaxed outside on the Discovery lawn while sipping champagne and slurping 3 different types of oysters. During our second session guests were invited to challenge their senses with Ingo Grady during this “nose-on” presentation. And finally show cased in house 888 we had a house of typical pairings. This was my station favourite! With deep fried crab doughnuts, sangria and beer with ice-cream; this was my favourite station of the afternoon.
After snacking all afternoon as everyone was heading back to the Discovery lawn for a wine crush we were joined by a pod of about 200 Dolphins swimming and playing as they travelled north in the Discovery Passage.
Crushing grapes with a typical pair of fisherman rubber boots was a great laugh. The juice that come out of that barrel did not look at all appetizing but it was a blast watching these guys stomp while everyone sang The Drunken Sailor.
April Point’s Executive Chef Stephanie Dykes was the cherry on this weekend’s cake. Her five course meal was... absolutely breathtaking. Ingo Grady did a great job of presenting the wine pairings and Stephanie’s menu to the dining room for the evening.
To finish things up, guests were invited to enjoy champagne Sunday Brunch at Painter’s Lodge for one final feast and glass of champagne before heading home.
As always it was so great watching all the crew at April Point come together and help create this event that we hope will carry on over the years.
~ Caylin
