Summary: <br> TOP DROP / FIRST TIME IN VICTORIA<br> The press release came in loud and clear.<br> For the very first time Top Drop was coming to Victoria.<br> <br> Frankly, that’s all I needed to know.<br> I’ve been happily covering this small wildly successful wine gathering for<br> Six Years but Top Drop in Victoria is a whole other event. Why? Because<br> Victoria is a great wine town.<br> TOP DROP is Vancouver based so they needed a Victoria Host. Turns out the<br> Vessel crew have been watching this independent, craft wine festival seed<br> and grow in Vancouver, and spread to Calgary in 2018. This was their year to<br> launch it in Victoria for ONE DAY .<br> Top Drop is an opportunity to celebrate authenticity in farming, terroir<br> and wine, with winery principals from around the globe.<br> Mirroring Top Drop Vancouver and Calgary’s flagship experience, the public<br> event is a walk around, grazing-style tasting where attendees enjoy sips<br> and stories from the principals of international and local wineries. There<br> has never before been a wine tasting of this scope and caliber in Victoria.<br> For me and TRR, the voice and face of Top Drop has always been Kurtis Kolt.<br> Wine educator and Wine writer for the Georgia Straight.<br> Because of the foul weather, Kurtis and his partners were delayed in<br> Vancouver and could not attend while I was there.<br> Once again Kurtis Kolt and his partner Jeff Curry and a sensational team<br> have convinced some of the very best winemakers to pour at Top Drop.<br> What they have in common is craft and care!<br> In Kurtis’ column in the Georgia Straight he said this:<br> “Each year, our process begins the same. Our team casts out a wide net to<br> British Columbia-based importers and wineries, asking for winery<br> applications to participate in the event. First and foremost, Top Drop<br> wineries must fit with our general philosophy: that wines, indeed, express<br> terroir or offer a sense of place.<br> Whether we’re talking vines grown in mineral-rich soils or under<br> cool-climate growing conditions bringing bright acidity or in sun-drenched<br> regions offering generous, opulent fruit and so on, we want those elements<br> to be notable in the glass and for them to have arrived there authentically,<br> rather than via heavy-handed additions in the winery.<br> Sustainable farming is also key. There is a high priority on those who<br> employ these methods while farming their own fruit or who work with growers<br> who fit the mold.”<br> Winemaking Guests in Victoria:<br> (Check them out – Winners All!!)<br> Ross Borland Managing Partner/Vessel Liquor Victoria <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab www.vesselliquor.com" href="http://www.vesselliquor.com/">www.vesselliquor.com</a><br> Mitch Renaud Asst manager Vessel Liquor Victoria <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab www.vesselliquor.com" href="http://www.vesselliquor.com/">www.vesselliquor.com</a><br> Rhys Pender (MW) Little Farm/Similkameen Valley<br> <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab http://www.littlefarmwinery.ca/" href="http://www.littlefarmwinery.ca/">http://www.littlefarmwinery.ca/</a><br> Angus Thomson Urlar/ Gladstone NZ <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab http://www.urlar.co.nz/" href="http://www.urlar.co.nz/">http://www.urlar.co.nz/</a><br> Kelsey Rufiange – Echo Bay/OK Falls <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab www.echobayvineyard.ca" href="http://www.echobayvineyard.ca/">www.echobayvineyard.ca</a><br> Grant Biggs – Kitsch wines/Kelowna <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab www.kitschwines.ca" href="http://www.kitschwines.ca/">www.kitschwines.ca</a><br> Tyler Knight = Lightening Rock/Summerland <a title="Click to open in a new window or tab www.lightningrockwinery.com" href="http://www."></a>
