…the Sapphire Sangaree – a colorful gin cocktail, with fresh berries, reminding me of a sunny day sangria.

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, Canada’s premier wine show, runs from April 19 to 25, 2010. The Playhouse Wine Festival is one of the biggest and oldest wine festival events in the world. The featured theme regions for 2010 will be Argentina and New Zealand with the global focus of rosé. The festival features a week of special events including a gala auction, wine seminars, wine minglers, winery dinners, lunches and brunches at fine restaurants and hotels. To purchase tickets online, click here.

George Ultra Lounge is the Godfather of Vancouver’s cocktail culture. Modeled in the London style, George pioneered the cocktail kitchen concept in Canada when it opened in 2005. Today, with award-winning Shaun Layton behind the bar, George continues to pour proper classic and market-fresh cocktails, complimented by a dinner and late night menu through 2 a.m

George Ultra Lounge (1137 Hamilton Street) is taking a page from the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and holding their own “Mixlympics”, a competition featuring ten bartenders (6 international, 4 local) competing head-to-head in a black box style event. Sponsored by Martin Miller’s Gin & Arc’teryx, these masters of mixology will be vying for the top prize – $500 cash provided by Martin Miller’s Gin, but there will be medals too. Gold, silver and bronze, just like the athletes competing in Vancouver and Whistler. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 12:00 pm but it might be best to get in line a little bit earlier.
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The international contestants are:

• Joe Stokoe – Bar Manager for all three All Star Lanes, London, UK
• Abdul Kpekawa – Bartender, All Star Lanes, London, UK
• David Grieg – Bartender, All Star Lanes, London, UK
• Ola Carlson – Bartender, Box 101, Stockholm, Sweden
• Nicolos de Soto, Bartender, Experimental Cocktail Club & Curio Parlour, Paris, France
• Charles Tan – Bartender, China Club, Paris, France.

Representing Canada will be:

• Mark Brand – Owner, Boneta and The Diamond, Vancouver
• David Wolwidnyk – Bar Manager, West, Vancouver
• Jay Jones – Owner, The Pourhouse, Vancouver
• Darryl Macdonald – Bartender, Port, Toronto

I went to the Olympic Irish House (620 Nelson Street) preview last night, a 9,000 square-foot pavilion house which is open to the public between February 8th to 28th. Located in a makeshift tent beside Doolins Irish Pub, this country pavillion reminds me of a typical beer garden crossed with a sports bar – complete with TV projections, a Nintendo Wii Station and a live band. Drink tickets can be bought for $8 to $9 – a preview of Olympics prices for the next month. There are two separate balconies accessible by stairs, and a sales booth by the entrance selling Celtic patterned jewelry. Click for photos and to continue reading.

The The Donnelly Hospitality Management group (Pop Opera, Bar None, Library Square, etc.) has reopened the downtown pub Smiley’s as “Smiley’s Public House” (911 West Pender Street).

The space has been given a sleek makeover that has drawn both thankful regulars and new clientele. Smiley’s Public House delivers the style of a modern, British-style pub while retaining the warmth and character of a traditional pub. The open-concept room boasts 240 seats and a range of table sizes, including 16-seat picnic tables. Guests come in to loosen their ties, tuck into modern pub food, watch a football match and engage in good-natured banter around the pool table. The dance floor brims on busier nights, and a DJ spins to the after-work crowd on Fridays.

It was a highly educational evening as we learned that Bombay Sapphire is no ordinary gin. Instead, it is a premium gin like no other and highly unique. 10 perfectly balanced botanicals obtained from various regions of the world are infused and released upon drinking it. These botanicals include almonds and lemon peel from Spain, grains of paradise from West Africa, liquorice from China, and orris root from Italy to name a few. Each ingredient complements another and are carefully added such that no single botanical overpowers another. The natural flavours are infused to create a subtle yet highly aromatic taste and thus, appeals to both gin and non-gin drinkers.

…”a celebration of local food and drink” with 40+ wineries, 10+ restaurants and 600+ attendees gathering at the Hyatt Regency in support of a charitable cause.

Looking for something to do? Every Monday morning, we present to you “Modern Mix Monday”, a brief but link-filled one-liner review of our past weekend loaded with suggestions to inspire you for your next!

Despite being the the midst of exam season, I still managed to go out and celebrate a friend’s birthday at The Blarney Stone on Saturday night. The Blarney Stone is more “grungy bar” than modern Gastown joint. However, I was quite impressed by the size of the venue! Two floors with a pool table and a moderately large dancefloor on the bottom floor. On the second floor, picnic-style benches fit about six to a table – perfect for having a drink or looking out of the castle-like window openings to the floor below. However, despite spending my previous New Years Eve Celiah (”cay-lee”) dancing in Scotland, the live Celtic music at the Blarney Stone is not my preferred genre of music. Then again, with 2 for 1 shooters for $6.50, you could just drink a lot and drown out the music.

Looking for something to do? Every Monday morning, we present to you “Modern Mix Monday”, a brief but link-filled one-paragraph review of our past weekend loaded with suggestions to inspire you for your next!

On Friday I went to Tunnel Multi-Lounge (622 West Pender Street) for their Traffik Fridays. I haven’t been to Tunnel since May when they first opened for their media/industry party (I wrote an entry about it here) but the service at Tunnel was as if it were opening night all over again. Friendly bouncers, patient bartenders and an efficient door girl who instantly sorted out my guest list issues. The white couches are definitely comfortable to just chill on when you’re taking a break from the dance floor and we didn’t get snobby treatment for turning down bottle service although we definitely gave more than enough business to the bar with our rounds of jagerbombs and gladiators!

…the same architectural structure as the old Club 686 yet modern updates, including lighting and artwork, gave it an upscale feel…