Wine Barbarian: The Wine Barbarian Guide to the 2025 Vancouver International Wine Festival! SECOND UPDATE March 1!

Booker Wines Ambassador Carson O'Connor
& Bill Tieleman

SECOND UPDATE Saturday March 1 - new wineries added below! Tickets still available!

It's finally here! The fabulous Vancouver International Wine Festival is on and the International Festival Tastings start Thursday February 27 through Saturday March 1!

The good news - you can still buy VIWF tickets for all the IFTs - Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7 - 10 p.m. and Saturday from 2:30 - 5 p.m. - as well as several other public events at the VIWF website.

Even better news - I have compiled a Wine Barbarian-approved list of some of the best winery tables at the International Festival Tastings! And you can check out online ALL the wines being poured at the VIWF Tasting Room Program!

A few short notes - any winery omitted here is not by design or to in any way suggest you should not visit them - in fact, I encourage it. Many wonderful wineries have been discovered because I didn't know them and just tried their wines - and have been buying them ever since.

Second - this is a list of wineries I know or know of. I have tasted wines in the past from all of them and recommend them to you based on that.

Third - this is the UPDATED LIST - it was updated as the Festival proceeded! Thanks to all of those at the Festival who let me know about some other great wines and tables!

Fourth - kiss don't spit is my motto for the VIWF - you can't possibly taste every wine - even if you go 2 or 3 times - so you have to use your own good judgement and not drink or even sip every single wine poured. But use your nose and decide - or the wine's price or ratings - and be polite: don't demand the top of the line wine and not taste the winery's other bottles! You can at least give them a little kiss and smell the bouquet before pouring it in the spit cup or bucket.

Fifth - for the first time to my knowledge, all the wines being poured at the IFTs are online in the VIWF Tasting Room Program So you can check them out before heading to the tasting room and make your own plan for where to go. And there is also a VIWF app for your cell phone!