Latest news with #MBSommWeek
Winnipeg Free Press
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
What's up: Ava Kobrinsky celebration, cocktail competition, tapestries, Mari Padeanu, Scattered Seeds
West End Cultural Centre, 586 Ellice Ave. Saturday, 8 p.m. Tickets $35 at TODD KOROL / FREE PRESS files Ava Kobrinsky and Mitch Podolak stand in front of the soon to open West End Cultural Centre in 1987. For 50 years, Ava Kobrinsky has been a pillar of the Canadian folk music scene. Together with her late husband Mitch Podolak, Kobrinsky co-founded the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the West End Cultural Centre and Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous. They hosted thousands of travelling musicians at their Wolseley home and helped launch the careers of too many artists to count. In 2021, Kobrinsky was inducted into the Order of Manitoba for her outstanding commitment to the arts, having played a role in the establishment of many other cultural organizations, including Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers. Saturday's concert at the WECC is a celebration of folk music and one of its fiercest champions, featuring Burnstick, James Culleton, David Graham, Sheena Legrand, Onna Lou, Flora Luna, Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner, Leonard Podolak, Jorge Requena Ramos and Orit Shimoni. — Jen Zoratti In Good Spirits cocktail competition WAG-Qaumajuq, 300 Memorial Blvd. Monday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets: $70 here. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mixologists and bartenders will create concoctions at the In Good Spirits cocktail competition Monday. Eighteen of Winnipeg's best mixologists and bartenders will face off at WAG-Qaumajuq on Monday at the In Good Spirits cocktail competition. The third annual competition closes MB Somm Week, which features all manner of tastings and workshops put on by the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association for Professional Sommeliers (CAPS Manitoba). Each of the participants has been assigned a specific spirit (including whisky, gin, vodka and pisco) on which they're to base their signature cocktail, which they'll create in front of the crowd starting at 6:30 p.m. Beyond that, it's all up to the bartenders and their imaginations to shake and stir the panel of judges and the public, with the chance for contestants to win a distillery tour, a bursary and other prizes. Among those participating are drinks slingers from Darling Bar, Nola, Baby Baby, the Manitoba Club, Solera, Sous Sol and Hy's Steakhouse. Tickets include a welcome cocktail, small bites and samples of the competitors' drinks, with $10 from each ticket sold going to the Canadian Mental Health Association. You don't need to be a member of CAPS Manitoba to attend; for the full list of participants and to buy tickets see — Ben Sigurdson Prairie Deck II C2 Centre for Craft, 1-392 Cumberland Ave. Runs until 26 June (Wednesday to Friday, noon to 4 p.m.) Free Edmonton-based artist Aja Louden's solo exhibition brings his vision of an Afrofuturist world to life in large-scale tapestries. Weaving a tale of two spacewomen — a mother and her daughter — exploring the prairies, Louden's work is a riot of colour and texture with themes of nature and technology running through each tufted piece. Louden's works in yarn explore science fiction, history and fantasy, promising to take visitors on a journey through time, space and alternate realities. — AV Kitching Mari Padeanu Park Alleys, 730 Osborne St. Friday, 9:30 p.m. Free Kinda weird to think Winnipeggers used to bowl without live jazz. SUPPLIED Mari Padeanu performs at Park Alleys on Friday. Over the past few years, Park Alleys has made the unlikely duo a staple of its weekly happenings. Singer Mari Padeanu is one of a few young stars in Park Alley's revolving cast of jazzers. The originals Padeanu performs, many from the singer's recent EP The Fool, decorate funk and pop grooves with romantic whimsy and melodies that harken back to the golden age of crooners. Filling out Padeanu's sound is sizable ensemble, including Josh Bonneauteau (drums), Sam Fournier (bass), Jasmine Henry (vocals), Daniel Nemez (guitar) and Tirian Plett (keys). Total non-sequitur: if you have the chance, check out the punched hole in the wall of one of Park Alley's bathroom stalls. Rather than repair it, management has framed it with the description 'Mixed media: dry-wall and toxic masculinity' and the title Couldn't Beat the Gutter. — Conrad Sweatman Scattered Seeds Craft Market Red River Exhibition Place, 3977 Portage Ave. Friday, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets $10 at SUPPLIED Scattered Seeds Craft Market is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend with a Mother's Day sale. Scattered Seeds Craft Market is celebrating 30 crafty years with a special two-day pop-up at Red River Exhibition Place. The first iteration of the market took place in founder Deb Schwartz's East St. Paul home with crafts made by family and friends. The business quickly outgrew the living room and the sales have become popular annual events for local makers and shoppers. Promoted as 'Winnipeg's cosiest market,' Scattered Seeds' is hosting its first-ever Mother's Day market this weekend featuring more than 160 vendors, workshops, food trucks and a high tea service. Tickets for the latter are $70 per person with seatings still available for Friday between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Admission to the craft sale is free for children aged 12 and younger and discounted for seniors aged 65 and older. Half-price tickets are available for the last two hours of each day. — Eva Wasney
Winnipeg Free Press
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Educational events for wine, beer and spirit lovers
Opinion The Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS Manitoba) is bringing local libation lovers a whole host of drinks-related events during MB Somm Week from May 5 to 12 at venues throughout the city. CAPS Manitoba launched the initiative in 2023 as a way to get drinks lovers engaged through all manner of tastings — from casual walkabout events to sit-down masterclasses with sommeliers, winemakers and mixologists. Things kick off May 5 with a Chardonnay tasting at Promenade Brasserie (130 Provencher Blvd.), where the $1,000 Rebecca Lechman Memorial Bursary will be presented to an up-and-coming wine/hospitality worker to further their education in the industry. Lechman worked at Jones & Company until her sudden death in March 2020, and was an avid Chardonnay fan. The event runs from 6:45 to 9 p.m. On May 6, local cicerone Hailey Tennant, who is also the beer curator at the Common at The Forks, leads the Beer Sensory Lab, a tasting designed to help aspiring hop-heads get the lay of the land when it comes to different beer flavour profiles. The event is at Sookram's Brewing Co. (479 Warsaw Ave.) and kicks off at 2 p.m. In the evening, things move over to the Wine Bar at the Winehouse (1600 Kenaston Blvd.) for a tasting of eight Iberian (read: Spanish and Portuguese) wines led by Winnipeg sommelier Seema Pal, winner of the 2023 Best Sommelier of Manitoba award. The following evening (May 7), Hy's Steakhouse (1 Lombard Ave.) hosts Alistair Veen, owner of Naramata winery JoieFarm. The winery is not in the Manitoba market — at least not yet — so it's a great chance to taste through the JoieFarm's excellent offerings, along with some small bites, and learn about what's new in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley. The event runs from 7-10 p.m. On May 8, Solera (725 Osborne St.) hosts an agave masterclass with Ethan Grant of Montella Spirits & Wine from 2 to 4 p.m. Learn about all things tequila and the different expressions of agave-based spirits. May 9 features another afternoon event, this time at TH Sampling Room (106-185 Carlton St.), where guests will take part in a guided whisky and cigar event led by James Burton of Truth Malters starting at 2 p.m. Admission includes tasting whiskies, a welcome cocktail and a premium cigar. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Cassandra Carreiro, owner of Sharecuterie, opens her Stafford Street restaurant to a tasting of wines from Piedmont's Barolo region on May 10. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Cassandra Carreiro, owner of Sharecuterie, opens her Stafford Street restaurant to a tasting of wines from Piedmont's Barolo region on May 10. On the afternoon of May 10, Sharecuterie (160 Stafford St.) hosts Rosanna Pancotto of Loamanic Wine & Spirits as she leads a tasting of wines from Piedmont's Barolo region. A range of the rustic, robust reds made from the Nebbiolo grape will be sampled from 2 to 4 p.m. MB Somm Week closes out with the In Good Spirits cocktail competition, which returns this year to WAG-Qaumajuq (300 Memorial Blvd.) on May 12, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The event features 18 local bartenders and mixologists crafting their most imaginative cocktails in the hopes of wowing both the judges and the public. Admission includes a welcome cocktail, small bites and samples of all of the competitors' cocktails. While you don't need to be a CAPS Manitoba member to attend any of the tastings, members do get discounted admission to all events. Visit for more information and to buy tickets. • Low Life Barrel House (398 Daly St. N.) celebrates three years of beer and wine with a bash on May 3, starting at noon. Low Life core pours and special offerings will be available, and Hoagie Boyz will be on hand doling out dumplings as part of a perogy party. Also on tap: slushies and live music. Admission is free. • Prairie Theatre Exchange has once again partnered with the Winehouse for PTE Pairings, a night of wine and food on May 22, starting at 7 p.m. throughout the theatre's facility on the third floor of Portage Place. More than 50 wines will be poured alongside small bites from a range of local restaurants — including Aroma Bistro, Rose Coffee & Wine, Sharecuterie, Sugar Blooms and Cakes, Tito Boy, Faspa, For Us Bakery, Honey & Loaf and the Fairmont Winnipeg — with proceeds from the event supporting the stalwart theatre. Tickets are $120 at and include a partial tax receipt. Lupo Meraviglia 2022 Tre di Tre Rosso (Puglia, Italy — $22.99, Liquor Marts and beyond) A blend of Negroamaro, Aglianico and Primitivo grapes, this Italian red is dense black cherry in colour and aromatically offers lovely violet and chalky notes that come alongside deep plum, blackberry and red licorice notes. It's full-bodied and dry, with plush dark berry and plum flavours coming with an almost-raisined, dried fruit note, hints of chocolate and spice before chewy tannins and, at 14.5 per cent alcohol, a long, warm finish. Made without oak aging, it's fresh and ripe but with great depth of flavour Amarone/Ripasso fans will appreciate (and at a fraction of the price). Drink now or pop the cork in two-to-three years time. A very good value. 4.5/5 D.V. Catena 2022 Tinto Historico (Mendoza, Argentina — $24.99, Liquor Marts and beyond) A blend of 77 per cent Malbec, 20 per cent Bonarda and three per cent Petit Verdot grapes sourced from vines growing at 1,000-1,300 metres above sea level, this Argentine red is inky purple in colour, with blackberry, dark chocolate, blackcurrant, plum and violet aromas. It's full-bodied and dry but plush, with ripe, jammy dark berry and chocolate flavours coming with vanilla and spice notes (from around 12 months in barrel), modest tannins and, at 13.5 per cent alcohol, a slightly warm and punchy finish. Will please fans of plush California red blends, but fans of Argentine reds in general will also find plenty to like. 3.5/5 Malivoire 2024 Pinot Gris (Beamsville Bench, Ont. — $21.99, De Nardi Wines) Pale straw in appearance, this Pinot Gris from the Beamsville Bench sub-appellation of Ontario's Niagara Peninsula brings bright, fresh floral, peach, stone fruit and honeysuckle aromas with a slightly steely undertone. It's a dry, medium-bodied and fresh white wine that's bursting with juicy white peach, pear, red apple and tangerine flavours, has a lovely viscous texture, a splash of lemony acidity and, at 12.5 per cent alcohol, a modest finish. In order to preserve the wine's incredible freshness, the wine spent just three months in stainless steel tanks (no oak) before being bottled. Drink now. 4/5 uncorked@ @bensigurdson Ben SigurdsonLiterary editor, drinks writer Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press's literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben. In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press's editing team before being posted online or published in print. It's part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. 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