Gold Medal Plates — “the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, the arts and athletic achievement” — begins next week.  We’ll be at the culinary competitions across the country, to raise funds for the Olympic team and celebrate la crème de la crème canadienne.

Last year we participated as the exclusive spirit in three cities.  This year, we’re delighted to be in nine cities and in the company of other Canadian producers.  (We like a strong team.)

In Winnipeg, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Toronto, Ottawa, and Kelowna, the Spirits of Excellence bar will feature Alberta Springs Rye Whisky, Iceberg Vodka, and Victoria Gin.

Dave Mitton ‘in the zone’ at our 2010 Toronto Cocktail Competition

In eastern cities, cocktails will be crafted in the nimble hands of Dave Mitton of The Harbord Room, and, out west, Hailey Pasemko, from Nita Lake Lodge, will take charge of the bar.

Hailey Pasemko passes James Chatto a Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas (from his online review)

For dates and tickets, visit the GMP site.  Join us to celebrate the best!

Peter’s got more than booze up his sleeve.  With his partner Natalie, he co-directs PODA — an ambitious NGO involved in community-led projects in Uganda.  We’ve posted more about their adventures here.

After spending much of last year building a school and community centre in Bwera, Peter and Nat are again fundraising for new projects.

In Victoria?  Please join us on October 22 for Opp Art Africa II: a night of live music and canapés (by our Anna Hunt and Phil Lecours), an art lottery and auction, and fundraiser for PODA.

Here’s how it rolls:  There’ll be 100 pieces of outstanding art and 100 lottery numbers.  Through the evening, lottery numbers will be drawn at random. When your number is drawn, you choose a piece from those remaining.  Every ticket holder is a winner!  Spectacular “experience packages” will also be auctioned.  $200 buys a lottery ticket and guarantees one piece of art / $20 entry for spectators.

Valerie’s dining room looks a bit like Christmas

This year’s artists include: Robert Youds, Ted Harrison, Daniel Laskarin, Rick and Suzy Raxlen, Pat Martin Bates, Heather Keenan, Ken Campbell,  Herbert Siebner, Flemming Jorgensen, Robert Bateman, Carol Evans,  Sue Coleman, Barbara Weaver-Bosson, Victor Bosson, Yves Vial, Manish Om Prakash, Dorothy Haegert, Helen Stewart,  Horst Molleken, Dorothy Field, Allan Mandell, Donna Ion, Bill Porteous, Timothy Wilson Hoey, Paul Burke, Alesha Fowlie, and Stewart Marshall.

This Flemming Jorgensen piece is Mia’s hot pick of the collection

Join us and see what else our family can cook up (although we promise there’ll be some Victoria Gin there too).  Find more details here or download the information sheet.

Join us for a Vic Gin-spiked Art of the Cocktail this weekend!

The Victoria Film Festival fundraiser brings bright lights from far and wide to shake, stir, instil & distil.  We’re up to our armpits in the action.

Join us Saturday for an Intro to Boutique Distilling and for Peter’s collaboration with Solomon Siegel: “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Gin.”  As well as sharing Gin’s history, production, and cocktail secrets, they will once again remind you that:

Vodka martinis are the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.  They intend to contaminate our precious bodily fluids! (Siegel, 2011)

Peter and Solomon don’t fool around.

(original photo c/o Doug Harrington)

We’ll also be in full force at the Grand Tasting event on Saturday night and hosting a special Distillery tour on Monday.

Learn more about this epic event and get tickets online.

“The contents of your survival kit is… one pair of nylons, five condoms, one .45 caliber pistol with two magazines, $200 in gold coins, 2 packs of chewing gum, one miniature bible and combination Russian phrase book…” (Dr. Strangelove, 1964).

September’s Zoomer magazine features our own Bryan and Valerie.   That’s right, “He’s one!” and “She’s one!”… as they say.  Check out the full article here.

(No, no, that’s Jeff Bridges.  See Bryan below.)

Our Uncle Bob shares how the Distillery emerged, highlights the familial forces driving it all, and captures Bryan and Valerie’s zip and zoom.  He writes that they:

thought they were acquiring a hobby for their retirement, but the gods of drink had other plans…  So much for slowing down.

As an aside, it is probably fitting that the spotlight on Dr. and Mrs. Victoria Gin finds itself in the Health Special issue, no?  Here’s to your health!  See page 110.

We are participating in the 2011 Feast of Fields events in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.

Join us on Sunday, September 11 at Krause Berry Farms in Langley and on Sunday, September 18 at Marley Farm in Saanichton.   What’s this Feast?:

Feast of Fields is a 4 hour gourmet wandering harvest festival and FarmFolk CityFolk’s annual fundraising event. With a wine glass and linen napkin in hand, you can taste the very best of BC from chefs, vintners, brewers, farmers, fishers, ranchers and food artisans from across the province!  Feast of Fields highlights the connections between producer and chef, field and table, and farm folks and city folks. Feast of Fields is a gastronomic journey towards a sustainable, local food system.

Come celebrate the harvest with us!  Find your tickets here.

Gavin MacMillan, masterful mixologist at Bartender One, shares this indulgence.  It’s heavenly and not without historical precedent.  Why 5:32?  It’s the exact time Prohibition was repealed on December 5th, 1933.

5:32

2 oz Victoria Gin
1/2 oz St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3/4 oz Meyer lemon juice
2 dashes grapefruit bitters
2 dashes lemon bitters
1 inch of cucumber, muddled

Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Top with grapefruit foam.

How seriously does Gavin take his Prohibition-inspired cocktails?  We have it on good authority that he’s soon opening a bar called Repeal.  We like what we hear!  Stay tuned, Toronto.  And best of luck, Gavin!

We just came through our first Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and were blown away by the organisation, talent, and scale of the event.  It was impossible to see, hear, and drink everything — but we sure tried.

The centre of the action: The Hotel Monteleone

We participated in the ‘Meet your Craft Distiller’ section.  Many came to meet us, again and again.  Besides our familial charm, they were certainly returning for the cocktail: an awesome concoction created by our collaborator, Solomon Siegel of Hotel Rialto’s Veneto.

West Coast Cocktail

2 oz Victoria gin
3/4 oz Martini Bianco vermouth
4 dashes Strega

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a skewer with smoked salmon lox and smoked applewood cheddar. Dip the garnish in the drink and enjoy.

Victoria was also well represented by Shawn Soole of Clive’s Classic Lounge, nominated by Tales as one of the world’s best hotel bars.  It was also wonderful to see many of our pals from our Toronto Cocktail Comp.

We were inspired.  Moreover we are thrilled by some very promising new connections.  Sincere thanks to Tales for putting on an extraordinary event and for inviting us to participate.

Canada is abuzz with Will and Kate’s impending visit.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s a stimulating exercise to consider how you might encapsulate “the Canadian experience” in 9 days of travel and activities.

In last Saturday’s Globe & Mail, Beppi Crosariol presents his alternate (and more spirituous) Canadian tour for the royal couple.

I’d start them off on Vancouver Island for a visit to the splendid little Victoria Gin distillery on a pastoral country road just outside British Columbia’s capital. Royals like their gin, lord knows, and Victoria Gin is superb, with a prominent note of star anise and delectably viscous texture. You can find it in most provinces for about $50. At the very least, Will and Kate might be moved by the label’s photographic tribute to Will’s ancestor, Queen Victoria.

Thanks for having us on your tour, Beppi!

Read the rest of the article here.  And to stage your own Canadian royal tour, get Tom Tierney William & Kate paper dolls here!

We are inching our way across this vast country and happy to report that Victoria Gin has now flooded the SAQ!  Find yourself a bottle here.

Anna and Phil were in Montréal for an intimate launch last week at Restaurant Jane on Notre Dame.  We were delighted to launch at Jane – a place that shares our commitment to quality and “keeping it real”.  We were also delighted by the local response.

Merci Québec et longue vie à l’esprit moderne de Victoria!

The International Indian Film Academy Awards are coming to Toronto this month and the Fairmont Royal York will be welcoming international delegates, fans, and cinema royalty in style.

Among other treats, and as featured in the Hindustan Times(!), their Library Bar will be shaking up a Raj Kapoor in celebration.

Raj Kapoor

2 oz Victoria Gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

Shaken on ice and strained into a chilled martini glass. Garnished with crystallized ginger and slivered red jalapeno.

Catch Raj at the Bar, and other Royal York IIFA events, June 22-26.