Biggest Wassail yet

PECWA ends 2018 season on a high note

With Wassail 2018 now in the history books, reports from all sides indicate a very successful year and one that was much busier than 2017. This year saw 25 wineries participating, up from 18 last year. Wassail also covered every corner of the County in 2018, from east to west, north and south. The participation and activities from the wineries this season was impressive, with each one offering something unique to Wassail visitors. Wassail pays tribute to the European tradition of celebrating the harvest and a long, hard season before the arrival of winter. In Canada, the end of the season also means the mammoth task of burying the vines so that they can withstand the harsh winters. In the County, once the vines are buried it’s time to celebrate. Merrymakers travel from house to house singing, eating and drinking with neighbours. The tradition is that if you arrive to an establishment singing a seasonal tune, the singers will be welcomed in and treated to food and wine.

All three weekends of Wassail were very busy in the County, with not only the wineries, but the restaurants and retail stores seeing increased numbers from last year. The first weekend of Wassail in the County was sold out well in advance, and the following two weekends were both sold out, or close to it, by the time the buses got rolling. PECWA director Duarte Da Silva also spent significant time with his boots on the ground during the festival, hosting bus tours and helping people with Wassail Ps and Qs.

“The response has been incredible; a lot of people are returning visitors. The wineries have all reported being very busy over the course of the three weekends, and we couldn’t be happier with the response from the public,” says Da Silva.

There were two ways to experience Wassail. Go it alone and download the self-guided map from the website, or join an organized bus tour, which is the recommended mode of transportation if visitors would like the total experience. Tours were four hours in length with pick-ups in Picton, Bloomfield, Wellington and two pick-up locations in Belleville.

Each bus tour typically visits four wineries, and PECWA had five buses going on the three Saturdays of Wassail. The tours would rotate through a series of chosen wineries based on accessibility and routing.

This year, Da Silva and PECWA decided to let each individual winery program its own event, and Da Silva was impressed with the response from the industry and how creative everyone became under their own direction.

“Traynor Estates hosted Centre and Main Chocolate and Old Salt Cocktail Co., The Grange had mulled wine and s’mores by the fireplace, Karlo Estates was hosting the Wassail! dinners, so each one was offering something unique for visitors,” says Da Silva.

Da Silva and the other tour hosts also made sure that the visitors were singing upon their arrival to a winery, but most of the time, the crowds didn’t need any prodding, and came ready to sing.

With plenty of time on the bus between wineries, the tours were also an opportunity for PECWA to educate the consumers on the local terroir with facts, figures and local trivia on the County and its wineries. Wassailers learn as they travel about the region and its wineries, and then head directly to winery to taste what they are learning about.

When The Times last to spoke to Da Silva, earlier in 2018, PECWA was to focus on giving each event in their annual calendar an individual identity, with offerings that would follow suit. Each event would then develop a crowd and a community unique to that event. Vintner Festival is the County’s first wine and winter festival where art collides with food and wine pairings in various wineries around the County. Terroir is a spring celebration of the newly released wines from highly acclaimed wineries around the County. Taste Community Grown is a fall wine and culinary festival that gathers food, wine, beer and produce together in one place with local artisans for a market-style day. With Wassail, PECWA wants to focus on the consumer having a true, authentic County experience.

“When people come to the County and participate in Wassail! I think that what they are looking for the most is an authentic County experience and to participate in something unique to this region,” says Da Silva.

As for 2018, PECWA is pleased with how the season went. Each event was successful despite some messy weather, with Taste having a standout year in 2018. PECWA is also happy to say that, by all accounts, the wineries in the County have had their cellar doors stay open longer this year than ever before. Next year looks to be a banner year for PECWA, with all of their events gaining momentum in 2018.