In early July, Michael Pinkus and I set out to make our second visit to Saguenay to check out the Festival des Vins de Saguenay. I’m glad we made the return, because it really let the atmosphere of downtown Saguenay sink in. I remember last year walking up and down Rue Racine with a glass of wine in my hand and seeing young families pushing strollers, retirees enjoying a glass of wine – basically the whole city converges on the downtown and the streets are flowing with open bottles – and it’s just wonderful. Last year I was asking myself why something like this doesn’t exist in Toronto. We have so many street festivals in the city, but nothing that quite celebrates wine the way the festival does in Saguenay.
So let’s get straight to the point, before I sum up everything else that’s great about the festival, next summer you should plan your weekend in Saguenay. Right off Rue Racine you can stay the the Hotel Chicoutimi. It will put you right in the middle of the festival. The rooms are comfortable, and affordable. Being right off Rue Racine will have you surrounded by dining options. Your best bet is to hit up one of the pubs. Now, if you’re expecting fine dining (I say this with my pinky in the air … and a certain amount of sarcasm) you may be disappointed; There is nothing pretentious about any of the restaurants, or frankly, anything to do with this festival – and that’s not a bad thing at all. What you can expect is delicious food, solid value, and a small town vibe everywhere you go.
The festival itself lines up Rue Racine with kiosks from agents, and wineries offering wines to pour. You need to purchase drink tokens, but they are very affordable with 20 tokens and your tasting glass costing 25$ if you purchase in advance. Additional tokens were available for purchased at the festival at a cost of 1$ per token. Most tastings cost a few tokens per sample – but one pleasant surprise is that many of the kiosks offer outstanding premium offerings. One of the highlights of the festival this year was the SAQ who were pouring outstanding champagne and grand cru classé bordeaux from St Emilion.
Michael and I were both excited that Beaujolais was the banner sponsor. It’s clear that the people of Quebec and the SAQ have a lot of love for one of our favorite wine regions. Tastings featured wine from many of the Villages of Beaujolais reminding festival goers that there is much more to Beaujolais than Nouveau.
And as this summer slowly eases its way into my rear view mirror I can say that I am most definitely looking forward to a return to Saguenay for next year. You can start to plan your visit by clicking here – http://festivinsaguenay.ca/
