New Wine Bar Pop-Up Coming to South Granville

Joanna Owen, founder of wine-dinner pop-up Vin Van, has built her side hustle on being unpredictable. Each of her long-table, multi-course meals happens in a new surprising location with a different hot-shot chef and fresh global inspiration (themes include “The Portuguese One” and “The Canadian One”). Sometimes, the U.K. ex-pat eschews the individual servings in favour of  bubbly-and-cheese nights or classic family-style Sunday roasts. And other times, she ditches the wine altogether, like when she’s hosting yet another series of pairing dinners as one-half of Beer and a Curry. But Vin Van’s latest experiment sees Owen settling down… at least on a semi-regular basis. Starting January 21, Vin Van is teaming up with Steph Walker (a veteran of the city’s brewery industry) to run a pop-up wine bar at Fiore every other Monday—a cozy, bi-weekly home base for the joyfully nomadic brand, just off the South Granville main drag. After all, says Owen, “you can never have too many wine bars.” Each night will feature a curated selection of seven to 10 key bottles (“It’ll be bottles that I love and that I think others will, too—a mixture of some classics and some from regions or grapes that people may not have had much experience of,” says Owen), all available to purchase by the glass or by the bottle. You’ll also find feature cocktails (like blackberry-jalapeno margaritas concocted by Walker), along with simple snacks like a rotating selection of arancini and charcuterie boards (with veggie and vegan options). James Hearn of Save On Radio’s Thrift Store Selects will be in-house sharing deep cuts from his record collection each night, too. As the weeks go on, expect a theme night here or there, but the overall goal is to create a space that spotlights wine in a playful, approachable way. “There’s a big beer focus in bars in Vancouver and with the booming brewery scene, and we wanted to create somewhere where people can grab a casual glass of wine after work from an interesting and varied wine list,” explains Owen. “Something inclusive and fun…with great music, too.”

Vin Van pop-up wine bar at Fiore, 1485 W 12th Ave Every other Monday starting January 21, 2019 Open 5:30 pm ’til late.

Find Vin Van’s upcoming pop-up dinner series here.