Ballet Etoile at Muse Winery

 Summer Musings 2015

June 28th & July 5th
Performances at 2 pm

We are always very excited as we start to line up the entertainment for the summer at Muse Winery.  The dreams, the plans, the organizing, set up and rehearsals and then...it blooms.

We wanted to share with you this beautiful photo,  the ballerina seems to bloom from the vines.

We hope you'll have a chance to get out and see the final performance July 5th, if you missed the first one.

Our thanks to Ballet Etoile for gracing our vineyard with pirouettes and plies.

Click for Tickets

A Fresh Bistro Muse

Fresh is the Word for Bistro Muse

As we get ready to roll into high gear at Muse for the season- yesterday was tasting day for Bistro staff and "the Muse" - sampling the new Bistro fare.

Chef Judi Garbala has put together a new menu that is nothing short of scrumptious.  If you had a single Muse favourite before... you're going to have at least 5 now.

We tasted, we paired and there are just so many wonderful combinations, you'll want to be taking advantage of the tasting flights of wines to find what your palate enjoys most.



Our new Bistro Chef has sourced locally wherever possible and loves fresh, fresh, fresh!  The Spring Salad is heaven; our photo here shows it served with smoked tuna.  Only YUM in bold caps comes remotely close to describing - Fave # 1 and then we tasted the Seasonal Soup...  A Red Snapper, Roasted Tomato & Lentil bisque and please note the "Seasonal" because it will change in the summer and you do not want to miss the opportunity to taste it - Fave #2.

The Grilled Chicken Tartine with homemade Roasted Thyme Grape Chutney with Moonstruck's Ash Ripened Camembert on a baguette slice will undoubtedly be Fave #3!

And that's only the briefest of tastes on the menu.  Check it out online and be sure sure to reserve many lunches- there is so much to try.  When the staff says "awesome" you know you need to take it in.

Your best chance for sampling a number of things from the menu is the Spring Celebration Party coming up Saturday May 2nd at Muse - noon to 4 pm.  No reservations required, you'll want to gather up your friends- at only $1/bite or sip...what better way to enjoy a Saturday.

www.musewinery.ca

North Saanich Flavour Trail - Aug. 22-24th, 2014

North Saanich Flavour Trail - Friday, Saturday & Sunday - August 22nd, 23rd & 24th

The Flavour Trail will kick off with a BBQ at Muse Winery on Friday night! Enjoy entertainment performed by Clarence Boudreau!  This award winning "fiddler" will help us kick off the Flavour Trail with aplomb!
The Bistro BBQ menu is out now too - Click to view!  Tickets for the Kick Off BBQ are $29 including tax.
Call 250-656-2552 to reserve your tickets or email.

The Flavour Trail tour begins the next day.  This self-guided tour allows you to explore, discover and celebrate all the North Saanich Peninsula has to offer.  With farms, wineries and all manner of local talent- come and discover our little finger of Vancouver Island.


For more details on the Flavour Trail visit their website filled with information on all the participants and a downloadable map as well! FlavourTrails


We look forward to seeing you out for the Kick Off BBQ or any day of the event!  We'll have vineyard tours and wine tasting going on throughout the weekend.  We have a fabulous art exhibition featuring artists Anne Bowen and Shelby Assenheimer ongoing in the Bacchus Room and of course, Bistro Muse will be open 11 am to 4 pm for a taste of the Peninsula!

Photo Credit Lydia Dagg

Cheers!

Muse Winery
11195 Chalet Road, North Saanich, BC V8L 5M1

www.musewinery.ca

Cirque du Chablis opens July 19th

Peninsula Players Presents

"Cirque du Chablis"

Opening Night - Saturday July 19th

The curtain goes up at 7:30 pm to reveal another fantastic production by The Peninsula Players for the outdoor summer theatre at Muse Winery.

A ragtag band of circus freaks hankers for something more than cleaning up after elephants and biting heads off of chickens.  When former starlet Serafina offers them their own vaudeville show, they leap at the chance! But between a scheming ringmaster, a secretive starlet, and a lovesick cheese mogul, the freaks soon learn that life is not always a barrel of monkeys.

There will be a total of 7 performances, so make sure to plan ahead.  For the evening performances Bistro Muse will be offering a special Harvest Table buffet for $29 plus GST
Reservations will be required.

Mark your calendars - performance dates are:
Evening Performances - 
Saturdays - July 19th & 26th and August 9th & 16th     7:30 pm  curtain

Matinee Performances - 
Sundays - July 27th and August 10th & 17th - 3 pm curtain

Tickets for all performances are $25 per person.
Add Harvest Table Buffet for an additional $29 per person, plus GST
Bistro Muse is open for lunch before the Matinees - reservations required.

We hope to see you out for another summer of thespians entertaining us in the vineyard!

www.musewinery.ca

Spring Release - May 3, 2014

Spring Release Party

Saturday May 3rd, 2014 

12-4 pm

Muse Winery

11195 Chalet Road, North Saanich

The vines are leafing up, the wines have been fermenting over the winter and suddenly, there is more sun than rain, the temperatures warm and it's time to throw open the gates and invite the world!  

Our Spring Release Party marks the beginning of a new season at Muse Winery and to celebrate we offer tastes of our selected wines and perfectly paired Bistro bites for $1 each!  What a deal and what a selection!  The Bacchus Room will be resplendent with the art of Wendy Oppelt and Jennifer McIntyre, the tasty and beautifully prepared bites prepared by Bistro Muse and of course, the Girls of Summer, the Muse whites oh and a red or two for you as well! :)  We want everyone happy!

Come one and all, bring your friends (19+ of course)!  If you're a Muse Wine Club member, this is a Perk Day for you! :)

Prelude to Autumn - Sept. 8th

Prelude to Autumn

Sunday September 8th - 3 pm

We look forward to violinist & concert master Terence Tam  performing with Steinway artist & critically acclaimed pianist Lorraine Min performing at Muse Winery.
Enjoy selections from the works of Chopin, Franck, Pablo de Sarasate, Debussy and Ysaye played by these two world class musicians.  A delight for the senses amidst the beautiful vineyard setting.

Min has impressed audiences worldwide for her artistic brilliance and virtuosity. Cited by the New York Times for her "impeccable phrase-shaping" and "crystalline sound," Min's pianism continues to inspire with its indelible musicality and finesse.  

Of Tam, the Halifax Chronical Herald wrote "...Every phrase had the deceptive ease and grace of a ballet dancer combined with the weight and momentum of a figure skater.....impressive mastery of the musical ideas......he breaks through interpretation to find and to bring back to the listener a musical landscape where everything is new, fresh...in the third [movement] Tam turned up the heat, blazing through the incandescent scales of the cadenza like a comet ..."

The vineyard will be alight with the sounds of music.  Please join us.

TICKETS: $20.00  Available after Aug.19th at:
                    -Muse Winery (11195 Chalet Rd, North Saanich)  
                    -Tanners Book Store (Beacon Ave, Sidney)
                    -At the door on the day of the performance

Plan a bite at Bistro Muse before the concert, we suggest reservations Call 250-656-2552

www.musewinery.ca

Add Flavour with Art

Gord Langston

Adding Flavour with Art on the
North Saanich Flavour Trail this weekend
Aug. 24 & 25th  11 to 5 pm

Muse Winery
11195 Chalet Road, North Saanich

The Flavour Trail encompasses the ideal of introducing everyone to the local flavours of the community, with locally grown produce, wine, baking and we think that local art should be a part of the bountiful mix that creates flavour for the home.  We've invited a number of local artists to bring their works of art to Muse for the weekend and you'll find them in the vineyards!

Heather Gunning

 As you wander through the Bacchus, Marechal....also look for the work of Gord Langston and Heather Gunning.  Gord & Heather both have their unique flares of taking that which other might discard and turning metal into beautiful pieces of art for the home, garden and to wear.

Pauline Olesen will be bringing some of her fused glass work and jewelry to the vineyard. If you've been to the winery before, you might have seen some of her work in our Wine & Gift Shop. Here's a video clip from a recent Monday Magazine interview at her Piers Island Studio.

In the Bacchus Room, look for work from the Peninsula Plein Air Painters on exhibition and you'll find a few of those artists in the vineyard...painting...plein air of course!   We welcome works from Keith Levang, Stephanie Quainton Steel- author and artist
John Moloney, Ian & Renate Waterlow and Paul Alex Bennett.

Keith Levang

John Moloney

Paul Alex Bennet

 We've shown just a few of the beautiful works by these Plein Air painters.  We hope you can join us to enjoy the marvelous palette of work showing off captured moments and places in our area.

Last, but by no means least...sculptor Paul Harder will be bringing his newest creations to the vineyard.  He mentioned cats and dogs were his newest works, but this photo makes us wonder what kind of cat will be coming to the vineyard!?

Paul Harder

 We look forward to seeing you out at the winery this weekend.  Keep up to date on all our events on the Calendar on the website.     www.musewinery.ca 
Bistro Muse will be open for the Flavour Trail weekend and we do suggest reservations.  Along with the regular bistro menu there will be a few extra choices and specials.  Please call us at 250-656-2552 to reserve or Email.

For more information on the Flavour Trail you can check out their website at www.flavourtrails.com

Ballet comes to Muse Winery- Sun. July 7th

Ballet Etoile and Muse Winery present

Summer Musings

Sunday July 7th 2:30 pm & 4:30 pm

We are delighted to present another first at Muse Winery...a ballet production performed on our outdoor stage.

Ballet Étoile is thrilled to present a delightful selection of beautiful ballets on the intimate Ortega Terrace at Muse Winery! Featuring fresh new works, a mesmerizing fiery tango, and the return of the popular Scott Joplin suite, this captivating afternoon has a sip for everyone to savor. Victoria’s top professional dancers sparkle in excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, Boutique Fantasque and more! Surrounded by breathtaking natural scenery, this unique theatre experience is the perfect way to celebrate summer!

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of Muse Winery’s very first ballet event!

Come early and enjoy a delicious lunch or early tapas at Bistro Muse!
Call 250-656-2552 for reservations.

Performance tickets are $20/ pp and can be purchased at Muse Winery or by calling 250-656-2552.

Swing into Summer at the Muse - June 28th

Dock Side Drive at Muse Winery
Friday June 28th

We've got a fantastic night planned with the swingin' sounds of Dock Side Drive.
We kick off the evening at 6 pm with yummy Bistro Tapas in the vineyard.  At 7:30 it's swing time with the big band sound of Dock Side Drive.

Dock Side Drive (formerly "The Ford 7") is one of the West Coast’s newest swing & show bands. This dynamic band will entertain audiences with the music of the 1940s, 50s & 60s. At its core, the band features local Victoria musicians Don Leppard, Joey Smith, Anita Bonkowski, Heather Burns (rhythm section); Dave Flello, Paul Wainwright (horns); Chris Newstead, Fran Bitonti, and Angela Ireland Ford (vocals). They offer a blend of vocal and instrumental tunes that will usher you through more than three decades of song, including the music of Ray Charles, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and other favourites. You won’t want to miss the chance to see and hear this ensemble performing well-known swing, blues, jazz and show tunes! It’s guaranteed you’ll be swingin’ and singin’ along!

Dock Side Drive hosts a roster of seasoned and established musicians from the Victoria area, all of whom perform regularly both together and with other bands: “The Stomp Club”, “Canus”, “The Midnights”, and “String of Pearls” to name a few. Many of these veteran musicians have been seen on the Dixie and Swing Jazz festival circuit. Since its inception, Dock Side Drive has established a reputation as a show band that features vocalists & instrumentalists alike. They have built a repertoire of tunes, including Train Kept a Rollin’, Mac the Knife, Route 66, Blue Skies, What’ll I Do, Hit That Jive Jack, Hallelujah I Just Love Him So, Jump, Jive and Wail, and Sweet Georgia Brown.

Tickets - $35 includes Concert & Tapas
Cash Wine bar.

And of course, it's happening at  Muse Winery   11195 Chalet Road, North Saanich.
Call 250-656-2552 for tickets or email

Revved Up for the Weekend

What a weekend this is going to be at Muse and start it with a "prekend" on Thursday!

We'll have the the photographic art of Monica Reekie on exhibition in the Bacchus Room and have extended an invitation to Car Clubs and Collectors alike who enjoy Fine Art Photography of fine automobiles along with of course...fine wine to come out to Muse Winery from June 14th to 16th to show off your treasures.  

Monica will be on hand for the 3 days, no doubt with camera in hand!  

June 15th - Celebrating Strawberries

While all the A'La C'Art is underway, we also have a Special Menu offering in celebration of the local strawberry harvest.  Check the link on the website calendar for details! 

June 16th - Father's Day 

Did we forget Dad? No way!!!

We've got a special lunch menu planned for Dad for Father's Day.  

It's on the website too.  Make sure to reserve.  250-656-2552 or email

Muse Calendar & Menu Specials

More coming next week.

We'll keep you up to date.

www.musewinery.ca

Mother's Day Musings

 Mother's Day Musings  ~ May 12th

A delectable menu has been fashioned to make this an extraordinary Mother's Day treat at Muse Winery!
Make sure to reserve early so your Mother will be included in this wonderful feast!

At $32/per person including GST, $16 for children, your pocketbook will be happy, your taste buds astonished and your Mom delighted that you found our charming little vineyard ambiance to surprise her with.  

Have a peak at the MENU and reserve ahead at 250-656-2552 or email 

While the Bistro staff take care of your taste buds, we have the inspiring, refreshing work of Wendy Picken for your eyes.  Her work created in her own Mango Smile Studios is on exhibition for the month of May in the Bacchus Room.  

Bistro Muse opens this week - May 9th Thursdays to Sunday 11 am to 4 pm.  We're looking forward to another wonderful season of fine wine, great food, art, theatre and music!  Join us soon.

Flavour Trail Weekend

North Saanich Flavour Trail Weekend

today and tomorrow

        August 25th & 26th 

We've got maps at the winery for you, the Bistro is in full swing, vineyard tours, work by local artists 

Catherine McAvity, Judy McLaren, Joanna Hadfield  in the Baachus Room.

Here's the link for you to print your own map and get going ....
http://www.northsaanich.ca/Assets/NSaanich/PDF+Files/Events/2012+Flavour+Trail.pdf

Beautiful weather for a fabulous weekend tour of all the Flavours of North Saanich.  Don't miss it!



Music at the Muse

Music at the Muse

Friday Sept 7^th ~ 7:30 pm at Muse Winery

11195 Chalet Road, North Saanich, BC

Join us for an evening concert featuring two wonderful local musical talents, Lisa Bosman and Heather McLeod.  They’ll be entertaining us with everything from folk to jazz in the covered Ortega Terrace next to the vineyard. 

Bistro Muse will stay open late to accommodate concert goers wishing to enjoy dinner before the show.  There will be a few added specials on the menu and a dessert special for intermission. Muse wines available for purchase as well.  Bring your friends and enjoy the Muse experience!

Please note-we've delayed the concert start time to 7:30 pm as we've had so many people wanting to make it a full evening and have time for dinner at the Bistro first. 
 Still plenty of room - don't miss out!

Concert Tickets are $18/person (food & drink not included)  available at Muse Winery.

www.musewinery.ca

250-656-2552

Bistro Father's Day Special

You've heard the expression "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach", well Bistro Muse has some Father's Day specials for Dad that will definitely show your love!  

Bistro Muse  Father’s Day Features for Sunday June 17, 2012

Angus Beef Dip   $14.

shaved Angus beef served on a whole wheat kaiser

with horseradish dill mayo, leaf lettuce, sliced tomatoes,

red onions and a side of au jus for dipping

Pulled Pork Sandwich   $14.

a generous amount of zesty BBQ pulled pork,

slow cooked & served on a whole wheat kaiser

Winemaker's Ribs

slow smoked mesquite baby back ribs

with Texas bush sauce

half rack $13.  full rack $21.

Each feature is served with

choice of our soup or side of Muse salad

Prices do include HST...no extra charge

 Call 250-656-2552 for reservations or email jane@musewinery.ca

The Bistro is open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4:00pm, until the mid September.

Having a gathering???  The Bacchus Room & Ortega Terrace are available for events.

Nesting Eagles at Muse Winery

We just got these great shots from photographer Kay Steer who was visiting Muse Winery just a few weeks ago.  This photo of one of the parents in the nest next to the vineyard was so wonderful we wanted to share it with everyone!  The eagles are visible from the Bistro terrace and are constantly flying back and forth to the nest.  We don't know how many eaglets yet but we're watching...

Thanks for sending these along for us to share Kay!

Mother's Day at Muse

Mother's Day at Muse Winery

Sunday May 13th


For those who have waited over a long and cold winter for the reappearance of the sun and the reopening of Bistro Muse, Mother's Day is a perfect way to celebrate your Mother and enjoy a relaxing afternoon of nibbling and noshing through the Island Harvest buffet, prepared specially by Bistro Muse.  

We hope you'll think of Muse and the intimate and friendly atmosphere that will charm your Mom. 


We have full menu details on the website
www.musewinery.ca/MothersDayMenu.htm

From baskets of fresh baked muffins, crab bisque, Ortega Citrus Salmon, or Vegetarian Lasagna, the list goes on!  As always, with intimate, seating is limited so be sure to reserve right away. 

Reserve by email to jane@musewinery.ca or call the winery at 250-656-2552

Adults $32, Children under 12- $16  Price includes HST