This year’s Dine Out Vancouver Festival is doing it big for its 15th anniversary, with over 280 restaurant participants—nearly 50 of them new additions. But as any DOV veteran will tell you, the citywide fete is about more than just food.

Among the glut of multicourse menus, exclusive pop-up dinners, and neighbourhood food excursions are a handful of happenings that cater to the cicerone, sommelier, and general booze lover in all of us. Ahead, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourites.

Tickets to all events are available at dineoutvancouver.com/events/ while supplies last.

Medina Down Under: An Australian Wine Dinner

January 26 at Café Medina (780 Richards Street)

Mediterranean-inspired cuisine is transported Down Under at this special wine-pairing dinner hosted by Café Medina owner Robbie Kane and executive chef Adam Perrier.

Aside from an opportunity to dig into the restaurant’s signature flavours by moonlight—the popular downtown spot is typically only open for brunch—the event offers discerning sommeliers and curious wine folk the opportunity to taste some of Australia’s most revered vinos alongside a delectable four-course meal.

Tickets are $106.88, including tax and gratuity.

Craft Beer & Tacos Tour

Various dates, departing from Waterfront Station

We could go on and on about Vancouver’s mind-blowing craft-beer and international-food scenes, but let’s be real: this event sells itself.

Join Vancouver Brewery Tours for a taste of some of the city’s most talked-about suds as you’re chauffeured to Big Rock Urban Brewery and Strathcona Beer Company for insider peeks behind the brewmasters’ doors.

Your evening is capped off with a Mexican-inspired feast in Gastown, where you can balance all that beer-guzzling with a few of Tacofino’s award-winning plates.

Tickets are $98.25, including tax.

Explore B.C. Wine Brunch

January 28 at Hart House Restaurant (6664 Deer Lake Avenue) and February 4 at Boulevard Kitchen + Oyster Bar (845 Burrard Street)

Caesars and mimosas may be the MVBs—most valuable bevvies—when it comes to brunch, but did you know wine pairs just as well with eggs Benedict, French toast, and bacon?

Indulge in a hearty afternoon meal at Burnaby’s historic Hart House or seafood joint Boulevard Kitchen alongside expertly selected vinos from some of B.C.’s best wineries.

A mix-and-mingle format will allow you to get acquainted with fellow guests as well as the characteristics that make each wine brunchworthy.

Tickets are $56.50, including tax and tip.

Cocktail Masterclasses

Various dates at YEW seafood + bar (791 West Georgia Street)

Looking to brush up on your cocktail game or simply interested in learning more about the spirits that make your favourite mixed drink so great? Let Lauren Mote, local beverage consultant and co-owner of Bittered Sling, be your guide.

The bartender will be conducting four cocktail master classes throughout the Dine Out Vancouver Festival, where you can familiarize yourself with the flavours of France (cognac), Scotland (whisky), Latin America (tequila), or, Mote’s specialty, bitters.

Attendees will make and taste a variety of cocktails while enjoying small plates by the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver’s executive chef, Weimar Gomez.

Tickets are $97, including gratuity and tax.

Winter Beer Hall

January 21 at Big Rock Urban Brewery & Eatery (210 West 4th Avenue)

Back for its second year, the Winter Beer Hall (from $58, including tax) will see five local breweries meet under one roof for a celebration of all things fermented, hopped, and malted.

Grab your complimentary seven-ounce glass and work your way around the room to sample various one-off casks, including Big Rock’s special Dine Out Van Fest Ale—an approachable English Mild with hints of plum and chocolate—as you enjoy live music and pub-inspired fare.

Can’t get enough? Return in the morning (January 22) for the family-friendly Brewmaster’s Breakfast buffet (from $30.75), where a menu of spiked pancakes, kielbasa, and other dishes awaits.

Roasting, Coffee, and Beer Tour

Various dates, departing from Canada Place

While Vancouver’s craft-beer industry may be the belle of the food-and-beverage ball of late, our caffeine scene is abuzz as well. Get up close and personal with some of the best cups of joe the city has to offer with jaunts to two popular cafés-and-roasters, plus a stop for some locally crafted seasonal beer.

Although the tour’s organizers are remaining mum on the exact locations, we’re betting on some rich, espresso-steeped suds. It only makes sense, right?

Tickets are $75.

The Grape Debate

January 26 at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre (6163 University Boulevard)

Although stainless-steel and oak barrels have been go-to winemaking vessels in B.C. for decades, the introduction of clay and concrete containers is shaking up the game. But what does this mean for the quality and flavour of the final product? And will consumers enjoy it?

Join an esteemed panel of local winemakers, sommeliers, and other industry pros as they hash out the topic before you sip a variety of B.C. VQA wines to come to your own conclusion. An on-site pop-up shop conducted by Everything Wine will allow you to bring your favourites home.

Tickets start at $57.50, including tax.

Robbie Burns Celebration: Seminar & Dinner

January 24 and 25 at YEW seafood + bar (791 West Georgia Street)

Dubbed best culinary event during last year’s Dine Out Vancouver Festival, this exclusive pop-up dinner features acclaimed mixologist Lauren Mote and chefs Jonathan Chovancek and Weimar Gomez serving up a Scottish-themed feast inspired by celebrated poet Robbie Burns.

Expect a selection of drams and complementary drink pairings, plus a face-off between Mote and special guest Charles Joly, renowned bartender and founder of all-natural bottled cocktail line Crafthouse Cocktails, both of whom will throw down whisky-infused mixes.

Tickets are $135, including tax and gratuity.

Get Crafty

January 24 and February 1 at Rocky Mountain Flatbread (4186 Main Street and 1876 West 1st Avenue)

What’s better than knocking back a fresh, locally crafted beer after a long day’s work? Savouring the moment alongside a few slices of pizza, of course—a fact that Rocky Mountain Flatbread knows well.

Get your hands dirty at the restaurant’s Main Street or Kitsilano outpost, where you’ll craft your ideal pie from scratch while sipping beer samplers from R&B Brewing Co. and Persephone Brewing, respectively. Starters and desserts will also be served.

Tickets are $42.50, including tax.