Downtown Victoria Hotels | Luxury Hotel in Victoria British Columbia

The Mark Restaurant receives Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence

Third Wine Award for the Hotel Grand Pacific in ten months

The Mark Restaurant, 463 Belleville Street, Victoria, has once again received Wine Spectator Magazine's "Award of Excellence" for its outstanding wine list. The 2009 Wine Spectator award honours The Mark for having “one of the most outstanding restaurant wine lists in the world” for the fourth year in a row!

Located in the Hotel Grand Pacific, The Mark is an intimate and luxurious 26-seat dining room that features more than 400 wines from around the globe, with an emphasis on wines from the New World. 39 wines are available by the glass.

The 2009 Wine Spectator award is the Hotel Grand Pacific’s third wine award in the past ten months. The Mark Restaurant received the BC Wine List Bronze Award in the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival and the Hotel’s Pacific Restaurant was awarded a Bronze Glass Award in The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

Director of Operations, Emory Haines appreciates this latest award for The Mark and is quick to credit the professionals in the restaurant, led by restaurant manager and sommelier Dawn Kapcala, who have extensive knowledge regarding every wine on the menu that they can share with diners.

The Hotel Grand Pacific has built a strong wine program through education and experience. The Hotel was instrumental in bringing world-class wine instruction to Vancouver Island, and has hosted delivery of the International Sommelier Guild programs at the Hotel since 2003.

Haines, Kapcala and their team constantly taste, evaluate, compare, teach and learn. “Our wine menu continues to evolve”, says Kapcala, “and since our recent Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival award, a strong focus on local and organic wines has influenced the choices featured on our extensive list.”

The introduction of a Sustainable Wines program at the Hotel in 2009 complements the hotel’s commitment to culinary sustainability and further promotes the Hotel’s food and wine philosophy.

To view The Mark’s award-winning wine list and menu, go to www.themark.ca. Visit www.hotelgrandpacific.com to read more about why the readers of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine voted the Hotel Grand Pacific the “best hotel in Canada” in 2008.