Thursday was the first opportunity for Comox farmers’ market shoppers to sample and purchase wine at the Comox By The Sea Third Thursday Market.
Judging by the lineups at the wine booths, the new regulations regarding the sale of alcoholic products at markets are a welcome amendment.
Jordan Hodding, front end manager at Coastal Black Winery was kept busy all afternoon, handing out samples and taking in sales of his selection from the Black Creek business.
This was Hodding’s second farmers’ market, as he also had a booth at Saturday’s Comox Valley Farmers’ Market.
He said that it’s been all positive so far.
“People seem very excited to come out and try it – a lot of positive feedback, for sure,” he said.
“This is a great advertising and marketing tool for us. People are definitely interested.”
Moira Proskim, from Calgary, was unfamiliar with Coastal Black Winery before coming to the market. She’s in Comox visiting her parents and after sampling the blackberry wine she bought a bottle to add to her dinner menu.
“As long as it’s local, at a local market, I am all over that,” she said. “That’s what farmers’ markets are all about - you have local artisans, local produce and now local wineries; it’s perfect. That’s why you come to these things.”
The next Comox Third Thursday Market is Aug. 21.
The Comox Valley Farmers’ Market goes every Saturday at the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds on Headquarters Rd.
The CVFM also hosts a Wednesday morning market in downtown Courtenay on England Avenue between 5th and 6th streets from 9-noon, throughout July and August.
editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com