Showing posts with label wine festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wine festival. Show all posts

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Drink 1800 Wines at Boston Wine Expo (Feb 18-19)

This weekend is a good weekend for wine lovers in Boston, thanks to the Boston Wine Expo bringing 1800 wines from 200 producers to the World Trade Center.

Some well-known wineries will be there, including Duckhorn, Louis Latour, Martian Ranch & Vineyard, and Bonny Doon Vineyard.

This is also a great chance to try some unusual (for America) wines, including Georgian wines (which I fell in love with during a recent tasting), Lebanese wines, Romanian wines, and even one closer to home from Brooklyn.

In addition to more wines than you can taste, the Expo will also feature some fortified wines (think Vermouth and Sandeman Port) and spirits such as BarSol Pisco, Junipero Gin, and Glenrothes scotch. Some food vendors will also be there, so you can pair your wines with cheeses (like ones from Finland). Or cinnamon rolls, because why not? Local restaurants participating including Davio's, Del Frisco's, Doretta Taverna and Wine Bar, Babbo Pizzeria e Enoteca, El Pelon Taqueria, and more.

Tickets are $110 for the Saturday Grand Tasting ($160 for VIP) and $100 for Sunday ($150 for VIP). Seminars are priced and ticketed individually. Get tickets here.

If you need some guidance on which wines to taste / which booths to visit, fellow blogger Passionate Foodie has gathered a nice list to start you off with here.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Previewing the Nantucket Wine Festival

It's almost time for the ultimate New England island-style food and wine celebration. It's almost time for Nantucket Wine Festival. I recently got to preview some of the food and wines that will be at the 5-day celebration up at State Room, with a view of the Boston Harbor (you'll be getting a different harbor view on Nantucket!)

Nantucket Wine Fest Preview
The Nantucket Wine Festival will take place on May 18-22, 2016 and will feature over 50 events including various tasting seminars, breakfast on the harbor, and grand tastings in which over 600 wines will be poured.
Nantucket Wine Fest Preview

Monday, April 6, 2015

Preview: Nantucket Wine Festival (May 13-17, 2015)

In May, wine lovers descend upon the small island of Nantucket for a weekend of great wine events. This year's Nantucket Wine Festival will take place on May 13-17 with over 50 tastings, seminars, and wine dinners.

The wine festival doesn't just focus on Nantucket wines, but yes, Nantucket makes wines. Many of the wine grapes are actually grown in Washington then made into wine in Nantucket, but there is one vineyard on the island that produces commercial wine, Nantucket Vineyard. I tried a couple during their preview event at Bistro du Midi and they were quite nice.

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Of course, there will be tons of chefs from Boston participating including Lydia Shire, Tiffani Faison, Michael Scelfo, Tony Maws, and many others.
Here's a sample of the events: Tiffani Faison will be grilling BBQ on the beach while you drink rosé wines from Chateau D'Esclans, Domaine de l'Ile, and Nellcôte.
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Or, you can learn to blend your own cuvee with Veuve Clicquot. You can also check out fancy private jets with the hangar party with event sponsor Wheels Up, a private aviation company. There's a white bordeaux and oyster pairing, and a lobster and champagne luncheon. You're in New England after all! And of course, there are grand tasting events on Saturday and Sunday.

Nantucket is located 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod and reachable by boat or plane (Cape Air). I've never been but I'm hoping to make a day or weekend and check out some of the wine festival events! Check out the full event listing here and be sure to buy your tickets soon as some of the seminars have started to sell out.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Giveaway! Temecula Valley's World of Wine 2015 (March 7-8, 2015)

Love wine? You can spend a whole weekend touring and tasting the wineries in Temecula Valley during next weekend's World of Wine weekend!

With this 2-day event you get a passport that you can use for barrel tasting and food pairing at more than 30 participating wineries along Rancho California and DePortola Roads. It's taking place next weekend on March 7-March 8, 2015 and the participating wineries will be open from 10am-4:30pm.
It's a self-drive tour and you get the wineries to stamp your passport along the way! This winter barrel tasting gives people a sneak peek of the upcoming spring releases.

The 2-day passport is $99 or you can also purchase a Sunday-only passport for $79. You can purchase tickets or find out more information here. Or go here for more information on lodging or wine tour packages.

Now, on to the good stuff, though. A giveaway! Maybe all this sounds great to you - wandering around Temecula Valley while drinking wine, but you need a little push to go there ... well, from now until midnight on Wednesday you can enter to win two Sunday-only passports ($158 value)! Just follow the instructions below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, March 27, 2014

April 6: Ninth Ultimate Wine Festival in Manhattan Beach (and 2013 Recap)

If you're looking for a wine event filled with big names like Opus One and Silver Oak, then you should consider the Ultimate Wine Festival, coming up on April 6, 2014 at The Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach. 

The event costs $125 pp with tastings from 3-6pm, or $200 to get into the Reserve Magnum Tasting from 2-6pm. Considering the ticket price of some of these wines, it's a pretty good value if you enjoy your wines!

There are around 50 wineries participating in all. Last year, I found old favorites like The Prisoner and Faust ...
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... and ome new ones including Villa Creek from Paso Robles, who makes Rhone varietals, and Chappellet from Napa.
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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Giveaway! World of Wine Passports to 35 Temecula Wineries

World of Wine is Temecula Valley's annual barrel tasting event, where attendees can go to the cellars of 35 different wineries to get barrel samples, along with partaking in food and wine pairings that each winery has set up. It's a self guided tour: each winery will stamp your passport as you go through them, and you can hit as many of the 35 as you want (or can)! This year, WoW is taking place on Saturday-Sunday, March 1-2, 2014.
You can get a 2-day ticket for $99, allowing you more time to visit the wineries (some will have live music so you may want to linger and enjoy), or a Sunday-only ticket for $79. You can purchase the tickets here (and might want to consider their shuttle service as well)

The food and wine pairings look pretty enticing, check out some of them:
    •    Baily Vineyard is serving 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon with Beef Bourguignon; plus Parisian Apple Cake with warm caramel sauce and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon whipped cream.
    •    Bel Vino is serving 2005 Prima Port - a limited-production Zinfandel dessert wine - paired with chocolate mousse tart topped with raspberries
    •    Callaway is serving 2012 Winemaker's Reserve Roussanne (pre-release) with Sage Mountain Farms organic beef meatloaf topped with bacon & apple chutney; plus rock shrimp and leek-mousse stuffed mushrooms.
    •    Danza Del Sol is serving 2011 Tempranillo with roasted chicken, topped with a seared lemon glaze over sun-dried tomato orzo.
    •    Falkner Winery is serving 2009 Meritage with a surf & turf burger slider (Black Angus beef, sauteed lobster, Boursin cheese) and a grilled octopus greek salad
    •    Miramonte is serving 2012 Bin 380 signature red blend with Moroccan-spiced braised chicken over saffron rice pilaf 

I did say this was a giveaway post ...

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Pasadena PinotFest Returns Feb 9

The Pasadena PinotFest Grand Tasting returns on Saturday, February 9 to the Altadena Country Club (preceded  by a kickoff tasting and kickoff dinner at Noir the weeks before). The event runs from 1-4:30PM with over 200 pinot noir wines, food, and live jazz. Tickets are $89 for general admission and $119 for VIP tasting (starts at 11AM), with portions of the proceeds benefiting Hathaway Sycamores Child & Family Services.

Last year's tasting featured a lot of wineries from nearby Santa Barbara County like Hitching Post, Brewer-Clifton, La Fenetre Winery and many more.

The Altadena Country Club is a beautiful space for the wine tasting, with wonderful views, although the tasting room can get pretty crowded as the event goes on.
Joshua Klapper from La Fenetre Winery
I found a couple of new wines (new to me) that I enjoyed, including Sojourn from Sonoma Coast, who provided a great vertical tasting. There will be quite a few vertical tastings at the grand tasting, which is really the best way to taste what a winery has to offer.

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