Wine & Food Festival Comes To San Diego

The 6th annual San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, a huge five day celebration with the top names in wine and food, is good to go Wednesday November 18 through Sunday November 22 in downtown San Diego.

Check out these numbers: over 170 wineries, breweries and spirit brands, 70 of San Diego’s top restaurants, over 800 wines, celebrity chefs, big bottle auctions, cooking and wine tasting classes and a $50,000.“Chef of the Fest” Competition.

Michelle Metter, the co-producer, promises lots of star-power chefs and winemakers for this best-of-breed event. “We are very excited to have some of the world’s best and most renowned names. Our visitors will get up close and personal and meet them, and experience culinary excellence,” she said.

The biggest of the many highly focused events will be the outdoor Grand Tasting, Saturday the 21st from 12 Noon to 4pm at Embarcadero Marina Park North, behind Seaport Village where over 700 different wines will be tasted along with 70 chefs from the most popular fine restaurants.

One of the thousands of wine tasters at last year’s Grand Tasting, a highlight of the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival.

The “Chef of the Fest” will be chosen in a showdown judging as the best innovator of fresh, flavorful cuisine, for $50,000. in cash and prizes and some serious bragging rights. Live entertainment and cookbook signings round out the fun. Prices range from $125. to $175. To purchase, visit the website at www.worldofwineevents.com. You can call at 619-342-7337.

Other must-see and taste events include: Reserve and New Release Tasting on Friday, November 20, 6:30pm to 9:30pm at the “Wonderbread” Building at 14th and L Streets. It includes 160 wine and spirits producers, 10 gourmet food producers and a benefit auction. $100. per person in advance.

Several cooking and wine classes are planned in various locations Thursday and Friday the 19th and 20th. Don’t miss Peter Mondavi Jr. of Napa Valley’s Charles Krug Winery and his Vertical Cabernet Tasting class at the Wine and Culinary Center, Friday, 12 Noon to 1pm. Cost is $60. each. These and other events are also detailed at www.worldofwineevents.com.


Tasting Room Finder Unveiled
A Tasting Room Finder I Phone Application was announced by the producers of the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, World of Wine Events LLC. The application is the ultimate wine traveler’s guide to wine tasting rooms around the country.

Ken Loyst, one of the partners said “whether you are in the heart of Napa Valley or anywhere in the nation, the Tasting Room Finder brings wine country to you with wine collection features and a highly accurate locator, directly on their IPhones. We have all the tasting room wine data, and the user can take an image of the wine label for future reference,” he said.

The program is now available for download on the Apple IPhone and features: 3,180 wine tasting rooms on a map, a pop-up menu of name, address and clickable phone numbers for each tasting room, users map position in relation to the tasting room and a rating of favorites. For more, check out the Tasting Room Finder booth at the Festival event on Saturday, November 21, or see www.worldofwineevents.com.

Wine Bytes
Café Merlot at the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo presents a cooking and wine class, “Super Easy Holiday Parties: Soups, Roasts, Cookies and Wine,” Tues. Nov. 10 from 5:30 to 8:30pm. Cost is $50. pp. Call 858-592-7785 for an RSVP.

The Sky Room at the LaValencia Hotel in La Jolla is hosting a Renteria Wine Dinner on Wed. Nov. 11 from 6:30 to 10pm. Enjoy a 4 course dinner paired with Renteria complimentary wines. Cost is $105. ea. Call 858-454-0771 for an RSVP.

Ponte Winery and winemaker Robert Cartwright present the Fall Winemaker’s Dinner on Sat. Nov. 14 at 7pm. It’s a 6 course dinner, entertainment and wines that match the cuisine. Cost is $130. p.p. You can reserve your seats at 951-694-9444.

Holiday Wine Cellars of Escondido has a premiere tasting of Vintage Port with 3 offerings on Sat. Nov. 14 from 5:30 to 7:30. Price is $15. Call 1-760-745-1200.

3rd Corner Wine Shop and Bistro in Encinitas offers Thanksgiving Wines on Tues. Nov. 17 from 6 to 9pm, with appetizers for $15. On Wed. Nov. 18, it has Minassian Younger Wines in a special dinner that starts at 6pm. Cost is $45. RSVP at 1-760-942-2104.