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.

Tickets Now on Sale for 6th Annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival

by Frank Mangio
It is a joy for me to see a hard-working, street-smart team create a public event that is a masterpiece of perfection. I used to be in the special events business and produced shows up and down the Southern California coast.

When you make wine the star of the show, and blend brilliant chefs, music, education, and a comprehensive trade show in the mix, then you have the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. It’s a feast for the senses and it happens for a 6th time from November 18 through the 22nd.

When life began in 2004 for this largest wine and food experience of its kind in Southern California, Michelle Metter and Ken Loyst, the producers, were virtually doing it all as event planners with a new, blockbuster idea: make wine the crown jewel in a series of feel-good events centered around wine and food that gave visitors a wonderful time and a learning experience.

Fast forward to the 2009 festival this year, and on tap are some 170 world-class wineries, 70 fine dining restaurants, gourmet food companies, wine tasting seminars, cooking classes and an expected 8,000 plus enthusiastic guests over the 5 days of tasting fun. Live and silent auctions will benefit the American Institute of Wine and Food scholarships in San Diego.


Ken Loyst and Michelle Metter are the founders of the San Diego Bay
Wine & Food Festival.

Wineries are pouring into the 2009 festival, including such notables as: Duckhorn, Pedroncelli, Cotes Du Rhone, L’Aventure, Cass, Trefethen, Hall and many more. Restaurants lining up include: The Prado, Island Prime, Truluck’s, Morton’s, Jakes, The Shores and much more. Sponsorship and booth opportunities are still available but filling fast. Go to: www.worldofwineevents.com, or call 858-578-9463 for details.

Tickets for the public are on sale for all five days or individual events. See the event descriptions, locations and pricing at the web site or call a special phone number: 877-808-9463. This column will be updating the latest information as it becomes available right up to festival time, November 18 through 22.

Pala Mesa Re-visited
Tucked away in a pristine resort and golf course area of Fallbrook just off the 15, Aqua Terra at Pala Mesa Resort has made great strides in its presentation of wine and cuisine.

Kevin Poorbaugh the Director of Wine and Food has paid close attention to pairing his selections of whites and reds with such menu selections as crab-stuffed seasonal seabass, grilled ahi tuna and king crab legs. Excutive Chef Sean Sullivan shows talent and creativity in his monthly features, recently showing a combination of braised beef short ribs and shrimp.

I found the Napa Valley Raymond 2002 Reserve Merlot was a lovely red wine mate with this dish. For an exciting white, choose the Central Coast Firestone 2007 Riesling. The website is www.palamesa.com.

Wine Bytes
 Jim Barrasso at Firefly Grill and Wine Bar in Encinitas is presenting an incredible value with Napa Valley’s great Spring Mountain Vineyard Wine Dinner, Wed. July 22 starting at 6:30pm. Braised Pork Osso Bucca is the main course in this four course feast, and he’s dramatically lowered the price to just $60. pp. Spring Mountain will serve one of its prized library wines among others: the 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon! Magnum bottles will be auctioned. RSVP at 760-635-1066

 Congratulations to Callaway Vineyard and Winery in Temecula for its 40th Anniversary and Birthday party on Sun. July 19 from 1 to 4pm. Appetizers, live band, gifts and steep discounts on wines. Their red blend, the 2008 “Quartet” recently got gold in a San Diego competition. Call 951-676-4001 for details.
 Wine Street in Carlsbad has changed its name to La Costa Wine Company and has a remodeling and new format including a new wine and cheese bar. New value pricing is being rolled out. Next event is a Spanish wine tasting on Wed. July 22, 6 to 8pm. $15. pp. Details at 760-431-8455.

 Oak Mountain Winery in Temecula has its Woof and Purrs in the Vines event on Sun. July 19 from 3 to 7pm. $35. ea. for great food, live music, wine and an auction with great items to benefit animal causes. Reserve tickets by calling 951-699-9102.

 Hacienda de las Rosas Winery in the Fiesta de Reyes Plaza in Old Town San Diego is hosting a book signing on Fri. July 24 from 5 to 7pm. It’s Janene Roberts new book “Wine Tasting in Southern California and Beyond.” It features a guide to the unique wineries, wine bar, restaurants and more. Meet the author, enjoy the wine, and purchase a signed book, all for $20. Contact is haciendawine@aol.com.