The sixth annual Newport Beach Wine & Food Festival, planned for Oct. 3-6, is a wine lover’s dream.
This classy epicurean salute to boutique wines and creative cuisine is my favorite culinary event of the year, and like fine wine it keeps getting better with age.
Local and celebrity chefs, and renowned names in the wine industry, are all aboard. This year expect an elevated and expanded wine program, and new events. Some sold out soon after tickets went on sale.
One new way to enjoy the festival this year: Diamond Club tickets for the Saturday and Sunday grand tastings.
The Diamond Club includes top-rated wines, cocktail service, meet and greets with master sommeliers and celebrity chefs, and early entrance to the Pacific Sales Grand Tasting each day.
Newport Beach Wine & Food Festival founder and CEO Stefanie Farnsworth Salem said this is the place for a serious wine connoisseur.
“We have incredible wines, library wines you cannot buy,” Salem said. “This year is a step above last year,” and I can tell you last year was stellar.
Pacific Sales Grand Tasting, the event’s largest element, uncorks on Oct. 5 and 6 at Newport Beach Civic Center. The lineup includes live culinary demos from celebrity chefs and Food Network stars, small bites from more than 40 of Orange County’s top restaurants, and tastings of more than 250 world-class wines.
OC in LA
The annual Los Angeles Food & Wine event took place Aug. 22-25. It included exclusive events, such as one I attended: LA’s Faves and Craves, hosted by Chef Jet Tila at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.
Two dozen L.A. chefs, plus several from San Diego and OC—Slapfish founder Andrew Gruel, was there—dished up delicious for guests.
Gruel ably repped our home turf with some surf: his signature clobster roll, while others offered a range of cuisines, from suckling pig tacos to octopus salad to smoked eggplant tartare.
For the lineup, and tickets to grand tastings and special events in Newport Beach, including a Justin Isosceles vertical library tasting—a Paso Robles label, from the area Bill Lewis lauded—visit newportwineandfood.com.
