Rich in Flavor! Wine and food festival returns for fourth year this November 19-23 Over five days of tastings, demonstrations and hands-on workshops, festivalgoers will get to taste the best in the region’s wine and cuisine. Participating chefs and wine experts are either graduates of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) or operate restaurants in the Napa Valley. Returning chefs this year include Michael Chiarello, Todd English, Larry Forgione, Christopher Kostow and Masaharu Morimoto. New chefs to the festival include Robert Curry, Rocco Dispirito, Dean Fearing, Duff Goldman, Charlie Palmer and Melissa Perello. Events range from small, hands-on workshops to classroom demonstrations, creative pairing lessons and a grand tasting fête at CIA. Two event highlights are the kick-off event First Taste Napa, and The Appellation Trail grand tasting. Both offer a festive peek into the culinary bounty and talent found in the Napa Valley. Opening event First Taste Napa on Wednesday, November 19, will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the new City Winery in downtown Napa. The theme of the night will be a new pairing— wine and food, and music. City Winery Napa opened earlier this year, joining its sister restaurants in New York and Chicago. At First Taste, four celebrated Napa chefs will pair dishes with Napa Valley wines and their favorite music, which will be provided in partnership with Festival del Sole. First Taste Napa chefs include Tyler Rodde of Oenotri, Joe Panarello of City Winery, Rogelio Garcia of Angèle, and Todd Humphries of Kitchen Door at Oxbow Public Market. Event emcee and famed Napa Valley wine educator Richard Miami will lead the event as guests experience each chef ’s multi-sensory pairing. The Appellation Trail tasting will be held on Friday, November 21, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the CIA in St. Helena. This grand tasting will honor all 16 sub-appellations of the valley with a gathering of the best of Napa Valley’s wine and food. Winemakers from nearly 100 area wineries will pour their favorite recent vintages. Participating labels will include best-in-class wineries such as Blackbird Vineyards, Duckhorn Vineyards, Hall Wines, Laird Family Estate, Merryvale Vineyards, Raymond Vineyards, Shafer Vineyards, The Hess Collection Winery, Trefethen Family Vineyards, Vineyard 7 & 8 and ZD Wines. Over two dozen of the Napa Valley’s top chefs, restaurateurs and artisanal food purveyors will be on hand serving nibbles to complement the varietals of their vintner neighbors. A complete list of participating wineries and restaurants, as well as tickets for First Taste Napa, The Appellation Trail and other Flavor! Napa Valley demonstrations, tastings and experiences can be found at flavornapavalley.com 18 www. n A PAVA L L E Y L I F Emagaz ine .com Top Taster event at Meritage Hitting the Appellation Trail Interactive cooking class
NVLife_SeptOct_2014
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