Past Issues: Travel with the Wine Skinny, dec01/jan02 - 2001 New Orleans Wine & Food Event

It was back to the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, easily one of the most fun and imaginative annual wine events in the country. New Orleans, as you must surely know, certainly knows how to throw a party. Throw in lots of outstanding food from many of the city’s most talented chefs, oodles of wineries pouring what looks to be their entire portfolio of wines, fabulous hotels, and the bountiful charms of the city, and you get the picture.

And by the way, this event is a great value. The Grand Tasting tickets are $79 per person; the vintner dinners are $85; the Royal Street stroll tickets are $49. You get so much bang for your buck here – other events pale by comparison.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s NOWFE:

Vintners Dinners
The five-day event kicks off on Wednesday night with Vintners Dinners. With over thirty to choose from featuring most of New Orleans’ most popular restaurants, it’s difficult to know how to pick! (Hint: some of these vintner dinners sell out early, so watch the site for next year’s lineup and buy early!) We attended the Martin Ray & Scheutz Oles dinner at the Windsor Court Hotel’s Grill Room. I cannot say enough good things about this dinner! As vintner dinner regulars know, it’s just difficult for even the best restaurants to serve that many people the same thing at the same time and have it turn our well. The Grill Room was a most happy exception to that rule. The food was excellent, the wines outstanding, and the room and service absolutely lovely.

Other vintner dinner choices included:

Royal Street Experience
Thursday evening, it was The Royal Street Stroll. The French Quarter’s Royal Street is closed to traffic and transformed into a giant block party. Royal Street is chock full of great shopping, including some of the city’s finest antique shops and art galleries. Stroll along, visiting shops and experiencing fabulous food and outstanding wine at each stop. Add some live jazz music and the scene is complete.

Seminars
On Friday and Saturday, the Seminars start up. They’re fun and informative, and there’s something to suit everyone’s interest. You get to taste wine and food and learn something in the bargain. There are General Seminars that are included in package ticket prices, and then there are Reserve Seminars that cost a bit extra. The package and seminar prices vary from year to year, but here’s are a few of the highlights from this year’s lineup.

General Seminars included:

John Ash (Culinary Director, Fetzer Vineyards), Anne Kearney (Executive Chef, Peristyle), and Jim Yonkus (Cheese Expert, Martin Wine Cellar) joined forces for a hands-on demonstration of wine and cheese pairing.

Representatives from Davis Bynum, Arcadian, Justin, Martin Ray, Chateau Potelle, Beckmen, Garretson & Scheutz Oles discussed the pros and cons (and a few secrets!) of small-volume, specific-varietal winemaking in an increasingly Big Corporate world.

Reserve Seminars included:

Chateau de Beaucastel ($70.00) vertical, including the 1983, '85, '86, '89, 1990, '94, '95, '96, '97 & '98 vintages.

Grand Tastings
Then there are the Grand Tastings. Like we said last year – So nice, they do it twice. It’s a sea of wine and food, with all 250+ wineries pouring and restaurant booths serving up tasting portions as fast as they can. There are several booths shucking oysters at the speed of light. Aromas of all kinds of New Orleans culinary delights overtake you.

This year’s wineries included the likes of Benziger, Chateau St. Jean, David Bruce, Deloach, EOS, Franciscan, Hess Collection, Ironstone, J. Lohr, Murphy-Goode, RH Phillips, Sebastiani, and more.

And the food? No ordinary cheese and crackers, here. Please – this is New Orleans! Instead, we feasted on treats like Crabmeat Maison from Galatoire’s, Duck Galantine from Metro Bistro, Louisiana Ceviche from Pelican Club, Alligator Sausage & Seafood Gumbo from Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill, and Bananas Foster from Brennan’s.

Bubbles & Brunch
Sunday wraps up with a Champagne Jazz Brunch. It’s a fun way to say farewell to New Orleans, make plans for next year’s event, and get a little buzz on before piling into a taxicab headed to the airport.

This year, we stayed at the brand spankin’ new Ritz Carlton hotel. Former home to the legendary Maison Blanche department store. The $200 million restoration effort preserved, in true New Orleans tradition, the glazed terra cotta exterior, prismatic glass, and other turn-of-the-century design elements. Right on the edge of the French Quarter, this luxurious property offers a prime location for business or pleasure. Also home to the world-class Victor’s restaurant, where nightly prix-fixe menus are making news in gourmet magazines from coast to coast.

For more on NOWFE, visit their website at www.nowfe.com.
For more on the Ritz Carlton New Orleans, visit www.ritzcarlton.com.