Day three of the Food Network South Beach Wine & FoodFestival was filled to the brim with some wonderful New Zealand wine, some
foodie girls going wild, and a thrilling barbecue by a man who knows the chew.
I was back down at the Perry Hotel bright and early in the
morning for the Wine Spectator Seminar:
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir Style Diversity. The leader of the seminar was New Zealand
wine expert and winemaker Patrick Materman, who filled in the blanks on the
region and led a tasting of wines from Brancott Estate and Stoneleigh Marlborough.
Since I am currently planning a trip to New Zealand, I was
especially interested – and impressed with the offerings. I’m always a fan of
NZ sauvignon blanc and was happy to discover the ones from these brands, which
were full of tropical and grassy notes. I also tasted New Zealand Pinot Noir
for the first time and found the 2010 Brancott Estate Letter Series “T” to be
more fruit forward and richer than many of the California ones.
From the seminar I headed over to the Hotel Victor where I
was excited to have been invited to the Girls Gone Wild event. This event was probably the most fun two hours
of the entire festival and I give kudos to Bullfrog and Baum for putting this
group together.
The moderator for Girls Gone Wild was Travel Channel star (Bizarre Foods) Andrew Zimmern and he had
his work cut out for him while an amazing group of women “went wild.” Actress Debi
Mazur, who co-hosts the Cooking Channel’s Extra
Virgin with her husband Gabrielle and also blogs at Under The Tuscan Gun,
was the most outspoken, but Bitchin
Kitchen’s Nadia G. was not far behind in “R” rated honesty.
Rounding out the Girls Gone Wild Panel was Food Network star
Alex Guarnaschelli and Prune Restaurant owner/chef Gabrielle Hamilton, who is
also the author of bestseller Blood,
Bones & Butter. The conversation
ranged from favorite dishes to dishing on their male counterparts and it was
always entertaining.
I had just enough time to shower and change before meeting
with winemaker Patrick Materman and Pernod Ricard PR Director Krista Drew for a
glass of Perrier Jouet Champagne and some more New Zealand conversation.
Then it was off to the Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach for Thrillist's BBQ & The Blues hosted by Michael Symon. Celebrity chef Symon is best known to many these days as one of the hosts of ABC’s The Chew, but foodie insiders also call him one of the nicest guys in the business.
Then it was off to the Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach for Thrillist's BBQ & The Blues hosted by Michael Symon. Celebrity chef Symon is best known to many these days as one of the hosts of ABC’s The Chew, but foodie insiders also call him one of the nicest guys in the business.
Next year, I probably won’t pick three days in a row of
barbecue at SOBEWFF (The Q, Burger Bash and Thrillist), but I’m glad I did get
to experience this event. The music by Diablo Times & The Bloodhounds was
great, the drinks were flowing (including cocktails made with Michael Collins
Whiskey and Entice Wine), and the barbecue was a bit different than I had previously.
The food offerings came from around the area and from Symon
himself and included a delicious Korean beef brisket from Sugarcane Raw Bar
Grill and a Smoked Tongue Pastrami (with bone marrow brioche) from Gastropod
Miami. I also really loved the short ribs from Jacksonville’s Cabana Beach
Club, served on a cheese polenta.
When I couldn’t possibly sample any more, I headed back to The National Hotel to get some rest for my final day of the South Beach Wine &
Food Festival. It was going to be a big one as I was going to try to tackle all
of the Whole Foods Grand Market.
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