Wine and Spirits Travel

The finale of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival was as tasty as the previous days as I learned about Spanish wines and then sampled a bit of everything. I was back in the classroom Sunday morning.  This time it was to learn about wines from Spain and who better to teach that than Doug (no relation) Frost, author of 2008 Wines from Spain Far from Ordinary Wine Guide.   It's been years since I was in Spain and I was quickly taken out of any preconceived notions of the $5-10 wine the country had poured with no consideration to quality years ago.  We had 10 wines to taste and, though they were all still moderately priced ($17-45), it was clear how the third most producer of wine in the world has earned that position. It was Cava I had chosen this seminar for, on assignment for Crave Magazine , but as in the previous day's seminar , Doug Frost kept it fun and moving as he took us through some of the growing regions, like Rioja, Galicia and La Mancha. We tasted a wide vari

It may seem like one big eating and drinking orgy at the Food Network's South Beach Wine and Food Festival , but we "experts" have to do it right.  For me that meant a day in the classroom and at the booths, learning, but it wasn't difficult work -- especially not the night of eating and drinking way too much. First, I don't recommend attempting to make it through 12 hours at this festival on three hours sleep.  I managed to get through some sampling yesterday, but was a party-pooper rather early last night. Still, I made it to the highlights of the Perrier-Jouet BubbleQ presented by the Allen Brothers and hosted by Emeril Lagasse and Friends (fortunately, I didn't have to repeat that title at any point during the night).  It was the event to be at Friday night, as hundreds of people spent $350 (and up) a piece for the right to wait on lines for hours.  And it was all worth it.  When Emeril puts on a barbecue, he knows how to do it right. This was the mos