Wine and Spirits Travel

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 m

I have been known to schedule some pretty busy days, but I think I outdid myself for the first full day of the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival (and I got the blisters to prove it). I started bright and early at The National Hotel , where I ordered a fruit and yogurt plate from room service to get me going for the day. It gave me a sense that the day would have at least something low cal and healthy in it! First on my schedule for the day was an interview with David Burke. I had loved everything about my visit to David Burke Primehouse at The James in Chicago and have been looking forward to trying his new restaurant in Chicago. We had a fun talk about his Dining In the Dark event (look for my story at Cocktails & Joints for more) before I took off to the beach for the Food Festival’s Trade Tasting. Originally, this tasting was a chance for the trade and the press to check out the booths before the big crowds arrived on the weekend. Unfortunately

February is one of my favorite months because it is the time of one of my favorite events. There is nothing that quite compares with the Food Network’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival for bringing together chefs and industry insiders.  This was my third year in a row attending and I was especially excited that I would also be covering for Ocean Drive Magazine . My flight was running a bit late, but I arrived in time to get changed for The Q. I was staying at The National Hotel for the first time and was happily surprised at the locale – right in the center of all the events. I had a very nice room with a view and best of all it was just a quick walk out the back door to the beach. It happened to be the same beach The Q was set up on, at the Delano. The Bubble Q had been my favorite event that previous years .   I had been disappointed to hear it would be cancelled, but happy to find out the new event, hosted by Moet Hennessy and called simply “The Q” would be very sim

All good things have to come to an end and I have to say my trip to The Lodge and Spa at Three Forks Ranch was all good. I had brought my friend Lynn along and we took full advantage of the unlimited spa, food, drinks and activities this place offers guests. After we had an early breakfast, Jenn Brenneman, the lodge manager, met us to take us on a full tour of the lodge. We started with a little history about how David Pratt purchased this land in 1999, combining six ranches because he wanted a big cattle ranch. He also acquired 25 miles of Little Snake River and undertook the largest river restoration in the United States. The area – partly in Colorado and the rest in Wyoming – offered some of the best trout fishing in the world and he started a fishing lodge here. Soon he needed more room and the lodge we were staying in was built, complete with 15 guest rooms for a total of 35,000 square feet. Every detail had been carefully constructed, from the wood coming from Lond