2010 South Beach Wine Food Festival Press Release

The ninth annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, February 25–28, 2010, was once again a successful and unforgettable extravaganza. More than 50,000 guests attended the four-day event, and over $2 million was raised for the Florida International University (FIU) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.

“This year’s Festival was a success, with great events, great attendance and, most importantly, money raised for FIU,” said Festival Founder and Director Lee Brian Schrager, who also serves as Vice President of Corporate Communications & National Events at Southern Wine & Spirits of America, which hosts the Festival. “Our loyal fans, sponsors and extraordinary talent play a vital role in keeping this Festival vibrant, exciting and successful. It’s a testament to them that we are thriving during these times.”

Dozens of high-profile national media outlets covered the Festival, from Food Network, Travel Channel Europe, Esquire, People, Extra, TIME, Food Network Magazine and The New York Times to the Associated Press among others, with a cornucopia of legendary chefs and culinary personalities holding court throughout the event. Major new and returning sponsors for 2010 included Food Network, Food & Wine, The New York Times, Wine Spectator, Whole Foods Market, South Beach Diet, American Express and Allen Brothers.

The Festival and Southern Wine & Spirits of America hosted a Kitchen Aid dinner on Wednesday, February 24 at Miami’s iconic Haitian restaurant Tap Tap. Chefs Daniel Boulud, Jose Garces, Masaharu Morimoto, and Kris Wessel provided the menu to help raise significant funds for the Partners in Health Haiti earthquake relief fund.

The Amstel Light Burger Bash hosted by Rachael Ray crowned a new winner of the Amstel Light People’s Choice Award – Chef Michael Symon of Iron Chef America fame, who won for his delicious “Fat Doug” – cheeseburger with Swiss cheese, pastrami and coleslaw. Miami’s own Chef Michael Schwartz won the Allen Brothers Golden Grill Award. Other signature events included the Perrier-Jouët BubbleQ, hosted by Emeril Lagasse; Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best returned to the Fontainebleau with French Ambassador to the United States, the Honorable Pierre Vimont in attendance, as well as the best wines and Champagnes being poured plus a veritable who’s who of the country’s greatest chefs – Scott Conant, Masaharu Morimoto, Alfred Portale, Michael Psilakis and Laurent Tourondel, just to name a few. The Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village featuring the American Express Grand Tasting tents, continued to draw huge crowds for the ultimate tasting experience, and at the end of the weekend this event was able to donate over 2 TONS of food to Feeding South Florida.

South Beach Diet presents Fun and Fit as a Family featuring the Kellogg’s Kidz Kitchen, a two-day mini-fest at Jungle Island addressing the vital topic of childhood obesity prevention, nutrition education and fitness, returned and featured chefs and culinary personalities Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri, and Rocco DiSpirito, among others. Advance proceeds from this event raised over $20,000 for the William J. Clinton Foundation for Haiti Earthquake Relief.

The all-star Tribute Dinner held at the Festival’s host hotel, Loews Miami Beach, sponsored by Bank of America, (a part of The New York Times Dinner Series) honored the legendary Daniel Boulud. Beautifully emceed by Top Chef host Gail Simmons, the dinner featured a sumptuous Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne reception and dinner, perfectly paired with Diageo Château & Estate Wines and created by an impressive group chefs including Paul Bartolotta, Michael Laiskonis, Nobu Matsuhisa, Eric Ripert, Claude Troisgros, Gordon Maybury of the Loews and chefs from Boulud’s own establishments, including Zach Bell, Jean François Bruel, and Olivier Muller.

Another memorable event: the new Wine + Dine + Design, a multi-course seated dinner, presented by Bertolli, Carapelli and Carbonell olive oils, took guests from one culinary hotspot to another in the Miami Design District with stops at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, SRA. Martinez, Fratelli Lyon and Pacific Time. The evening was topped off by an after-party, presented by Thrillist, at Ornare, featuring Champagne Lanson, cocktails by Diamond Vodka and Sweet Street Desserts.

The Wine Spectator Wine Seminar Series and Bank of America Lifestyle Wine and Spirits Seminars at this year’s Festival were as impressive as ever, with more than a dozen seminars held throughout the weekend at the W South Beach and Gansevoort South, featuring aficionados like Josh Wesson, Kevin Zraly, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Joe Bastianich.

Sunday’s events raised the bar, quite literally, with Paula Deen’s Kiss My Grits Sunday Jazz Brunch at the Loews, featuring Paula and friends Katie Lee, Chris Lilly, and Elizabeth Karmel, who rustled up vittles way beyond traditional fare. Joe’s Stone Crab was the setting for another over-the-top brunch that’s become a Festival favorite, Joe’s Big Chill. Guests enjoyed platters of iced stone crab claws served with Joe’s famed sauces and sides with cocktails provided by the House of Canella to wash it all down.

A closing night party in true South Beach style, hosted by Food Network’s lovable Guy Fieri, brought the house down, with hundreds partying on the private beach behind the Gansevoort South on South Beach, feasting on delicious Cuban comfort food and sipping Gnarly Head wine, ocean-side, under Miami’s magical moon.

Mark your calendars: Dates for the Festival’s 10^th Anniversary are set for Thursday, February 24 through Sunday, February 27, 2011. The 2011 Festival will certainly be unforgettable, as it will also celebrate the release of the official Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival cookbook (Clarkson Potter), due for publication in November 2010, written by Lee Schrager with Julie Mautner, featuring a foreword by Anthony Bourdain. Returning Festival favorites and new programming is in the works. Keep up to date all year long at www.sobewineandfoodfest.com or www.twitter.com/Lee_Schrager.

About the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

All proceeds of the Festival benefit the students of the Florida International University School of Hospitality and Tourism Management who also assist Festival organizers with sponsorship fulfillment, restaurant and exhibitor recruitment, logistics, and inventory as well as working alongside some of the world’s greatest celebrity chefs and winemakers.

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food &Wine is produced by Florida International University and Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida with the support of the Miami Beach Visitors & Convention Authority and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information about the Festival, visit www.sobewineandfoodfest.com or call 877-762-3933. For more information about Florida International University visit www.fiu.edu, for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management visit www.hospitality.fiu.edu and for more information about Southern Wine & Spirits visit www.southernwine.com.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Wine

Yes, we haven't focused much on the wine that was served at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival - mainly because there are so many other choices. But wine is an integral part of the event, starting with The Celebrate France! Pavilion held in the Village. Attendees didn't have to wait for the Grand Tasting tent to open in order to sample nice wines. Inside the tent were wines from obscure regions such as Languedoc, sparkling wine, dry roses from Château d'Esclans, and even box wine. All the while displaying the diverse richness of the French wine culture. And in both tents, the Loire Valley Wine Bureau was pouring samples from this esteemed region. They were also instructing the audience about the sub-regions. Chinon produces Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. Ask for a red Sancerre and expect a Pinot Noir; ask for a white Sancerre and expect a Sauvignon Blanc. The same for a Pouilly-Fumé; but a white Vouvray would land a Chenin Blanc. These wines were sometimes old world - earthy with minerals - and sometime new world - bright and fruity. Hopefully people left with more knowledge about the region.

Other countries were represented as well. There was plenty of Italian wines, some from Argentina, some from Spain, and even a collection from Greece. Try pronouncing some of their endogenous grapes: Xinomavro, Aidani, Tsaoussi. And yes, there were plenty of American producers - mainly representing California. However there were a few non-California wineries. Bedell Cellars was demonstrating that quality Bordeaux styled wines can be produced in Long Island and local Schnebly Winery was proving they could produce an avocado wine. Better to make the wine than allow the produce to rot in the field. Actually it wasn't too bad - its made try - but the avocado finish made me crave salt. Maybe pair with chips and salsa. Schnebly also had a selection of fruit wines that received a better reception and showed that you have to make do with what grows in your environment.

As for the California wineries, we spent the most time talking and tasting with the folks from Paul Dolan Vineyards, including Mr. Dolan himself. He is at the forefront of the bio-dynamic movement and can teach Oregon wineries about sustainability. In fact he jump ahead of the organic train long ago. We have discussed the wineries unique practices in the past, but most shouldn't be unique and should actually be a best practices for the industry. Use natural predators to evict insects and rodents; not pesticides. Use natural remedies such as chamomile and oak bark. Plant covering crops. I even like how they allow sheep and cattle to graze in or around the vineyard to reduce weeds and for fertilizer. But business success still depends on selling quality wine. Yes, the grapes are healthy - but is the wine? They were pouring their Dark Horse Vineyards, Mendocino grown bio-dynamic wine, Deep Red - a Côtes du Rhône styled wine made from Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache. This is a great wine, fruity yet it retains some of the volcanic minerality. They were also pouring a pair of their organic wines - but I kept reaching for the Big Red. Nicely done.

There were several other American producers, many that we avoided at the Grand Tasting knowing we would revisit at the Best of the Best. As we posted previously, these are outstanding wines and we concentrated on the Pinot Noirs from Pali Wine Company, A. P. Vin, Hanzell Vineyards, and Roessler Cellars. All mouth watering, velvety, and silky smooth. Add in offerings from Burgundy and Sancerre and New Zealand and you can see why this wine varietal continues to soar.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival - The Spirits

Wine is not the only beverage served at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. In fact we spend more time tasting the many spirits that are displayed - either neat or within one of the many cocktails created just for the event.

The Rum
Our favorite brands are always on display and that means Ron Zacapa, Vizcaya, Diplomatico, and Ron Barcelo. We have described these rums at previous tastings here and here, so we won't repeat ourselves here. There was one new brand via Diplomatico, the Diplomático Blanco Reserva - a nice white rum. It is a blend of light and heavy rums distilled in copper pot stills that have been aged up to 6 years. The product is then charcoal filtered creating a very smooth product; very little burn when drinking neat. At their table, Ron Zacapa was offering an awesome strawberry concoction that we may have indulged a little too much. Needless to say, these are the bomb; every liquor cabinet is incomplete without at least one of these.

The biggest surprise in rum was sampling our first Panamanian version, the Zafra Master Reserve 21 year old rum. It is imported by Dana Importers who also introduced the Zacapa rums into the U.S. market in 2001. What I particularly liked about this rum is how it transposed itself when adding a drop of water. It seemed nuttier with even a bit of chocolate. Apparently Master Distiller Pancho Fernandez knows his craft.

The two main rum sponsors for the event were Cruzan Rum and Malibu Rum. The later is distilled in Barbados and is best known for its Coconut Rum made with natural coconut extract.
During the grand tasting they were serving several drinks - the blend of coconut and pineapple being my favorite. Cruzan Rum is distilled in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and hosts the "dance" party. Wherever reggae music is involved, there's a dance party. Cruzan is one of our everyday rum brands - particularly for blending - although they have a nice selection of affordable dark rums: Cruzan Black Strap Rum (Navy Rum), Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, and the Cruzan Aged Dark Rum. All are nice for sipping and we suggest them all. And too bad they were not located inside the tent so that we could compare their Navy Rum with Pusser's.

Another of our everyday rums is Bermuda's Goslings Black Seal Rum. They were present serving the Bermudian Dark and Stormy. No ginger beer for me - no need to get gassy at this event. But love the rum.

The Vodka
There was a larger presence of Vodka producers at this year's festival - including three domestic producers. This was an interesting tasting experience because the vodkas differed with ingredients, (rye, wheat, even corn) and distilling method.

Tito's Handmade Vodka
Tito's Handmade Vodka is produced in Austin at Texas' first and oldest legal distillery. It's made in small batches in an old fashioned pot still by Tito Beveridge. It is micro-distilled in an old-fashioned pot still six times.

Sobieski Vodka
Sobieski Vodka is the #1 premium vodka in Poland and one of the world’s bestselling and fastest growing vodka brands. It is produced exclusively from the revered Dankowski rye at the Starogard Gdanski distillery dating back to 1846.

4 Orange Premium Vodka
The Sunshine State is now be home to the world's first vodka you can "squeeze" - 4 Orange Premium Vodka - a super-premium vodka distilled exclusively from pure Florida oranges. Crafted at Florida's first registered distillery, Florida Distillers Company, this revolutionary orange-based vodka embodies the essence of Florida. 4 Orange is distilled from 100% orange spirits derived from four unique Florida orange varieties - the Hamlin, Parson Brown, Temple and Valencia. One 750 ml bottle of 4 Orange contains approximately twenty Florida oranges.

Medea Vodka
From the 18th century comes a flawless vodka imported from Schiedam, Holland—the world’s first center of distillation excellence. For seven generations, our distillery has used the finest whole grain wheat to perfect the time-honored process of single batch distillation. Distilled slowly, in small batches using natural artesian water, the result is a subtle, flawless vodka. Multiple distillations depending on the distiller's opinion.

Diamond Standard Vodka
Every now and then, something comes along that raises our standard of excellence. The Diamond Standard Vodka is the world's premier luxury vodka. It is hand-made to a higher standard than any other vodka in the world. Crafted in small batches at Poland's historic Polmos Siedlce distillery. Distilled four times and filtered by thousands of De Beers® diamonds for exceptional purity. Each perfume-grade glass bottle is appointed with a round-cut 25 mm Swarovski crystal from the crystallized elements collection. Experience the new standard in vodka. Introducing, in limited quantities, The Diamond Standard Vodka.

Krome Vodka
Krome is the culmination of a quest to find the world's best vodka. After a yearlong search, it turned out that the best vodka was being hand crafted right here in the United States, in Bend, Oregon. Born of Cascade Mountain spring water and locally grown corn, Krome Vodka starts with superior ingredients. It is then filtered five times through charcoal and crushed volcanic rock. Corn provides the vodka with a heft that can't be found in a rye or wheat vodka and a sweetness that can't be found in potato vodka. The ultra-clean Cascade Mountain spring water and thorough filtration process gives Krome its incredible smoothness. This combination of first-rate ingredients and hand-craftsmanship make Krome Vodka a world-class spirit. In addition to being an award winning spirit, Krome Vodka is gluten-free.

OK, there's the marketing fluff. But these are good vodkas. The Four Oranges is the least refined, but its much better than a flavored vodka. You can really taste fresh oranges. The Krome Codka may have been the first we tasted made from corn and we were expecting a corn whiskey flavor - nope. The Medea Vodka stands out with their programmable label - yes you can spell your name and watch it loop around the bottle. Sobieski Vodka is still our favorite - but these are close, close behind.

Cachaça
Drinking so many vodkas came at the expense of the cachacas. We really didn't spend that much time focusing on this Brazilian treat. In general, cachaca is made from distilling the juice from the pure sugar can - no converting the cane to molasses like most rums. Our friends at Cachaça Moleca were present and as always were making several drinks. According to our female editors, their Caipirinha and strawberry concoctions are always worth the calories. Yea, their Caipirinhas are good, but I prefer their Gold neat. Sagatiba Cachaca is another brand we've tasted in the past and fortunately we had several at the Guy Fieri Closing Party. They were serving their Sagatiba Velha neat, with a strawberry and cayenne pepper\sugar mix. That is an interesting combination.

Tequila
The only tequila we tasted was Skinnygirl™ Margarita, a pre-assembled cocktail made from
100% Blue agave tequila , agave nectar lime juice and triple sec. Once again our female editors liked the caloric information - only only 100 calories per four-ounce serving.

2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - FIU School of Hospitality

The beneficiary for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is the Florida International University's School of Hospitality. Last year we discussed the history of the festival and how it has impacted the school. Click here for that description and a summary of the student's involvement in the festival. This year was no different - except they were offering more beer choices for the 53,000 attendees - nine total. Dr. Gump, Director Beverage Management, explained that the students either made the brew at home or used facilities at the university. Regardless, each student chose the style and ingredients - the barley or rye and the hops - and paid for it themselves. Jenifer Miller was the Beer & Wine Tasting, Grand Tasting, Coordinator and my favorite brew was her IPA a hoppy ale but cleansing. A nice west coast style. She also made a Belgium styled white ale which was made in the amber style. Not as nice as the IPA, but decent. I tried two other student's creations. David has created Rachel's Rye Ale which was really nice and the final I tried was Daniel's Pale Ale. All nicely done. The students were also pouring the remnants of their Merlot which was bottled in October 2008. This batch of wine has produced six different wine styles which showed the students how winemakers can prolong the life of a batch.

In addition to the wine, the students prepared food for the attendees to the Grand Village as well as participated in numerous events throughout the festival. In sum 850 majors participated. Some fortunate ones were paired with, in a mentorship style relationship, the following chefs: John Besh (Restaurant August, New Orleans), Scott Conant/Michael Priolo (Scarpetta/ Miami Beach), Todd English (Olives, NYC), Adam Perry Lang (Daisy May’s BBQ, NYC), Emeril Lagasse (Emeril’s/New Orleans), Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto, NYC), Tom Neely (Neely’s Bar-B-Que, Memphis), Alfred Portale/John Suley (Gotham Steak, Miami Beach), Sue Zemanick (Gatreau’s, New Orleans), among others. That's some nice experience. Others worked less glamorous jobs, like clearing wine samples between seminars or handing out wine glasses at Best of the Best, or serving during the Burger Bash. Regardless, their effort benefited the School of Hospitality. According to this report, the school profited $2.2 million. That's a nice four day payday.

South Beach Wine Food Festival: Ace of Cakes

While attending the SIBE Soundcheck, sponsored by our friends at Seven Daughters, we were able to spend time talking to Geoff Manthorn and Chef Duff of the Food Network's Ace of Cakes. Besides being bakers, they are both aspiring musicians and frequent several of the north Baltimore music venues such as the Ottobar. Geoff prefers folk and bluegrass and you can check out his acoustic work via his myspace page. I asked about his favorite Baltimore brewpub and he quickly responded with Brewer's Art. His favorite beer: their Abbey-style Resurrection.

Chef Duff likes a more harder sound and is a member of Soihadto - a cross between Pink Floyd and Radiohead, without the vocals. Yes, just music; interesting.... They have a show scheduled for March 13th at McGrady's Irish Pub - Charlottesville, VA in which we will make an effort to attend. We also asked Chef Duff who he's currently listening to and he introduced us to A Night in the Box, a trioka from Minneapolis who play "Americana-infused soul and bluegrass". Right up our alley. In return we suggested he see The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band's show at The 8X10 on March 18th. We hope to see the entire crew there.

Wines of Spain Seminar - Doug Frost

I have been stalking Doug Frost for a number of years now for a number of different reasons. First, he is the most knowledgeable wine "geek" I know. "In 1991 he passed the rigorous Master Sommelier examination and two years later became America’s eighth Master of Wine. He was the second person in history to complete both exams and sixteen years later he is still one of only three people in the world to have achieved both these remarkable distinctions." He knows his stuff. Second, he cares about non-traditional wine grapes, whether grown in the United States or elsewhere. Ask him about Norton. Third, he's a champion of Riesling. Fourth, we share a common philosophy to find the most value wine in the most unique regions. Fifth, he overseas the Jefferson Cup. And finally, after spending an hour listening to him lecture, you want to spend more time conversing over a glass of beer.

For this year's South Beach Wine Festival he volunteered to lecture on Spanish wines and drew a large audience for a Sunday morning. Even colleague Dr. Barry Gump took leave from Florida International University's School of Hospitality booth to attend. Frost had selected ten wines for us to sample neatly placed at each setting. He immediately instructed us to start sipping and not to wait for him to describe the wines. He wanted us to gain our own impression before "tainting" it with his. We started with two Cava sparkling wines and found that the region is the world's largest producer of methodoise champagne wines. The first was light and acidic, the second fuller and dryer - and made from mostly Pinot Noir.

That the wine was made from a traditional Rhone grape was a surprise which led Frost into a soliloquy on what leads to a great wine. It starts with finding a grape that takes the longest time to reach maturity. For instance Chardonnay in the Central Valley of California reach maturity in July - and then lose flavor as the grapes sit on the vine for two more months until harvested. Yet Chardonnay grown in cooler Napa and Burgundy mature much closer to harvest. In the case of the Freixenet Elyssia Pinot Noir Cava, Pinot Noir grows quite well in Penedas.

The same holds for Albarino grown in Galacia - and the region is too cool to make wines with "pinch". Thus in Galacia, the grow Albarino - as well as some indigenous grapes we tasted a few weeks back at the Washington D.C. Wine Festival. Frost informed us of an interesting aspect of the Galacian culture - which is Scottish. Over 2,000 years ago the region's descendants immigrated to the area. Interesting. The Morgadio Albarino 2008, DO Rias Baixas wine was light, but with refreshing acidity - a perfect match for South Beach. Next was a completely different wine style, a full bodied Viognier that was smooth and silky - one of my favorites: Pago de Vallegarcia Viognier. This wine was just as good as one made in the Rhone or even Virginia.

Another factor lengthening the growing season is the presence of temperature variations during the course of a day. Spain is the third most mountainous country in Europe - following Switzerland and Albania. Grapes planted on the slides of slopes benefit from sunshine during the day and then a sharp plummet in temperatures in the evening. The Bierzo region benefits from this variation and we tasted a nice Pazo de Arribi Mencia. This wine had the most objections from the audience when Frost asked who didn't like it. He usually started with objections since its more likely if someone likes a wine, they are not sure why - its just pleasant to them. Whereas if some doesn't care for a wine - they know immediately. For many, this wine was too earthy, minty, and quite a tart change from the first group of wines.

Our first Rioja wine was the Bodegas Breton, Dominio de Conte Reserva 2004 - a fuller wine and even more acidic and tart than the previous. The cool Rioja nights produce more acidic wines. We moved on to a Tempranillo, the Bodegas y Vinedos Fernandez Rivera, Dehes La Granja 2003 from the Castilla y Leon region. Another favorite followed, the Pango de Vallegarcia Syrah from Castilla la Mancha. Like the Viognier, this wine is made for the international market and tastes more like a California wine than an old world wine. The Castilla la Mancha is a warmer region that produces riper grapes. The biggest wine was the final red, the Mrlanda Crianca 2004 from Prirat. This grenache wine is less acidic than the other reds and is currently a trendy wine region.

The final wine was a muscat dessert wine, the Bodegas Gutierrex de la Vega, Casta Diva Cosecha Miel 2008, DO Alicante. Get used to the long names for Spanish wines. This was a nicely done dessert wine, tart and cleansing - not sugary.

While the FIU student volunteers cleared the room for the next seminar, I re-sampled the wines again. For someone who thought they generally preferred old world styled earthy wines, it was surprising that once again I preferred the two wines developed for the international market - the Viognier and Syrah. But the other wines are worth purchasing as well and we will continue to investigate wines from Galicia, Bierzo, Rioja, and Priorat. Thanks Doug for another informative and entertaining lecture. Hope to see you back next year.

2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Finale

Once again the South Beach Wine & Food Festival was a hit - from the Grand Village, to the tasting tent, wine seminars, Seven Daughters SOBE Soundcheck, and the Best of the Best. Although the final event, Guy Fieri's Luna En Fuego Party was sort of lame. Good DJ, cupcakes, and cachaca - but way too crowded. Particularly when something free was involved - plenty of pushing and shoving to receive a free Havaianas flip-flop. My favorite event was Doug Frost's Wines of Spain seminar. I'll post more about it later, but he is such an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker that the hour flew by before I could finish all the wines. Nice to find out we share a common interest in Galacia wines. The Best of the Best and private SOBE Soundcheck were also entertaining events - although this time for the later the crowds weren't the problem; the music was lame. No emotion. But we did get a chance to spend time with Geoff and Duff from Ace of Cakes - more from that conversation coming later as well. We want to thank the media coordinators for this event for their generosity and patience and to all the production personnel and volunteers who make this such as well run festival.

2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Day 1

We had a very tiring first day of the 2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival, perhaps from too many spirits during the Trade Tasting. Its difficult to say no to premium rum, vodka, and VEEV acai - not even mentioning the abundant still and sparkling wines. We saved those for Best of the Best and for Day 2. And speaking of the Best of the Best - the food and wine was unbelievable. I spent the evening tasting Burgundy and Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Monica, she stuck to the sparkling wine. Even though the event was dominated by big name Napa wineries, there is defiantly an abundance of excellent Pinot Noir. Pali Wine Company, A. P. Vin, Hanzell Vineyards, and Roessler Cellars; top flight wineries making excellent wines. A couple other mentionable wines we tasted was Sicily Nero d'Avola from Planeta and Petite Syrah from Chiarello Family Vineyards.

Today we will be spending a lot of time with the students of the Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and then, plan on discussing bio-dynamic wines with Paul Dolan. In the evening, we will be attending the Seven Daughters SOBE Soundcheck.

2010 South Beach Wine Food Festival

Next week we will be leaving the snow behind and heading to the 2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. This is one of the premier wine festivals in the country and consists of multiple seminars, tastings, and parties held over four days starting February 25th with the Amstel Light Burger Bash presented by Allen Brothers hosted by Rachael Ray. The festival is not only a good excuse to head to South Beach to taste food and wine, but its also a major fundraiser for the Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center. Each year the students at FIU offer food samples as well as wine and beer that they had produced. We will see them at the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village as well as dozens of wine and spirits at the American Express Grand Tasting. We are talking about premium rum and cachaca - hello Ron Zacapa. Over the course of the weekend we also hope to attend one or more of these awesome seminars and parties:

• Perrier-Jouët BubbleQ presented by Allen Brothers hosted by Emeril Lagasse and Friends
• Wines from Spain with Doug Frost M.S., M.W. - Far from Ordinary!
• The Pulse of the Wine World with Gary Vaynerchuk Bank of America Lifestyle Wine Seminars
• One-hour Italian Wine Expert hosted by Kevin Zraly Bank of America Lifestyle Wine Seminars
• South Beach Diet presents Fun & Fit as a Family featuring Kellogg's Kidz Kitchen.
• Fontainebleau Miami Beach presents Wine Spectator's Best of Best sponsored by Bank of America
• Guy’s Luna En Fuego Party co-presented by Gnarly Head Wines and Miami New Times

We are particularly looking forward to catching up with Doug Frost and his Wines of Spain seminar will be more than entertaining. We also hope to catch Guy Fieri again either at the Kellogg's Kidz Kitchen or at an after hours party. Then there's Kevin Zraly, Ludovic Dervin - Mumm Napa, Jim Clendenen - Au Bon Climat, and other wine personalities, who we hope to run into and ask a few questions. Finally, although we live 45 minutes from the Ace of Cakes bakery, this may be the closest we ever get to Chef Duff. We will see what Baltimore area breweries he frequents the most. Check back often over the weekend or on our twitter and facebook feeds for updates.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Grand Tasting

The primary focus of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is the Grand Tasting Village - located directly on the sands of South Beach. The village is split into two sections; the bow contained the seminar tents, sponsor tents, and this year a Wines of Spain display, whereas the stern consisted of two large tasting tents. In previous years we had spent the large proportion of our time in the tasting section; this year we decided to actually attend a few seminars and browse the sponsor tents.

We loitered in the Delta Airlines tent for awhile where they not only served excellent wines (Don David Torrontos), but we learned that the airline uses an elaborate system to select wines for their BusinessElite® customers. In house sommelier, Andrea Robinson, accumulates over 80 wines that met a strict criteria of outstanding flavor, brand recognition, diversity and destination connection, as well as ease of serving in flight. She then tasted the wines at 30,000 feet; apparently the structure of wines can change at high altitudes. Ms. Robinson then selects a final array of wines from those that passed the "flight" test. She will also hold "wine culture" seminars for flight attendants that will "enhance the personalized service they provide to Delta customers." We may have to consider Delta for our next international travel.

Back to the festival, on Saturday we saw Ingrid Hoffmann strolling the sands without the standard entourage that usually swarms around a Food Network personality. She cheerfully greeted attendees posing for snapshots all the while reminding people the time for her seminar. She became an instant favorite - no pretentiousness - she could have been just another party goer. But after watching a few seminars, our favorite Food network personalities were easily the Neelys. As with Ms. Hoffmann, they also fit naturally into the environment and had a playful relationship. Plus they were preparing mac and cheese keeping it simple.

The Wines of Spain was a somewhat obvious choice for a special tent, not only from Miami's Spanish background but also because of the rising status of their wines. There were over two dozen vendors, so too many wines to taste in one setting. Thus we stuck to cava and the sherry - being poured directly from the barrel. We are neophytes regarding sherry so this was a nice education, learning about the Solera process in the Cardenal Mendoza as well as the history of the product.

But of course, throughout the day the tasting tents were a constant magnet and eventually we succumbed. The South Beach festival has the largest assortment of spirits of its kind so this year we planned to keep to that genre. We eventually tasted a few wines that caught our attention, but in general we stuck to the vodka, gin, brandy, cachaca, and rum. And was there rum. Many of our favorites that we have discussed previously were on hand (Vizcaya, Diplomatico, and Ron Barcelo); but within a few yards of the first tent we struck gold. Gold as in the Ron Zacapa Centonario (23 years) - perhaps the best rum ever produced (At least in our estimation). And according to Robert Pallone, the resident Rum Ambassador "it's won so many tasting competitions that it's actually been retired." This rum is made from the juices from the first press of sugar cane, like a rhum agricole, and distilled in the high mountains of Guatemala of Quetzaltenango. The rum is aged white oak casks using the "solera" method the same method as sherry. Basically the angels share lost through evaporation is replaced with rum that was casked the following year. We also tried a couple new rums that are worth naming: Ron Atlantico, Angostura and Ron Botran. There was also a Thai rum, the Mekhong, named after that country's national river. "The amber colored liquid is the result of a unique combination of an age-old distillation process followed by the artful blending of this quality spirit with a unique (and secret) recipe of indigenous herbs and spices that brings out its classic taste." The spices provide enough variety to make this an interesting drink neat - but they advertise it more as a mixer. These last rums were nice, but after drinking Ron Zacapa, Vizcaya, Diplomatico, and Ron Barcelo; there was no more room at the top. Sorry.

The newest novelty and perhaps the most popular vendor was the LIQ Frozen Cocktails. Yes frozen strawberry daiquiris and margaritas on a Popsicle stick - made with real rum and tequila. Our first question was "How do you get the alcohol to freeze"? Well, they employ a proprietary system that somehow freezes alcohol. The pops are 100% pure ingredients, the strawberry daiquiri includes real strawberries that melt with the Popsicle. And tasty. The company has even planned how to get the product into retail outlets that normally don't have freezers. They provide their own. This is one product that fits with south Florida - if they only sold it on the beach.

We also re-tasted several spirits that we discovered at last year's New York City Food & Wine Festival. The Castries Peanut Rum tasted as good in South Beach as well as it did in New York. The same holds with the Whitley Neill Gin. One of our favorite creme liquors, Amarula - made from the African Marula fruit was also on hand. Whiskeys were represented by Evan Williams bourbon and Glenrothes scotch. There were several new products we liked. Our favorite vodka was the Polish Sobieski Vodka - named after King Jan III Sobieski. The brand was launched by Imperial Brands only two years ago and is already the world’s #7 best selling international vodka. In its first year the vodka was awarded a Gold Medal and the "Best Buy" award by the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI), and was ranked the #1 premium vodka and #2 overall in a random blind-tasting of 108 vodkas, the largest review of vodkas in its history, that included extravagantly priced super-premium brands. The last sentence is important because a bottle retails for approximately $11. What a bargain. We also learned about cognacs from the House of Hines - particularly that cognac shouldn't have the harsh bite that we normally experience in the states. In fact, many of cognac brands are specifically made in this style and targeted to certain communities. Not Hines. Their brandy has been produced in the Cognac region for over 250 years and meet the strenuous legal requirements in order to bear the name, Cognac. Its smooth finish was enough of a raw to keep us coming back.

We did sample a few wines. The first set of wines we tasted were from the Finger Lakes' Heron Hill Vineyards. We had to support east coast wineries. They were pouring two nice Riesling styles a dry and semi-dry. Can't go wrong with that. The other set of wines we tasted were from the Greek and Cyprus alliance booth. How could we pass on wines made from regions with centuries of wine making experience. We learned that the oldest named wine in the world, the Commandaria, has been produced in Cyprus since 1,000 B.C. Today there are 15 indigenous grape varieties found on the island. We started with the Greek wines and loved the Assyrtiko - a white wine grape indigenous to the island of Santorini. There were also two exceptional reds. The Megapanos Namea made from the Agiorgitiko grape, but named after Nemea region of the Peloponnese and the Pavlou Winery Xynomavro, produced in northern Greece. Moving two the Cyprus wines, they actually had a version of the ancient Commandaria, the St. Nicholas from Etkos Winery. This dessert wine is made from the ancient Mavro and Xynisteri grapes that are spread out to dry in the sun, then pressed. The juice is collected and fermented in old, very large wooden barrels. The result is a sherry like substance with caramel flavors without the fortification. A nice dessert wine. Its companion is the Centurion - made in the same style just aged longer (at least 30 years). This is a potent wine, once again not fortified but with a deeper richer dark raisin \fig flavor. The downside - $130. Our budget favors the Commandaria ($20); but our tastes the Centurion.

The food served in the tasting tents was also outstanding. Each day, the Puerto Rico booth prepared outstanding dishes. We also enjoyed grabbing a Agua Luca cachaca and pairing with guacamole from Rosa Mexicana. The most entertaining chef was Eric Grutka from Jensen Beach's Ian's Tropical Grill, who used a hand held propane tank to sear pork bellies. There was plenty of other food that made this an overwhelming success. Representatives of the Washington D.C. Food & Wine Expo should take notes - the SOBE Wine & Food Festival is a real Food & Wine event.

2009 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Best of the Best

On the first full day of the festival, Friday the 20th, we actually took it easy during the afternoon Trade Tasting because we had a full schedule planned for that evening. It all started with a cocktail hour at The Tides for Batali Rocks - sponsored by Hendricks Gin. The event showcased the collaboration between chef Maria Batali and wristwatch designer Leonid Khankin. Under heat lamps - yes it got a little chilly in the evening - we ate h'ordourves and sampled some interesting gin infused concoctions. After a cucumber laden drink we switched to gin on the rocks - much better. After meeting Guy Fieri we were forced to leave in order to arrive punctually for the evening's main event: Wine Spectator’s “Best of the Best".

The Best of the Best was held at the Fontainebleau, which had just finished a $1 Billion renovation. Yes $1 Billion; talking about bringing a Vegas casino to the beach. We were pretty naive about this event, we knew the wine would be good, but we completely underestimated the quality of the food. This event was the bomb. Walking in you were immediately inundated with awesome wines: Beaulieu Vineyard, Far Niente, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Provenance Vineyards..... We started with a Grgich Hills Cellar Chardonnay - how could you go wrong - and the wines got better. Many of the wines just listed are household names, but we found many new finds - and mostly Pinot Noir. There was the Trolley Pinot Noir from Red Car Wine Company, the Pali Wine Company's Russian River Valley Proprietary Reserve; Donum Estate's Carneros Pinot Noir; and A. P. Vin's Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir. We also drank amazing Cabernet Sauvignon from Ladera Vineyards, Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards, and Andrew Geoffrey Vineyards; Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from TOR Kenward Family Wines; and Sauvignon Blanc from Silver Pines Vineyards. The event was definitely California top heavy - but there were wines from Bordeaux - including our friends at Château Lascombes; Spain; Austria; and most importantly Italy. We found two gems from Sicily, both from Planeta. The La Segreta Bianco is a a blend of 5 white varities - predominately the native Grecanico, then smaller amounts of Chardonnay, Viognier, and Fiano. The second was the Santa Cecilia, made from 100% Nero d'Avola. This wine provides a mouthful of flavor, with a smooth, balanced tail. These are two nice wines and coming from Sicily, they must have great price points.


Then there was the food. Even though we are food novices, many of the chefs were familiar to us: Masaharu Morimoto, Tyler Florence, Michael Psilakis. A couple to add to this list are now Michael Symon and Andrea Curto-Randazzo & Frank Randazzo. Everwhere you turned there were plates of gourmet food - we stuffed ourselves worse than any Thanksgiving dinner. You couldn't help it. The crabcakes from a now forgotten chef was the absolute best. (By this point our journalistic skills were quite diminished.) The dessert bar was something out of a dream: truffles, mini key lime pies, apple caramel - you get the idea. The Best of the Best was probably the most worthwhile ticket for the weekend, even with the $300 tag. Its one we will not forget.

Feeling ambitious we ended the night at the Hotel Victor and the Seven Daughters SoBe Soundcheck. The party was held surrounding the rooftop deck and included burgers, Seven Daughters wine, Swiss Vodka, more desserts from the hotel's restaurant, Vix Restaurant, music from The Cringe, and for those interested, Rachael Ray. The Cringe is fronted fronted by her husband John Cusimano. But after one vodka tonic, we had miscalculated. We were done. After gorging and drinking at the Best of the Best - we needed bed. Not even the pool, music or Food Network celebrities were an incentive to remain. We'll have to catch The Cringe another time in New York or SXSW. Ingrid Hoffman, we see you Saturday.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival - FIU School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

About fifteen years ago, the Florida Extravaganza was held at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus in order to raise funds for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. The event "showcased wines from national and international wineries paired with food from local restaurants and chefs working with students of FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management". In 2002, Lee Brian Schrager, Director of Special Events and Media Relations at Southern Wine & Spirits of America moved the event to South Beach and expanded the event to include wine dinners, seminars, and the Grand Tasting Village. As the festival became more popular and visible - particularly with the addition of the Food & Wine Network personalities - there has been one constant South Beach Wine & Food Festival: FIU and the students of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Now the students are not just sitting back and collecting corporate welfare – they are active participants in the festival and for 2009 had the most responsibility to date. Each year the students prepare a main dish that is available at the Grand Tasting Village and this year they added a dessert. The students were also responsible for providing the food for the popular champagne-drenched barbecue party Friday night for approximately 3,000 guests. Some students were even partnered with specific chefs in a mentoring relationship assisting at the Best of the Best and similar events. And to integrate themselves completely into the Wine and Food themed festival several students crafted wine and beer for the event. Actually the wine was the same wine produced last year – it had just been aging in French and American oak between festivals.

On Saturday we targeted FIU’s tent in the Grand Village as our first stop and - over several samples of wine and beer - we learned more about the program from Professor Barry Gump. We learned that the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management provides several courses on these subjects including the Introduction to Brewing Science; Wine Technology; the World of Wine and Food; and The Business of Wine - among many others. Where were these courses in our college? Continuing education looks like a good idea. Professor Gump teaches several of the above courses and guided the students through the many hurdles in crafting the brews and wines. In fact several of his former pupils are now commercial winemakers.

Last year several students suggesting producing a wine for the festival; Professor Gump was able to source Merlot grapes which were fermented and split in half. The first portion was used to make an easy drinking Eastern European styled semi-sweet wine that was served at the 2008 festival three months after bottling. The second portion was also split in half with one half stored in French oak barrels, the other half in American oak barrels. The wine was aged on its lees for the remainder of 2008 before being bottled separately. That is, the wine aged in French oak was bottled separately from the wine aged in American oak. Differences between the two wines were clearly noticeable. The wine aged in French oak was more complex whereas the wine aged in American oak was fruitier. Winemakers have the luxury to sample and blend in the winery so we proceeded with our own blend and added the two together – that was a good combination. However, the environment just didn’t do justice to the wines – it’s difficult to evaluate That’s what beers are for.

Fortunately the FIU students crafted a few for the 2009 festival. Now these aren’t brews created from a beer kit purchased at the local homebrew shop. No, the beer was brewed in the same conditions as any craft brewery. The students must be proficient in chemistry and biology, understand brewing conditions such as gravity and ph levels, and be familiar with yeast strains and hop varieties. The first beer tasted, the Orange IPA, happened to be our overall favorite. India Pale Ales are generally bitter because traditionally, additional hops were added to the brew in order to preserve the beer for long ocean voyages. The student’s were able to balance this hoppiness with enough malt to produce a clean, refreshing ale; the end result was definitely commercial quality. Perfect for the Florida sun. The second beer was a Marzan lager – that intentionally had more malty flavors than the IPA. Unfortunately the CO2 was a little corrupted so once the foam settled – the flavor was slightly flat. The final beer was an English style stout – that means a milky flavor with less bitterness than an Irish stout. The flavor was creamy and full – even the sun couldn’t diminish the flavor. Another nice beer.

At the end of our visit we were able to visit with Daniel Chaviano, who was responsible for the school’s participation in the Grand Tasting Village. Daniel is actually a recent graduate of the school and volunteered to assist his former associates. Being a south Florida native he chose FIU over several other offers because of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management reputation and location. For he associates south Florida and particularly Miami Beach with life – a vitality that isn’t replicated anywhere else in the United States. We couldn’t agree more and think that is one of the major factors that make this event such a success. Oh yea, Daniel was one of the students who crafted the Orange IPA. Good job. Thank you FIU students and Professor Gump for your hospitality. We look forward to tasting your creations next year.

2009 South Beach Wine & Food Festival

For the third year in a row, WineCompass was invited to attend several events associated with the South Beach Wine & Food Festival this past February 19th-22nd. Primarily sponsored by the Food Network, Food & Wine magazine, Whole Foods, and Southern Wine and Spirits of America; the festival is a fundraiser for the Florida International University 's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In fact, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management is one of the highest rated hospitality and tourism programs in the United States . According to Lisa B. Palley, our liaison to the students, “Hospitality and tourism industry executives from around the world visit the school annually to interview and hire graduates for key management-track positions in the vast array of fields in which FIU’s students are prepared. Today many of the school’s 9,000 graduates hold prominent positions in the hospitality industry around the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Asia .” Obviously a worthy beneficiary.

We attend about a dozen similar events each year, but nothing comes close to this festival. Take premium wine, beer and spirits; excellent food prepared by extraordinary chefs; the vitality of SOBE and you get - heartburn and a hangover – but what a party getting there. The festival is based around the Grand Tasting Village – located on the white sands of south beach – right in the middle of the art district. (This year we planned accordingly and reserved a room at the Hotel Impala\Hotel La Flora right on 12th and Collins - 1 block from the festival entrance. Nice newly renovated hotel at a great location - and if you travel with dogs - this is your place.) Throughout the day chefs and television personalities give seminars and sign books; students from FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management cook and distribute their cuisine; and sponsors provide product samples. Delta and the Robert Mondavi Winery served wine at the entrance, while a tent for the Wines of Spain provided several styles of Spanish wine. Love the Cava and Sherry. Let’s not forget the Sauza Tequila, Cruzan rum and Russian vodka. And we haven’t even gotten to the Grand Tasting Tents. Once the Grand Tasting opened, attendees had access to hundreds of wines and spirits – plus some Amstel Light to cleanse the palate. Local chefs prepared gourmet cuisine along the outskirts of tents – all the while trying to keep pace with the excessive demands from the horde. What a logistical nightmare that was carried out rather flawlessly.

The festival was not fixated just on the beach. During the day the Wine Spectator provided wine seminars at the Convention Center; while many Food Network personalities provided seminars aimed at kids at the Parrot Jungle. When the sun set, official and unofficial parties sprung out along the strip – some like the Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best – saw industrialist individuals scalping tickets. Whatever people finally paid for those tickets were worth every penny – this was by far the marquee event of the festival. Over the next few days we will be posting our experiences and observations – starting with the FUI School of Hospitality and Tourism Management students, through the aforementioned Best of the Best, to the Grand Tasting Village. We hope this tradition continues – meaning – we hope the invitation remains open for next year.