When guests arrived at the 17th annual Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting on Dec. 15, they found an even bigger and better event than last year. The culmination of a four-day culinary extravaganza, the food and wine tasting, hosted at the Palm Beach County Convention Center and presented by Wine Spectator, offered a night of perfect food and wine combinations and amazing chefs and vintners.
An annual highlight of the festival, this year’s Grand Tasting attracted more than 2,500 revelers ready to indulge in dishes, both savory and sweet, from 60 of South Florida’s finest restaurants while tasting selections from 115 wineries, each pouring a wine rated 90 points or higher by Wine Spectator editors in blind tastings. Several wineries poured wines scoring 96 points or higher.
Food First
Chef Lindsay Autry of Honeybelle, who co-founded the event in 2007 with her husband David Sabin, took to the stage to welcome guests and observe how large the festival has grown since then. “Being here today is the culmination of more than 25 events across four days and six cities,” she told the crowd.
[article-img-container][src=2024-12/news-palm-beach-festival-sabin-autry-122324_1600.jpg] [credit= (Michael Pisarri)] [alt= David Sabin and Lindsay Autry][end: article-img-container]Indeed, by this point many of the guests were familiar faces to one another, having shared food and wine during festival events at luxury resorts, including The Boca Raton Resort, Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa and The Breakers, as well as top restaurants like Marcello’s La Sirena, Café Boulud, Buccan and more.
Great food has been the cornerstone of the event since its founding. Over the four days of the festival, guests had the chance to attend numerous lunches and dinners with renowned chefs, including Daniel Boulud, Marcello Fiorentino, Andrew Carmellini, Ben Ford, David Burke, Jose Garces, Stephanie Izard and Ken Oringer, to name a few.
[article-img-container][src=2024-12/news-palm-beach-festival-chefs-122324_1600.jpg] [credit= (Michael Pisarri)] [alt= From left, Tiffani Faison, Robert Irvine and Maneet Chauhan][end: article-img-container]Next, Amazing Wine
As guests entered the Grand Tasting, they were greeted by Lanson Brut Champagne Le Black, the official Champagne sponsor, before refilling their glasses with their choice of dozens of wonderful selections spanning the globe. Among the highlights were Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2019, Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2019, Château Pichon Baron Pauillac 2020, E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d’Ampuis 2019, Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Lot C-91 2018, Kistler Chardonnay Russian Rover Valley Laguna Ridge Vineyard 2021 and Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2020.
[article-img-container][src=2024-12/news-palm-beach-festival-sani-122324_1600.jpg] [credit= (Michael Pisarri)] [alt= Bernardino Sani pouring wine at the Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival][end: article-img-container]The event also gave guests the opportunity to meet some of the people behind the wines. Among the winemakers in attendance was James Hall, pouring his 94-point Patz & Hall Chardonnay Russian River Valley Zio Tony Ranch. “The crowd is just great,” beamed Hall. “About half the crowd recognize the brand and probably 30 percent know this exact wine, of which I make only eight barrels. It’s thrilling—like I’m pouring it for friends.”
Marilisa Allegrini came from Italy to pour her Poggio al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2020. “Wine Spectator is always finding…
Source : https://www.winespectator.com/articles/palm-beach-food-wine-festival-2024
