The Great Wine Rendezvous
This Saturday features a huge wine and food extravaganza with over fifty Food Chefs cooking for the esteemed Title of Chef of Chefs earning not only the coveted title, but also a Waterford Crystal Trophy and $5,000. This Saturday will mark the climax of the 20th Annual Wine and Food Week in The Woodlands. The Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting and Chef Showcase has been touted as one of the most spectacular wine and culinary events in the country with this year being special as 20 years of culinary crafts and premium wines featured for your pleasure from 7 to 10 pm. Explore the wide variety of wines available during this three hours of lavish tasting. This event will feature a wide variety of wines besides the normal Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio. I recommend doing wine exploring looking for the rarer offerings to expand that wine palette of yours. Look for Cabernet Franc, Mavrud, Tannat, Barbaresco, Aglianico, Pirouette, and Viognier. Also experience a Texas-sized round-up of sparkling wines from a variety of regions. The list of wine opportunities to sample during this three hours of wine sampling extends into a wonderful palette of tastes to try and put into your wine-sipping repertoire.
If the finer life is more your style, try the lavish VIP Luxury Lounge within the area for this Saturday evening event. Indulge in luxury with crème de la crème wine selections only available in this posh, sequestered, gated playground. Rub elbows with Wine and Food Week special guests, celebrities, media, and food judges throughout the evening. This VIP Lounge is a “step up” culinary extravaganza for the decadent taste bud enthusiasts.
Forty-four world-class chefs will be competing with their food creations being offered to all of the guests, being the same creations that will be brought by trays to the twelve esteemed judges of the Judging Panel on stage during the event. The winning Chef will be announced near the end of this culinary night to remember.
This event kicks off at 6:45 this Saturday evening with the induction of food couple Chris Shepherd and Lindsey Brown into the Wine and Food Week Hall of Fame for their decades of culinary achievements, including the formation of the Southern Smoke Foundation. Chris and Lindsey co-founded this institution, which has distributed more than $11.3 million directly to needy people in the food and beverage industry via the Emergency Relief Fund. A bottle of sparkling wine is then normally popped and poured by the founders of Wine and Food Week to celebrate the induction and formally welcome the event’s patrons.
Clifton and Constance McDerby co-founded Food and Vine Time which is the host of this event. H. E. B. Grocery has been an ongoing and faithful supporter of this event for the 20 years of this event. Goya Foods is also a big supporter. Limited tickets are still available for this huge event at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and Convention Center and can be obtained online at www.WineandFoodWeek.com. I will be there in my tuxedo, Stetson and boots for this cocktail attire event. Will I see you there?
When the weather gets cooler in October, look for the Market Street Wine Stroll in The Woodlands.