By
Ellen Walsh
On
Saturday, March 10, 2012 the Laguna Beach community
uncorked its wine bottles to host its first food and wine festival
to benefit the CHOC Children's Hospital of Southern
California. A good time was had by the 700 visitors
who made it to this cozy, intimate event held at the town's
Festival of Arts grounds. The event was a huge success for this
first time event, and over $20,000 was raised for CHOC
Children's Hospital.
The
food samplings were provided by the local restaurants of the
Laguna area, and presentations were creative and delicious.
If you were a visitor and stayed at one of the local ocean front
hotels, you couldn't help but notice how almost every local
restaurant had a presence at this event.
Restaurants
such as 230 Forest Avenue, the Beach
House, Broadway by Amar Santana, Claes
Ovation, and the Deck (to name just
a few) provided innovative samplings that paired wonderfully
with the wines that were paired with the cuisine samplings.
If
you like great wines, and who doesn't , the out of the ordinary
selection of wines gave the event the unusual , stand - out
twist. Bringing a completely different twist to the standard
wine and food pairing event, was a well thought out selection
of both national, and international wines. Representing wines
from South Africa (Boekenhoutskloof) the Loire
Valley (Vincent Delaporte) the Rhone Valley,
(Famille Perrin), Burgundy (Louis Michel
& Fils) Tuscany (Tenuta di Nozzole),
Piedmont (Michele Chiarlo) and Australia (Penfolds)
to name just a few, was the wine tasting side of the event,
each a sponsor, contributing their wares to such a noble cause.
And
on hand to guide the press in advance through the anticipated
morass of wine tasting, was Sommelier Peter Neptune,
Senior Vice President of Corporate Training and Wine Education
for the Henry Wine Group. Neptune engaged the visiting press
with an informative background on the multitude of grape varietals
available throughout the world being offered at the event, teaching
and preparing us all for the tasting that awaited us on the
other side of the seminar door. His wit and humor was enjoyed
by all, and his witty plugs for his personal web site (www.Neptunewine.com)
were supremely tolerated.
Wineries
represented from the United States were on hand as well, such
as Beacon Hill Wines and Retour Wine
Co. (Willamette, Oregon) Hedges Family Estate
(Red Mountain, Washington) Bernardus (Carmel
Valley, CA) Chateau Montelena and Frank
Valley Vineyards (Napa Valley, CA). Events such as
these are plentiful on the California Landscape, but hats off
must be offered to this event's planners. Aside from the magnificent
selection of chefs and restaurants in this area, the selection
of wines truly offered something different for the attending
visitor. The backdrop of the calm and deep blue Pacific Ocean
offered that extra element of romance and intrigue, truly an
invitation to explore the area further.
Laguna
Beach is Southern California's premier coastal destination
located midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and along
the Southern coast of Orange County. Known as home to hundreds
of local artists and set amid 20,000 acres of wilderness, Laguna
Beach is primarily served by John Wayne/Orange County airport.
Websites
you can visit to get more information on this wonderful coastal
town is: Lagunabeachinfo.com
& Lagunabeachfoodies.com
