International Wine Festival (Part II)

The food table which occupied the center of the banquet hall was plentiful -- of both food and people. The line seemed to be never ending and honestly I was more interested in the new drinks being offered than the cheese, fruit and fondue. Nevertheless, I snatched a couple pictures of the "dippable items"

Self explanatory??? Brownies and Marshmallows :)

 But, chocolate makes almost anything better, right?

Lots of people, lots of food, lots of happy faces. Either food induced or alcohol -- take your pick.

The wine to the right comes from the country of Georgia.  For those who are unfamiliar with the geography, it is located in the Caucuses region. It is to the east of Turkey and north of Armenia. In fact, as a former republic of the Soviet Union it has been suffering an atmosphere of tension and war in an battle between the effort to regain national borders and maintain ethnic integrity of its many indigenous peoples. ( I happened to write a 25 page law article on the subject matter, proposing a solution)

Anyways, back to the wine. The wine was uniquely pleasant. Sweet, but not overly so. However, interestingly the distributor said they had not been able to categorize it in any already existing bracket. Perhaps it will blossom into a category of its own soon?

I also had the opportunity to try Penfolds Wine from Australia. Though it wasn't my personal favorite, I still suggest you give it a try. I believe with the appropriate food pairing, it would have a more appealing draw on one's palate. I, however, did not try it with food and as I have admitted, I have a bias towards sweeter/fruitier wines. I reserve most all other wines for cooking, and truly special occasions.

Though I sampled several other wines, including proseccos , none of them were particularly amazing. However, the experience was definitely unique and I would love to attend another wine festival in the future. This time however, I will do more research on the wines offered, and try to go before the festival officially opens so I can have easier access. ( wishful thinking)

Finally, as mentioned in the first post, there was a catering company present " Viva LA Foodies". I had an opportunity to speak to the owners and found them to be not only very pleasant individuals but also very passionate about food.  In fact, they are also foodbuzz featured publishers!  Their sampling ( if I remember correctly, and I hope I do) was a crostini topped with marscapone and an apricot chutney. A very pleasant amuse bouche.