Pebble Beach Food & Wine: The Coup de Grace Event for “Foodies & Wine Enthusiasts”

If you're one of those people who happens to know that the   “season” has arrived, then you'll know also that the All Star event of that season occurred in April at one of the most breath-taking places in the world.  I'm talking “food and wine” festival season, and the coup de grace of them all was staged at Pebble Beach.

If you believe in the mantra 'location location location', then mix in over 60 of the most talented chefs on the planet and add nearly 300 wineries; you'll understand that this is not your local community event or the one for those hunting for a cheap food and wine fix for the afternoon.  This is a “full on” wine and food orgy that lasted four days and included a golf tournament at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of the US Open in 2010.  If you attended for more than one day or one event, (why go just for the day?), cost per person would approach five figures.  

This 2nd annual event is the brainchild of Robert Weakley and David Alan Bernahl, II.  Both were instrumental in its predecessor event, The Master's of Food & Wine, which was staged at the Highlands Inn for over a decade.  Boy, do they know how to throw a luxurious four day party!!  This simply is the best that oenophiles and foodies can experience and it's also a charity event that contributes over $100,000 back to Monterey area charities.

So, if you're a foodie than you might recognize some of these famous epicureans who presented their creations.  Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville; Cat Cora of Iron Chef fame; Stefan Richter from Santa Barbara and Jamie Lauren from San Francisco of t.v.’s ‘Top Chef’; Iron Chef Masaharu  Morimoto of Japan; Jacques Pepin of France; Rick Tramonto of Chicago;  Michelle Bernstein of New York; Andre Bienvenu of Miami and Joe's Stone Crab, the busiest independent restaurant in America; Tom Collichio of craft restaurants; Gina Depalma of Food Network fame; Hubert Keller of Las Vegas and “Secret of a Chef” TV; Michael Mina of San Francisco; David Pasternack of New York; Nancy Silverton of Los Angeles; Roy Yamaguchi of Hawaii and many, many more.

The odds are that no one will have the chance to visit all of the amazing restaurants in which these culinary tastemakers create their wares, so then “fishing in this pond” at Pebble Beach would be lucrative to you.  It's gastronomic heaven for four days in a row at a gorgeous location.

And then the wines….the price spectrum was from single digit all the way up to the cults and French Bordeaux's which command prices that reach thousands per bottle.  So how do you do it all??  It isn't easy and takes some real planning and pacing for the entire event.  Let's do some math…..60 chefs divided by four days, but wait they change the offerings every day, so you might miss something you like.  Decisions, decisions!!!!

Some more math….300 wineries times at least four different wines being poured on average by each winery (yep, some 1200-1500 wines to taste).  How are you going to get that done in four days??  It's tough duty, but a lot of people were trying.

My favorite wine of the ones I tasted at the event (if you go to these type of things, don't taste wines you've already had--ok you can cheat a little) was from a very small producer in one of the smallest appellations, Green Valley of the Russian River area.  It was the 2007 Sequana Sundawg Ridge Pinot Noir. It is grown in a small seven acre plot 280 feet above sea level in rolling hills, which get the nightly fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.  Jim McPhail oversees the vineyard and makes the wine.  Yum, yum!!  Complex, yet elegant with balanced acidity, which is sometimes quite a challenge for the temperamental grape that pinot noir can be.  It literally is thin skinned.  Retail from the winery is $50.  Good pinots aren't cheap!!

If you enjoy great wine and amazing food creations, don’t miss this culinary event of a lifetime. I know what I'll be doing early in April next year.