September 19 to 22 is a magical weekend for lovers and friends of the wine and culinary arts, as the Preservation Society of Newport County presents its 19th annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival. The celebration offers a series of immersive and exciting seminars covering national and international vintages, food pairings, libation tastings and more at the stunning, sparklingly renovated Rosecliff mansion on Newport’s iconic Bellevue Avenue.
Special events manager Beverly Ware told Newport Buzz that the PSNC has worked hard to continue to develop and fine tune the festival, building added value into the current ticket prices thanks to a VIP tasting tent open to seminar goers with 30 vendors of wine, spirits and food.
“We know the tickets are a little higher priced, so we wanted to give more thought to that, trying to evolve and maintain the educational component for seminar guests who can spend time in a separate tasting tent, maybe put into action what they learned in a seminar, and continue tasting. We’re excited to be able to offer the opportunity to socialize and chat with different wineries and spirit (producers),” she said.
Beyond the Pinot Noirs, the Cabernets, the roses and port, eclectic offerings like Sake, Mezcal, and beer tasting, a Cointreau cocktail master class, and a charcuterie and wine pairing are among the additional seminar options.
Adding to the festivities, this year, the WFF welcomes legendary Chef Jacques Pepin and his daughter, Claudine, for a special conversation on Sunday afternoon about wine and food and his remarkable culinary legacy, with French wine to sip and charcuterie to nibble during the chat. Attendees will also receive a copy of Chef Pepin’s latest cookbook, which he will autograph following the presentation for those who wish to stay.
“He’s just so articulate about everything, whether it be art, cooking or wine. And as he’s her dad, the rapport between he and Claudine which we’ve seen on their cooking programs, is fantastic,” said Ware.
Tickets went on sale to the public on 7/26 and unsurprisingly, multiple events are already sold out, but as of a 8/2, tickets for the Pepin presentation were still available, along with very limited tickets for a few other seminars. The good news if you miss the window for tickets to the Rosecliff events is that the WFF also partners with local fine dining establishments to offer an inspiring series of wine and culinary events over the festival weekend featuring unique wines from around the world paired with multi- course, specially designed menus by some of Newport’s own chefs.
These include a Chilean wine dinner at Midtown Oyster Bar on Saturday, 7/23. Chef Jeremy Boudreau is curating a creative, five-course Chilean-inspired dinner to pair perfectly with a variety of Chile’s premier wines: Terrunyo, Marques de Casa Concha and Don Melchor. Other restaurants already set include Beech in Jamestown, the Coast Guard House in Narragansett, and Cara at The Chanler in Newport, with several more expected to be finalized in the coming week. Check out What She’s Having on Newport Buzz next week for more participants, further details and reservation information.
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