Reviewing The 12th Annual Event On A Spectacular San Diego Saturday

San Diego Wine & Food Festival 2015 Grand Tasting — A couple enjoys full beers at the Stella Artois tent on the San Diego waterfront.

On a super sunny Saturday, while the rest of the country was bundled up because of freezing temperatures, 5,000 spirited souls enjoyed one of the top events of the year in one of America’s top cities.

Along a waterfront park, surrounded by boats, the San Diego Bay and framed by the Coronado bridge, one would be hard pressed to find a finer location for the signature event of the 12th annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, the Lexus Grand Tasting.

Why not, you immediately ask yourself, would you not come to this event each and every year?

A Waterfront Setting For Wine, Beer, Spirits & Food Lovers

Set up in this setting on Nov. 21 were tents pouring wine, beer and spirits from some 150 vendors, plus food from many of the city’s finest restaurants. And the people responded; many long-time observers commented this was one of the largest crowds in the history of the event.

The wineries were from all over California and beyond, the spirits from across the USA and the beers from as far away as Belgium.

Grand-Tasting-San Diego-Wine-Food-2015 — There’s a lot to cheer at the Lexus Grand Tasting.

The people, for the most part, were from all over San Diego County. And they fully enjoyed getting little tastes of food that filled the culinary range from swordfish to burgers made with beef and bacon.

There was a lot of seafood and several tacos; tacos are very big in San Diego.

For the real attraction – let’s face it, the alcohol – it was just a matter of crackling the knuckles and going from booth to booth to booth. There were several places that were popular hangouts for much of they day.

One was behind the VIP tent were some 50 tents poured wines backed up against the bay in a completely picturesque setting.

Just outside of that was the La Valencia Hotel of La Jolla, where its chefs danced as if in the Greek Islands as they presented their food of delicious grilled octopus.

Grand Tasting San Diego Wine & Food Festival 2015 — Girls enjoy the sunshine, wine and more at the Grand Tasting.

Grand-Tasting-San Diego-Wine-Food-2015-tacos — Tacos are a very popular item at the San Diego Grand Tasting.

Grand-Tasting-San Diego-Wine-Food-2015-pork-pairing-beer — Some things, like this pork slider, go better with beer than wine.

And there was – as always – the Stella Artois tent. There, the hosts poured full beers of Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe in souvenir glasses. The line for the beers was 15-20 deep all day, which turned it into a mecca of social activity.

But the most fun thing about the Lexas Grand Tasting that made it – once again – such a grand time was the fun attitude of the people. They were all laughing, smiling, mingling and fully enjoying the event.

It was immediately apparent why this is such a popular event and why it remains one of San Diego’s top “must-do” happenings on the social calendar.