Marriott Hosts Several Wine Lovers Events For San Diego Wine + Food Festival

It’s Always Wine Time With These Fun Events

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Food & Wine Blogger

For one week a year, San Diego becomes the wine capitol of California. It’s the annual San Diego Bay Wine + Festival, a week-long series of events featuring wine tastings, wine pairings and dinners. As well as a lot of food. And other drinks.

Within this, the wine capitol of the San Diego Bay Wine + Festival is the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. This premium-location hotel is the centerpiece of the festival and for two days, one could be on constant wine time and never leave the property.

Check out these events. Friday, especially, is a wine lover’s paradise, and it’s topped with the always-excellent Tasting at SommCon. And you’ll enjoy some great food, too.

• Culinary Icons Dinner (Thursday, Nov. 16, 6 p.m.) This event features the Chefs of the Relais & Châteaux Gourmet restaurants and luxury hotels around the world, often thought of as some of the most iconic and exciting dining destinations globally. This is an evening of culinary excellence with each course paired with excellent wine. It is hosted by Chef Aron Schwartz of Marina Kitchen and Chef Bernard Guillas of The Marine Room. Tickets: $250.

• Wine and Music with Winemaker (Thursday, Nov. 16, 10:45 a.m.) This creative event features a musically inspired seminar led by Clark Smith that explores the impact music has on the taste of wine ($65).

• Blind Taste With The Masters (Friday, Nov, 17, 4 p.m.) World-renowned master sommeliers and San Diego’s top somms in a blind tasting battle in which you also get to participate. There are six wines and you try to establish each one’s varietal and region involving sight, smell, and taste. In this event, you learn what professionals look for and how to identify different varietals and wine styles of wine, followed by the master sommelier’s technique of identification. The moderator, Nick Hetzel, MS; – and the sommelier panelists are Rusti Gilbert, Josh Orr and Paul Krikorian.

• The Tasting at SommCon (Friday, Nov. 17, 5:30 p.m.). This is THE Friday night event to attend before the next day’s signature event of the San Diego Bay Wine + FOod Festival’s Grand Tasting. It features 100 wineries and winemakers from around the world, craft beers and spirits distillers and a great social scene. $65.

• The Vault Access (Friday, Nov. 17, 5:30 p.m.). This includes the full tasting at SommCon Experience with access to The Vault, an exclusive area of highly allocated wines curated by the the festival organizers. $125.

• Roots Dinner Experience (Friday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m.). Chef Aron Schwartz of the famed Marina Kitchen joins Chef Suzette Gresham of two-starred Michelin Acquerello (San Francisco), US French Master Chef Chef Bernard Guillas of the The Marine Room and Chef Kelly Mariani of Scribe Winery  for a nostalgic dining experience that takes you back to their beginnings. This is a wine-paired dinner. Naturally. $225.

For tickets and a list off the events, go to: www.sandiegowineclassic.com.