Yesterday I went to the Grand Tasting at the Park City Food and Wine Festival [1]. Over 500 wines were available to sample, as well as a few food items. I’m mainly a red wine drinker, so I sampled a few white wines but mainly the red. My best budget pick was a Nero d’Avola [2] by Fuedo Arancio which costs around 9$. I tried it in honor of Grandpa since this grape is indigenous to Sicily. If you like big Cabernets, give this wine a shot, you won’t be disappointed. On the higher end, my favorite was a 2006 Raymond Vineyards Reserve [3] Cabernet Sauvignon which runs around $35. I don’t buy a lot of wine in that price range, but if you do, I highly recommend it. Mogan Winery was tasting a 2006 Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir [4] that was the best I’ve ever tasted. I’m not generally a huge Pinot Noir fan and am mostly annoyed at the amount of people who bought into its “superiority” after Sideways [5], but this was exceptional. Of course now I am totally laughing because I failed to ask how much this wine ran and after finding it on their site, I just realized it’s probably the most expensive wine I’ve ever tasted. So if you’re swimming in money or just drink way less than I do, jump in for the low price of $62 a bottle! I bet they love Sidways and the cult like following Pinots are enjoying.
On the food end, my favorite was a Smoky Blue Cheese [6] from igourmet.com. Of course it’s from Oregon! I swear Portland is stalking me. Sending me my favorite foods and wines and begging me to move there. I’ve never even been there and I have this sick fascination with my imaginary version of my life in Portland. I could develop an addiction to this cheese. Actually, all the cheeses igourmet.com tasted were delicious. I’ve never purchased anything from igourmet, but I am totally going to order one of their sampler boxes. Most assortments of cheese really bum me out, but these people seemed totally on top of their game. Way to go igourmet!
Beyond the food and wine, the setting was spectacular in the Canyons Resort [7]. The resort is a beautiful place and I just love it more each time I go back. I’ll probably hike there tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to pop my camera in my backpack so I can upload some senic pics from the resort.