We recently were invited to attend the Sensoria Food and Wine Festival. This festival was a one day event to conclude “Sensoria: A Celebration of Literature and the Arts” at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. The food and wine festival was presented by the Piedmont Culinary Guild with sponsorships from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture’s #GotToBeNC Program and Springer Mountain Farms.
The day featured classes ranging from Riedel glass seminars to turning wine into vinegar to blind tastings just to name a few. Another part of the event was a food and wine pairing. Food from Charlotte area chefs was paired with North Carolina wine!
Below are photos from the event. We hope this event is held again next year! We also appreciate the complimentary tickets for this event!
From Wine to Vinegar Class – We learned about the science behind how vinegar is made. We also got to taste a variety of wines and vinegars made by the instructor. The fennel vinegar and carrot wine were very interesting!
Wine Line Up / A Blind Tasting – We blind tasted Chardonnays and Cabernet Franc. This lineup included the Jones von Drehle‘s Steel Chardonnay and Dover Vineyards‘ Cabernet Franc!
The highlight of the festival was food and wine pairing featuring Charlotte area chefs and North Carolina wines! Photos below show all over the beautiful and tasty creations!
Our first pairing turned out to be the winner of the votes for best pairing. It featured Chef Greg Collier of the The Yolk in Rock Hill, SC paired with Biltmore Estate. Chef Greg’s cornbread toast, smoked trout and apple salad, meyer lemon hollandaise, and charred strawberry espelette spice was paired with Biltmore’s 2015 North Carolina Blanc de Blancs Brut Sparkling.
Next up was Chef Chris Coleman of Stoke. His smoked and fried chicken wing with spicy peach and jalapeño chow-chow was paired with Laurel Gray Vineyards‘ 2015 Viognier!
Duck pâté en croûte from Chef David Quintana of dot dot dot was our next bite. This was paired with Shelton Vineyards‘ 2016 Reisling.
Chef Justin Solomon from Foxcroft Wine Company paired cured salmon with celeriac remoulade, fennel chutney and duqqa with Shelton Vineyards‘ 2016 Bin 17 Unoaked Chardonnay.
Surry Cellars‘ debut Albariño was paired with beef heart carpaccio, apricot mustard, pickled green strawberries, beet and petite greens from Chef Matthew Krenz of The Asbury.
Chef Joe Kindred of Kindred was next on our list. His pasta with green garlic, spring greens and lamb was paired with the 2016 Rosé from Dover Vineyards.
Jones von Drehle‘s 2014 Cabernet Franc was our first red. It was paired with rabbit-mushroom bolognese, grits and green garlic from Chef Clark Barlowe of Heirloom.
Chef Bruce Moffett of Stagioni was next up with his prosecro-battered crab-stuffed squash blossom, ramp aioli and red pepper agro-dolce paired with Piccione Vineyards‘ 2014 red blend, L’Ottimo.
Fahrenheit Chef Dave Feimster paired his kalua pork and pickled cabbage slider with RayLen Vineyards‘ 2016 Category 5 red blend.
RayLen was up again with their 2016 Petit Verdot paired with a cherry-smoked chicken thigh croquette with green chili mole, spring asparagus, and aji amarillo from Chef Blake Hartwick of Bonterra Dining and Wine Room.
Last but not least was Childress Vineyards‘ 2012 Finish Line Cabernet Sauvignon port-style wine paired with dark chocolate crémeux, coffee crunch, hibiscus and port gelée from Chef Ashley Boyd of 300 East!
This event was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
