Time to get back to tasting! This year’s Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival is a week-long premier culinary celebration happening in Broward County. The festival includes favorite signature events – Cocktail Confidential, Poolside BBQ Battle, Grand Tasting, and Family Day presented by Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, in addition to a Savor Dining Series, Culinary Education Series, Kids Can Cook Culinary Classes, and Wine Seminars presented by New York Wine & Grape Foundation in partnership with Experience! The Finger Lakes. This year’s Grand Tasting and Family Day experiences will take place in the heart of Fort Lauderdale Beach at Las Olas Oceanside Park, located at 3000 E Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316.
South Florida food and wine lovers also have an opportunity to taste bites from over 40 local restaurants at the event’s Grand Tasting, which takes place on Saturday, January 15th – doubling in size from its inaugural Festival, with nearly 40 beverage partners to wash down the bites, ranging from a variety of wines, craft beers, and spirits. Cocktail Confidential, which will take place on Wednesday, January 12, will feature cocktails from Frankly Organic Vodka, Ghost Tequila, and Hirsch Selected Whiskeys.
During the Savor Dining Series, interested wine lovers can experience the wines of the Finger Lakes at “Taste the Finger Lakes: A reception under the stars” on Wednesday, January 12th at 6:30 PM at The Cook & the Cork in Coral Springs. At this event, “Sommelier Laura Winter Falk, of Experience! The Finger Lakes and Chef Keith Blauschild will present an evening of inspiring contemporary cuisine and tantalizing wine in a relaxed reception format. Artisan bites will be passed, and wine will be poured as guests discover the stories behind the flavors and the magic of food and wine pairing.” This is a ticketed event and tickets can be purchased through the Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival website.
The 3rd Annual Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival Participating Beverage Partners Include:
Banfi | Blue Ice Vodka | Boldly, NY. | Bright Leaf Vineyard | Brooklyn Gin | Coconut Cartel | Crimson Wine Group | Damiani Wine Cellars | Daou Vineyard & Winery | Daylight Wines & Spirits | Delicato Family Wines | Dr. Konstantin Frank | East Imperial Mixers | Experience! The Finger Lakes | F!VE | Frankly organic vodka | Funky Buddha | Hiatus Tequila | Iron Smoke Distillery | Kobrand | Mermosa | Law’s Whiskey | Mistunderstood Whiskey | Palm Bay International | Pink Flamingo | Prestige Wine Imports | Primo Wine, Cigars, Beer and Spirits | PRP Wine International | Red Newt Cellars | Republic National Distributing Company | Sandy Feet Rum Co. | Sheldrake Point Winery | Silk Road | Tiger Seed | The Wine Group | Treasury Wine Estates | Vintage Wine Estates | Wandering Wines | Williamette Valley Vineyards
Family Day ‘New York State of Wine’ Wine Seminars Feature:
Boldly, NY. | Buttonwood Grove Winery | Coravin | Experience! The Finger Lakes | Fulkerson Winery | Lieb Cellars | Millbrook Vineyards & Winery | Muranda Cheese Company | Suhro Wines | Wagner Vineyards
*Students who participate in these guided wine tastings will receive a signed copy of Laura Winter Falk’s popular book: Culinary History of the Finger Lakes: From The Three Sisters to Riesling.
To purchase tickets for any of the events associated with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival, visit the ticket site here.
(photo courtesy of Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival.)
Jacqueline is a professional wine + travel writer, radio host, wine columnist, and consultant based in Miami, FL.
She is the monthly “Vino” columnist for Biscayne Times newspaper, a guest host covering the drinks segment on Linda Gassenheimer’s podcast show, “Food, News, and Views,” and Star Wine List’s Miami Ambassador.
Jacqueline is a Certified Sherry Wine Specialist & WSET 3.