Florida Sandestin Wine Festival
Wild Wines and Good Times
By Madelyn Miller
You have to love a wine festival where they sell bottles of vino labeled OLD FART, and HOT MAMAS alongside the champagne and scarce wine.
And obviously, people do. The seventeen-year-old event is sold-out soon after dates are announced and people leave with cases of wine like hibernating bears that are waiting for the next season. The bargains in the wine tent make serious wine drinkers giddy with joy. And the case prices save them enough to easily pay for their trip. A rule of thumb could be that the more you buy, the longer you can afford to stay.
Actually, as a compulsive food and wine festival attender, I was very impressed by the reasonable prices for the events. The opening event on Thursday night at the Elephant Walk was a five-course dinner that was a bargain at $85 even if it had not included the wonderful wines.
The Friday night event, a silent Auction and taste around circling the pool on top of the Elephant Walk ($100) was timed to coincide with a glorious sunset on the beach. Although the crowd moved easily from station to station, to wine pouring to more wine pouring, to the silent auction tables, I perched myself on the deck above to enjoy the sunset, water and view in addition to the gourmet food and wine. A heavenly evening. And since the music was a little too loud, a few savvy bidders got great deals on trips to Nappa and a wine storage unit donated by Viking.
It is a strange site to see wine eventers sharing the tram with families taking their kids down to the white sand beach. Everyone is smiling, and either pink from time in the sun or flushed from tasting wines from fifty vineyards.
And no matter why they came to Sandestin, everyone seems to be having a great time.
I sure did
SANDESTIN WINE FESTIVAL FACTS
Sandestin´s annual Wine Festival dates back to 1987 when Chan Cox, then a sales manager for a wholesale distributor in South Walton County, Fla. received news that a renowned leader in the wine industry, Peter Mondavi, Jr., was to visit the area. Inspired by the news of Mondavi´s visit, Cox, now owner of Chan´s Market Café at The Market Shops at Sandestin and Chan’s Wine World, approached Keith Howard at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort about hosting a wine festival. Over the years, the Wine Festival has continuously grown in popularity with 2003’s Festival being no exception.
"At Sandestin, wine is a way of life. The entire Gulf Coast area has a very deep knowledge of and appreciation for wine. That is why our wine events do so well. It's no surprise that wine and Sandestin are a great marriage,” said Cox. “The people who seek out a destination such as Sandestin appreciate the finer things in life and love a sense of celebration -- having a love of wine is no different. The Sandestin Wine Festival is really a pinnacle event for wine lovers -- it combines many like elements -- fine wine, excellent cuisine, great art, gracious Southern hospitality, and, of course, good old-fashioned fun."
Cox’s vision – to create a gathering that would serve to introduce new wines to the region, and offer wine enthusiasts the opportunity to taste and purchase hundreds of wines in one location -- soon became a reality.
After 17 years, Sandestin’s annual Wine Festival lures thousands of wine enthusiasts from throughout the country and around the world. A leading wine event that sets Northwest Florida apart as a “wine country” all its own, Sandestin’s Wine Festival has become a landmark event, establishing Destin, Fla. as the wine capital of the South. The tasting event is such an important part of the Festival that crystal-tasting glasses are flown in from Germany and etched to commemorate each year’s event.
In addition to tastings, wines are judged and awarded. Wines are divided into 30 categories by varietal, style and price. The top three wines from each of the categories are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. Once the judging is complete, only 90 wines are selected as the “best of the best”. In year’s past, judges have included collectors, restaurateurs, wine merchants, wine columnists, winemakers and novices from around the country. The evaluation and judging process has also evolved over time, and today includes a point system based on color, clarity, aroma, bouquet, balance, varietal intensity, flavor, body and overall quality.
The 18th Annual Sandestin Wine Festival is scheduled for April 22-25, 2004 and hopes to continue its popularity as one of Sandestin’s signature events. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, which has offered the best of the best in Southern hospitality and style over its 30-year history, has continued to promote unique culinary experiences and feature fine wines and food at the resort. In August 2002, Sandestin opened The Village of Baytowne Wharf, which features Bijoux Bistro and Seagrapes Wine Cave. In addition, Sandestin and its merchants host various wine tastings and seminars throughout the year.
