Say Good-Bye to September (and Hello to October) With These Wine Events

Denver Food & Wine Festival is off (again), but you can still get in on the action with these two events.

By DiningOut Staff -09/16/2021

Talk about on again, off again relationships. Denver Food and Wine Festival’s grand tasting—think thousands of guests crowded in front of staff pouring wines from all over the world—was off in 2020, on in July of 2021 and off again just the following month (tickets were on sale for less than 30 days). But there are still tickets left for two of the Fest’s more intimate events in late September.

Dinner Under the Stars

On Thursday, September 30, the annual Dinner Under the Stars will set the table starting at 6 p.m. with five courses from Denver chefs Dana Rodriguez (Work & Class, Super Mega Bien); Paul C. Reilly (Coperta and the forthcoming Apple Blossom); Toru Watanable (Matsuhisa); Thach Tran (Ace Eat Serve); and Saura Kline (Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group). The menu is as follows:

Palisade peaches with pepper jam, arugula, spicy walnuts, rose vinaigrette, paired with Broglia La Meirana Gavi del Comune di Gavi 2019 (Italy);
Poached mushrooms and heirloom farina, celery root, 12-year aged sherry vinegar, and cumin seed, paired with Domaine Vocoret & Fils Vaillons Chablis Premier Cru (France) ;
Black cod miso (Matsuhisa’s signature dish), paired with Aurélien Verdet Le Prieuré Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Rouge 2017 (France);
Colorado morel mushrooms and Pekin duck breast with miso butter congee, tempura fungi, and bourbon barrel soy gastrique, paired with Montecillo Rioja Gran Reserva 2009 (Spain); and
Honey almond cheesecake with graham-cracker streusel, white chocolate whipped ganache, and blackberry coulis.

Tickets to the event, which will be served at downtown Denver’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House, are $195 per person and can be purchased here.

*We’ve been know to drink wine from a measuring cup, lengths you won’t have to resort to if you hit up the Riedel Wine Glass Seminar. / Courtesy Colorado Restaurant Foundation*

Reidel Wine Glass Seminar

Didn’t get enough wine Thursday night? Taste more (out of the correct stemware, not a Mason jar) Friday, October 1 at the always-popular Reidel Wine Glass Seminar. Learn about glass shape: Is it even important? How are you supposed to hold a spindly stemmed glass? Taste cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay, and riesling, then head home with a set of four varietal-specific glasses. Tickets are $80 per person or $150 per couple (buy them here) for the 6 p.m. seminar at Metropolitan State University of Denver; the set up wine glasses alone is valued at ($138).

Note that all ticketholders will be required to provide proof of full COVID vaccination or negative test results within the 72 hours of the event in order to attend.

Both events benefit the nonprofit Colorado Restaurant Foundation, which supports hospitality workers through the Angel Relief Fund and employee development through scholarships, apprenticeship, and ProStart programs.

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