Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend gets closer

February and March are flying by in such a blur that April will be here in just a few minutes. The every-other-year Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend always feels like that, too: The last one barely seems over when it's time to get ready for the next one.

There's a flurry of news to report:

• Restaurants are pairing up for the April 19 wine and food dinners. There are 20 dinners planned, each matching a visiting winemaker with a local chef. E2 has already jumped in with Domaine Serene and Morton's is paired with Silver Oak. Go here to find the list of dinners and ticket prices. But don't wait -- these dinners sell out quickly.
• You don't think wine is your thing? The official opening event this year is a tequila dinner hosted by Paco's Tacos on April 18 and featuring Don Julio tequilas. It's $75. Go here for details on that.
• This year's Vintner Tasting is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 21 at Founder's Hall. This is a great entry-level event for people who want to experience and learn but aren't ready to tackle events like the 1,000-Point Tasting. For $40, you get to experience all the wines featured during the weekend, many poured by the people who make them. I never miss this one and I always experience something that makes it worth my time. Buy tickets here.
• The weekend ends on Sunday with a new one, The Burgers, Bloodies and Brews Brunch from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. April 22 at The Green on Tryon. Tickets are $50. Go here for that.

As always, the Wine & Food Weekend is a charity fundraiser. This year raises money for the Council for Children's Rights, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, Charlotte Community Health Clinic and Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center.

Friday food roundup: What's happening

OK, remember that guy (above)? That's Harry Peemoeller, bread-sculpting wizard from Johnson & Wales Charlotte, and he's doing a bread-sculpting demo today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Atrium (nee the First Union Atrium, nee the Wachovia Atrium, if you've been around Charlotte long enough to be able to name every building through at least three generations of past bank ownership).

That would be today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Not last Friday, as I mistakenly reported here last week. Sorry. Sometimes modern journalism means "typing too fast."

And in other food-related events happening in the next couple of days:

• Vin Master will be a Charlotte wine shop in Atherton Mill, 2000 South Blvd., dedicated to organic and sustainable wines, and it celebrates its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday/April 16, with an open house and a charitable donation: 20% of first-day sales will go to Wine to Water, the nonprofit group that raises money to provide clean water to needy people around the world.

• The Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend actually isn't until next year, but it kicks off Saturday/April 16 from 7-10 p.m. with a celebration at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, 400 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. Tickets are $125 and includes wine, food and a silent auction.

• The Wine Shop Dilworth is holding a free tasting of Bordeaux wines with Cristophe Bedouet of Sober Wines, from 5 to 7 p.m. today/April 15, at 2442 Park Road.

• The Meat House, 8410 Rea Road, celebrates its first anniversary on Sunday/April 17 with 10 percent off everything in the store except wine and beer. They'll also have product samples, grilled steak tips and a hot dog cart.

• And finally, not getting an invitation to the Charlotte Food Bloggers meeting makes me feel a bit like the grandma who didn't get invited to her grandchild's graduation. I've written about both organizers, Julie Ruble of Willow Bird Baking and Taylor Mathis of Taylor Takes a Taste. But I'll still report that it's happening: Saturday/April 15 at 11 a.m. at Park Road Park. If you're going, take a dish to share. Have fun and stay dry, kids.

Mama said there'd be days like this . . .

It just goes to show that you can't keep a determined wine fan down: Streets all around uptown were blocked Saturday morning for some kind of walkathon (I can't say which one, because the civic organizers didn't bother to post any signs at street corners). Navigating to Gateway Village for the Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend's Vintner Tasting was like a bizarre form of Lady Pac Man. Good thing I know a few tricks, like the back way into one of the Johnson & Wales parking lots. A quick stop to pick up my glass and wrist badge and I was ready to do some sipping and talking.

Counting backward, I think this was my 8th adventure at the Vintner Tasting. I've been going since they held it under tent behind Bonterra, through the years under the bandshell at Symphony Park in SouthPark and now, for the few years, in the atrium at Gateway.

Held every other year, it's my kind of event: 30 or 40 wineries, each pouring anywhere from three to six wines, some of them being poured by the people who made them. This year, they added a small craft beer section, and many of the wineries had handy sheets listing the wines being poured and their retail prices.

Now, there's no way you can taste as many wines as they have available. Even spitting, it would all just run together. The trick to mass tastings like this is to have a plan. Walk through quickly and make note of all the wineries, then pick a few to concentrate on. (Just wait, Silver Oak -- I'll get to you in time.) Some years, I concentrate on kinds of wines -- zins, roses, rieslings.

This year, I found myself being pulled toward pinot noirs, starting with King Estate, including its more bargain-priced Next and Acrobat lines. Interestingly, Next, in the $18 or lower range, showed better in a quick taste than the mid-priced Acrobat.

I did find two nice roses, one of my favorite summer wines. Eric Solomon's European Cellars was pouring Janasse from Rhone, France, well-priced at $12.99, and Josh Hackler, the young and eager importer from Spanish Vines, had the almonst fuschia-colored Enate Rosado, available at Dean & Deluca and Winestore for about $20.

After making my way through Maison Joseph Drouhin's pinot noirs, Vineyard 29's 2007 cru cabernet, and rubbing elbows with an enthusiastic merlot fan at the Robert Foley table, I ended where I usually try to end at the Vintner Tasting: At the Silver Oak table, savoring a mouthful of the '05 Alexander Valley cab: leather and tobacco wrapped in soft, silky texture. $70 a bottle. And worth every penny, especially the $35 ticket to the tasting.

Time to raise a glass

If you miss the Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend festivities this week, you have to wait two years to try again. Although some of the dinners are sold out, there are still tickets to be had for some great events and classes. Get the schedule here.

I'll be at the Vintner Wine tasting Saturday morning, trying to juggle a wine glass and a Blackberry at the same time. Follow along on Twitter at #charwine. Or heck, just come up and say hello. I'll try not to spit on your shoes.

A Charlotte weekend: From sips to nuts

For once, I had one of those glamourous, Twitter-worthy food weekends, and my Twitter access went down. So I saved it up:

Saturday morning: Swirling, smelling and spitting. With the every-other-year Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend coming up in April, the organizers held the first Charlotte Cru Wine Competition, a blind tasting of 28 or so wines that will be featured this year.

They lined up 50 judges, mostly members of the wine group Charlotte Cru but also a few media types and wine wholesalers, and put us to work. It really was work. To keep on schedule, we had about 1 minute per wine to judge them on visual, aroma, texture, taste, finish and overall impression. Working that fast, you're just going on first impressions, so you have to trust your instincts.

All flights were blind, meaning you're presented with four or five glasses in a category, say, "whites under $50" or "reds over $50," but nothing on what kind of wine it is. Pity -- as the wines flew by, I encountered the pinot noir of my dreams (and it was in the under-$50 category) and a few wines I wouldn't taste again on a bet.

Winners will be awarded medals, and are supposed to be available in local wine shops around festival time. For myself, I'll have to wait for the Vintner Tasting in April to see if I can identify that pinot.

Saturday night: Who says this girl is a food snob? For my birthday, the two handsome men in my life took me out to dinner. They offered up the name of a cutting-edge place we all like. But I said, "No boys, this is an occasion for the Beef & Bottle."

I'll admit it: I love the 'Bottle. I love the booths in the dark front room, the Frank-and-Dean atmosphere, the glass-enclosed bar that looks like a fish tank. I love the cheesy cheese spread with crackers, and the plate of chopped-up iceberg lettuce with a tray of vegetables for building your own salad. I love the groups who always seem to be having so much fun, like the three guys in bow-ties who walked in just ahead of us.

And I love their steaks, with that char-grilled taste. Simple steaks, simple sides, short wine-by-the-glass list. Yes, Charlotte has fancier places, but Beef & Bottle is purely what it is. And for my 51st birthday, I wanted to appreciate things that get older but stay just fine the way they are.

Sunday night: A perfect spread of dips for Super Bowl watching -- guacamole, pico de gallo, hot cheese dip with sausage. And a perfect game to go along with them.

Who Dat who loved that game? That would be me.

Charlotte Wine & Food time

While we're on the subject of wine: Tickets go on sale Monday for the Charlotte Wine & Food Festival.

If you're never attended or don't know this event, it's worth checking the list. First, it only happens every two years, so you don't want to miss it. It's also a fundraiser for several local charities, so the money stays in this area.

And while many wine events can have the aroma of exclusivity, this one isn't one of them. Yes, there are high-end events and big-ticket tastings and dinners. But it also has a very reasonably priced one, the Saturday Vintner Tasting at Gateway Village.

I'm not a big-ticket gal -- $8 bottles are usually my budget -- but I've attended almost all of the Vintner Tastings because they're a great deal. For $30, you get to try samples of almost all the wines featured during the weekend, most of them poured by the people who make them. If you've always wanted to know what Silver Oak tastes like or compare several levels of ports without selling your grandmother's silver, this is your chance.

The festival also added classes and those will come back this year. They range from really basic, entry-level wine information and up to more challenging guided tastings. Last time, they did a tasting of 100-point wines. This year, they're doing one called "Almost Perfect" -- wines that fell short of the top rankings, with an instructor explaining what their flaws are.

There are two first-time events this year: Charlotte's first-ever wine competition on Feb. 6 will evaluate wines that will be a part of the festival. (FYI, I'm one of the judges). This should be useful because the wines also will be available in local restaurants and wine stores.

Second, they're branching out from wine. In addition to the long list of restaurants that host vintner dinners showcasing the wines, The Liberty will hold the event's first beer dinner.

Prices for most things are still being set, so you'll have to check the Web site Monday for the full list: http://www.charlottewineandfood.org/. But many things sell out quickly, so don't put it off.