The State’s Premier Wine and Food Event is August 18th!

Here’s a press release from my friends at the California State Fair!! 🙂

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2012) – The state’s finest winemakers, vineyards and wineries will be honored on Aug. 18, when California’s Grape & Gourmet – the country’s largest tasting of award-winning wines – returns to Cal Expo.

The 17th annual Grape & Gourmet is a celebration of the prestigious California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, the oldest wine competition in the United States.

Winners were announced in June and will receive their awards at Grape & Gourmet, prior to the public tasting and wine sales.

The public event is 3-6 p.m. in Cal Expo’s air-conditioned Building A/B. Tickets are $40 in advance, $50 at the door. Online group sales of 10 or more are $35 per person. To purchase tickets, go to http://www.calexpo.com

Award-winning wine will be available for sale by the bottle and case. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the California State Fair’s scholarship program, which this year awarded a total of $32,750 to 27 students.

California’s Grape & Gourmet features pours of the State Fair’s medal-winning wines, award-winning beer from the State Fair’s Commercial Craft Brew Competition, award-winning cheese from the Fair’s cheese competition, and samplings of great food from area restaurants.

In this year’s Commercial Wine Competition, 2,890 entries were received from 688 participating wineries. Seventy-two judges on 18 panels awarded 2,156 medals, including 74 Double Gold, 268 Gold, 1,195 Silver and 734 Bronze.

Complete results of the wine competition appear in “California Wine” magazine, a publication of the California State Fair, which will be available at the event and at Save Mart Supermarkets in the near future.

Get your tickets here!!

SPECIAL TREAT (or not)!! Archive post from cakegrrl.com below!!

Here are a few pics from the event a few years ago. (The last time they had it indoors at Cal Expo, and wayyy before I was Paleo).

Trader Joe’s Loot

Trader Joe’s Mountain of Stilton

Chicken Cones, Red Lion Hotel. It’s chicken, but in a cone, get it? 🙂

Wine in a carton. New home of missing persons ads?

Bread spread by Nugget Markets

Traffic Snarl…

Bread spread from the Bread Store… *who knew there’d be all this bread?*

Neat hops display.

Mason’s ahhh-amazing ahi tuna with broth.

A very yummy rose by Valley of the Moon.

Shout out to the Bread Store for the Ciabatta loaf I scored at the end of the night and the olive loaf they gave to my stunning mystery companion. Mulvaney’s was serving two refreshing sorbets–one with mint, maybe basil in there too? The other one was fig. Both fantastic! 🙂