Disney4me Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 It’s gettin’ real, y’all! The Epcot Flower and Garden Festival just wrapped, so you know what that means: the 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival is just around the corner!!! If you haven’t already, mark your calendars for August 31-November 13, as the festival extends to an unprecedented 75 full days for the first time ever! And be sure to bookmark our 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Main Page, because that’s where you can access all the details — including events, schedules, and booking dates! Maybe you can’t tell, but we tend to get a little excited around here for F&W. And part of the countdown is reviewing some of the events that we had the pleasure to attend the previous year. New to the festival in 2016, Disney added Mix It! Make It! Celebrate It! Hands-On Workshops at Festival Center — daily opportunities for guests to roll up their sleeves and participate in the learning process. And the event is BACK for 2017! Festival Center During the Epcot Food and Wine Festival Last year, workshops were offered covering everything from sushi making to creating clean treats! We really enjoyed a workshop on the latter, as we learned how to make a killer brownie, courtesy of Erin McKenna of Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC in Disney Springs. Today, we’re sharing another Mix It! Make It! Celebrate It! Workshop that we experienced — Wine, Cheese and Chocolate: Perfectly Paired. Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Perfectly Paired We arrived in plenty of time before the crowds descended on Festival Center. All of the festival’s low cost culinary demonstrations and beverage seminars take place here. The Chef’s Showcase in the back of the pavilion is also the setting for the Mix It! Make It! Celebrate It! Workshops. Chef’s Showcase Set Up For the event, guests are seated at a long table along with up to seven other attendees. Your place at the table is set with everything you need to participate in the workshop. At our previous event, our place setting included ingredients for making brownies. This workshop was a tasting experience, however. So instead of ingredients, I found an assortment of Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate. Place Setting Prior to the event beginning, I had a little look around. On the elevated stage area, the counter was laden with the larger quantities of the food and wine I found at my place setting. Preparation Area Soon, guests took their seats, and the workshop began, as the presenters were announced and made their way to the stage. Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Perfectly Paired Speakers One by one, the speakers introduced themselves and shared a little about their background. We began with Jill Ramsier from Quantum Leap Winery. Jill Ramsier, Quantum Leap Winery Quantum Leap is an Orlando winery (seriously!) specializing in the use of sustainable ingredients. They partner with small-yield growers to create their wines. All of the wines for the event were Quantum Leap wines. We also met Tonda Corrente from La Femme de Fromage. Tonda Corrente, Le Femme de Fromage Tonda’s shop is located in Orlando’s East End Market, a popular hangout and collection of local small businesses. Our next presenter was Lisa Wilk from Orlando Uncorked. Lisa Wilk, Orlando Uncorked Orlando Uncorked is a local group started by Lisa that specializes in teaching about wines in an approachable way. She would also share about the wine and food pairings that we’d be sampling. And finally, Kevin and Jami Wray from Peterbrooke Chocolatier of Winter Park joined the panel as well. Kevin and Jami Wray, Peterbrooke Chocolatier of Winter Park Peterbrooke is a local gourmet chocolate shop that concentrates on chocolate blending. The shop offers a huge variety of milk, dark, and white chocolate. The duo shared tips on how to best pair wine and chocolate. Before the tastings even began, I was super impressed to see the event highlighting Orlando shops and businesses, with a spotlight on local offerings and knowledge. Start Your Planning NOW! News! The DFB Guide to the 2017 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book is now available for pre-order! And if you pre-order the 2017 edition, you get the 2016 edition (with TONS of great info!) for FREE!!! This 250+-page guide to the Festival offers insider tips and advice as well as all of the details you need to know to plan your best Festival visit ever. Your purchase includes several bonus items as well — including a full daily schedule of events at the Festival and a printable World Showcase Booth Menu Checklist to carry with you as you Eat around the World! Order your 2017 edition today and we’ll immediately send you the 2016 edition for FREE to get started on planning right away! Don’t miss a moment of the fun! Use code Chefs at check-out for a 20% discount! Be sure to stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for all of the latest coverage about the 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival. We’ll have the details FIRST! But even for out of town guests, the panelists were all so thorough in their explanations that the principles could be applied to any store or shop, anywhere. Soon, we turned our attention to tasting. Yay! Our first pairing was a 2014 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc. 2014 River Sauvignon Blanc Label This wine is aged in oak and has notes of honeydew, melon, and meyer lemons. I loved its bright acidity. 2014 River Sauvignon Blanc We began our food tasting with Cypress Grove Purple Haze, a goat’s milk cheese. Cypress Grove Purple Haze The cheese is from a California creamery and is flavored with lots of aromatic herbs, like lavender and fennel. Tonda recommended pairing goat cheese with Sauvignon Blanc. In this case in particular, the wine accentuates the herbal notes in the cheese — and vice versa. After having another sip of the wine, I completely agreed. It was time for our first chocolate pairing, and we sampled a White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry. Again, fruit dipped in chocolate is a great pairing option for a Sauvignon Blanc, which tends to be herbal and mineral in character. White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Our next wine was another white — the 2014 Grape Pedaler White Blend. 2014 Grape Pedaler White Blend Label The blend combines four Columbia Valley wines. As I sniffed the wine initially, I noticed a strong apricot scent. After tasting, I also picked up notes of jasmine. This wine was also much more fruit forward than our first sample. 2014 Grape Pedaler White Blend We paired it with Petit Agour, a French sheep’s milk cheese. Petit Agour The cheese has a firm, buttery texture and a mildly nutty flavor. By the way, the rind is totally edible, so go for it if you’d like. Petit Agour Rind The chocolate pairing for the white wine blend was a Pretzel Rod dipped first in Caramel, and then in White Chocolate. White Chocolate and Caramel Dipped Pretzel Rod I thought it was interesting that the chocolate pairings for the white wines were all white chocolate. The Peterbrooke presenters explained that the high cocoa butter content and, in this case, the extra sweetness from the caramel, paired exceptionally well with the fruitier white blend. Caramel Under the White Chocolate They loved the sweet-salty combo, especially paired with the nutty flavor of the cheese, were a fantastic match for the wine. Our next pairing brought us to the Willamette Valley for a non-vintage Pinor Noir. Non Vintage Willamette Valley Pinor Noir The light-bodied red wine offered up wonderful smells of fresh, ripe cherries, which carried through into the flavor profile as well. I also picked up on notes of raspberry, and I had the sense that the wine had been aged in wooden barrels. Non Vintage Willamette Valley Pinor Noir Label We paired the Pinot Noir with Cypress Grove Midnight Moon Goat Gouda. Cypress Grove Midnight Moon Goat Gouda An aged goat’s milk cheese, this is very different than what you’d expect from a typical, fresh and creamy goat’s milk offering. The texture is a bit crystalline from the aging process. You’ll notice strong flavors of brown sugar and caramel in this complex cheese. After another sip of the wine, we sampled a Bark made from swirls of Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate, studded with Dried Cherries. Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Swirled Chocolate Cherry Bark Can’t find this special bark? No problem. Just fix up a little assortment of your favorite dark and milk chocolate, and throw in a few dried cherries. That will effectively balance the sweetness so it’s not overpowering. During this part of the workshop, we also learned a little about the difference between Swiss chocolate and Belgian chocolate. We were tasting Swiss chocolate, which has a higher percentage of cocoa butter. Belgian chocolate, according to our experts, has a higher percentage of cocoa mass. They believe that Swiss chocolate is superior. (But I’m sure there are a few Belgians out there who would disagree. ) But back to our tasting! Our final tastings were paired with a 2013 Columbia Valley Syrah. The Washington State and is a blend of 95% Syrah and 5% Vouvray (which is itself a white blend. That’s a whole lot of blending.) 2013 Columbia Valley Syrah On the nose, the wine smelled of oak and berries. As I tasted it, I picked up on flavors of blueberries and strawberries. 2013 Columbia Valley Syrah For our first pairing, we sampled Cahill Porter Cheddar. This Irish cheese and is soaked in porter, making it both visually striking as well as delicious. As you might expect, the cheese is rather rich, with notes of espresso courtesy of the porter. Cahill Porter Cheddar In an effort to stand up to the rich cheese, our experts chose a decadent chocolate truffle for our final pairing. Ultimate Chocolate Truffle The intensity of the dark chocolate ganache complemented the full bodied wine beautifully. At the conclusion of the workshop, the featured speakers welcomed guests to come up and share questions or comments. We found all of the experts to be welcoming, warm, knowledgeable, and approachable. Speakers Answering Questions As a parting gift, we also received a bamboo cutting board branded with the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Food and Wine Cutting Board Food and Wine Cutting Board As it so happens, it’s perfect for serving cheese or chocolate — for our very next home wine pairing event! Overall This was our second time attending a Mix It! Make It! Celebrate It! Hands-On Workshop, and we had a pretty fantastic time. Each of the speakers demonstrated not only a deep level of knowledge about their chosen fields, but they were clearly passionate about their crafts as well. As a local, I really appreciated that Disney partnered with Orlando companies and talent for the event, highlighting some of the awesome things that are happening in the local food scene. But even guests visiting from out of town agreed that what they learned could be applied anywhere. If I had one complaint, it would be with the amount of each wine pour. Nope, I’m not a lush. But it would be nice to have a pour of at least one and a half or two ounces, so that you could taste them multiple times with each pairing. Still, overall, this is a great event, and as a newbie to wine pairings and tastings, I felt like I really learned a few things, and came away with some solid knowledge. I’m looking forward to applying my new knowledge in the near future — and hopefully you can do the same! Want to Know all the Food and Wine Festival Details? We’ve Got Em! 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Index 2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth and Menu Index2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Special Events2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Low-Cost Seminars and Demonstrations2017 Eat to the Beat Concert ScheduleEpcot Food and Wine Festival Fans Facebook Page2017 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Wine and Dine Half Marathon2017 Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine ClassicFood and Wine Festival 1012016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Menus and FOOD PHOTOS2016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Gluten Free Items How to Book Epcot Food & Wine Festival Events To book all special events and demonstrations, call 407-WDW-FEST (939-3378) starting July 20 at 7:00AM ET. Culinary Demonstrations and Beverage Seminars and general admission for some special events may be bookable online at www.epcotfoodfestival.com as well as by phone. Tables in Wonderland members, Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members, and Golden Oak Residents are eligible for a $2 discount (per person, per event) for beverage and seminars and culinary demos taking place Mon-Thurs during the festival. Members of these groups can also book low cost culinary demonstrations and seminars early on July 18th beginning at 9:00AM ET. Discounts are by phone only at 407-WDW-FEST (939-3378). Stay tuned to DisneyFoodBlog.com and the Disney Food Blog Newsletter for details. Chase Disney Visa Cardholders may be able to book select special events, demos, and seminars on July 18. This is unconfirmed at this time. A limited number of seats are available for the booking date. Are you planning to attend a Mix It! Make It! Celebrate It! Hands-On Workshop at this year’s Epcot Food and Wine Festival? Leave a comment and let us know! Disney Food Blog Fans, be sure to check out our DFB Disney World Dining Guide e-Books! Find great deals at DFBStore.com! Also, come on over and: Subscribe to our Newsletter Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook Fan Related posts: Review: 2016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It! Pastry Making Workshop Review: Epcot Food and Wine Festival Cheese Seminar Guest Review: Tutto Italia Food and Wine Pairing at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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