Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival 2017


The clouds and mist gave way to brilliant sunlight as we approached Marble House for the 2017 Newport Mansions Food & Wine Festival.  It's definitely our favorite celebration of the year.



After being welcomed in we briefly stepped into the sumptuously ornate first floor dining room, one of many in the mansion, then rushed out to see who was there before the event was opened to the public and attendees streamed in.


Each guest is greeted with a glass and a quick pour before entering the massive tent where vintners and vendors await.


We simply could not walk by the station our friends at Dole & Bailey were hosting.  They grilled up steaks and shrimp all day to the sellout crowd proving to be, without question, the most popular vendor at the festival.

The famous Chinese Pagoda was hosted for VIP guests by Chateau d'Eclans.  After a few stops at some wine and restaurant booths, we entered the party.


The day long party was hosted by none other than Paul Chevalier, Managing Director at Chateau d'Eclans.  We sipped Whispering Angel and Rock Angel, their newest rosé, both great, as we chatted with others.  Wine Enthusiast gave the Rock Angel a great review, noting the "depth of flavor from the zest and red berry fruits."


The Pagoda was beautifully laid out with comfortable settees and couches and decorated in the signature pale rose wine color.



After mingling for a bit we basically had the very best seats in the house, a table on the porch of the Pagoda overlooking the entire event including the cooking demo stage and the ocean views.




Trudy Cox, CEO of the Newport Mansions Preservation Society even stopped by to say hello. 


The weather and stunning backdrop make this event a spectacular affair every year.  The perfect weather, variety of participants, really friendly crowd from all over the country (we even snagged an invite to the Kentucky Derby 2018 from new friends we met from Louisville) and all of the great food made this the very best festival we've attended.  They just seem to get better and ramp up the quality of the experience every year.

We tasted plates from some great restaurants both local and neighboring locales, including Boston, along with some great new wine discoveries.  More on that later.

All in all a wonderful weekend yet again of like-minded food and wine lovers!

We attended this event as members of the media with no remuneration or any promise of editorial consideration.

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