Of course, there’s much much more to Pigs & Pinot than the to-die-for-doughnuts spotlighted in our previous posting. Once again, the sold-out charity event delivered on it billing as a “one-of-a-kind-epicurian-extravaganza.” Among the annual highlights…
The Pinot Cup – a blind tasting competition between fifty hand-selected Pinot Noirs. The judges included Food & Wine’s Wine Editor, Ray Isle, The Press Democrat’s Virginie Boone and The Pinot File’s Rusty Gaffney. Congratulations to the winner, Woodenhead Winery (2007 Russian River Valley, Buena Tierra Vineyard, Pinot Noir) and runner up, Williams Selyem (2007 Russian River Valley, Westside Road Neighbors Block, Pinot Noir).
The Tournament of the Pig – a Top Chef style face-off starring none other than two Top Chef alums, Bryan Voltaggio and Kevin Gillespie. With help from Chefs Matt Hill and Amar Santana, they went head to head to prepare the best pork dishes from ingredients pre-selected from Dry Creek Kitchen. Charlie Palmer moderated while the judging panel including Tyler Florence, Roland Passot and Philippe Rispoli ultimately chose Kevin as the Tournament of the Pig winner in a close battle.
The Ultimate Sommelier Smackdown Seminar – a “March-Madness” style competition between Master Sommeliers Keith Goldston, Fred Dame, Drew Hendricks, and William Sherer. Each entered his personal selection of four Pinot Noirs from around the world and then “pitched” the audience on why his pick was the best. Four heats later, the audience ultimately chose Kosta Browne (2007 Koplen Vineyard Russian River Pinot Noir) as the winner and Penner Ash (2008 Dussin Vineyard Pinot Noir) as the runner up.
And finally, there’s….
The Gala Dinner – held at the Dry Creek Kitchen, this is five-course collaborative offering from the master chefs. Each different course featured a signature creation from Palmer or one of his guest chefs, paired with limited-production Pinot Noirs from wineries Papapietro Perry (Pinot Cup 2009 winner), Paul Hobbs, Kosta Browne, Soter Vineyards and Domaine de L’Arlot. Each chef introduced his own course alongside his paired winemaker.
For those who missed the action, check out our PHOTO GALLERY from Pigs & Pinot 2010. There are some great shots of the food and folks that make the event such a success.
Condé Nast Traveler announced their distinguished 2010 Gold List winners this month for the world’s finest hotels and Hotel Healdsburg was included in the “Best Places to Stay in North America” category. The Gold List is based on data collected from Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Readers’ Choice Survey by more than 25,000 of their readers and is the most highly regarded of its kind. We are delighted to have received such high rankings on this prestigious list for the 4th consecutive year and look forward to continuing to deliver the ultimate northern Sonoma luxury resort and spa experience to our guests.
Great news! AAA has just announced that Hotel Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen achieved the AAA Four Diamond Award for 2010. The AAA Four and Five Diamond Award is the travel authority’s highest rating for hotels and restaurants. AAA Four Diamond Award winners represent just 3.5 percent of the 58,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Click 
