WILKES-BARRE -- The fruit of the vine was flowing in colors of red, tawny and white at the Pennsylvania International Wine & Food Festival being held through today at Genetti’s. The event was scheduled to coincide with the first tasting of the Beaujolais Nouveau in France, a customary French holiday which celebrates the full rich red wine of the Beaujolais region.
“This particular festival is different from many of the other local wine events because we’re featuring international wines and spirits,” said event organizer Thom Greco. “Other festivals were tasting Pennsylvania wines exclusively. With international wines from countries like Italy, Spain and France, we can give people a variety of wines which will pair well with the food we’re serving this weekend.”
Greco said the thought behind the event was to showcase local restaurants and chefs and allow them to present their particular specialties to a willing audience in pairing with a selected wine offering. Event sponsor Southern Wine Distributors supplied a wide selection of wines, which featured Pinot Noir, Riesling, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as vodkas from countries like Poland and Sweden.
“It’s a win-win situation,” said Greco. “They supply the wines for our event and get to showcase their product to prospective customers. It’s amazing how people in the area respond to these types of events.”
“We drove up from Berwick to taste the wines,” said Chris and Shelly Hittle, as they enjoyed a glass of Merlot. “We always try to find something to do on the weekends and when we heard about this event on the radio, we decided to come.”
The two-day festival included cooking demonstrations from local chefs Shawn Jackson and Peter Adams as well as a guest appearance by Hell’s Kitchen contestant and NEPA native Maria Torrisi. An array of pastas, risottos, arancini and sushimi were served at various stations throughout the ballroom and several standalone carving stations offered mouth-watering slices of perfectly roasted prime beef to the hungry wine-tasters.
“Our passion is wine tasting,” stated Monica Chupka of Shavertown, who came out with her friend Donna Pautak of Wilkes-Barre. “We have a small group of friends who generally meet from house to house, but it’s nice to come to an event like this. It’s exciting.”The event continues today from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $30 at the door or $20 in advance. Tickets are available at all Nardone’s Gallery of Sound stores, at TicketSalesNow.com, and at Genetti’s front desk.