Crave Arizona, Scottsdale 2009

Crave Arizona, 2009

Thousands of food-loving people gathered together as Crave Arizona pulled off three days of food and wine events. Celebrity and local chefs, hundreds of wines, trendy cocktails and delicious food made for an unforgettable event. We had a great time and really enjoyed the Arizona Grand Tasting this past Saturday.




We attended cooking demonstrations by Top Chef Favorites Sam Talbot (Bravo’s season 2) and Stephanie Izard (Bravo’s season 4).

The Grand Tasting was laid out on the Scottsdale Southbridge and showcased small bites from over 40 local restaurants and hundreds of wines from around the world. This year there was and entire section devoted to Washington State wines from over 30 wineries.

We tasted some great wines form Owen Roe, Novelty Hill, Amavi, Reininger Winery, Tamarack Cellars, Nicholas Cole Cellars and Northstar. The food bites were equally impressive as we noshed on delicacies like seared sea scallops, braised pork belly, veal ravioli and chocolate/caramel tarts.

Later in the day we attended a wine seminar entitled: Which One's Washington? With seminar moderator: Shayn Bjornholm, Education Director for the Washington Wine Commission and Master Sommelier. This was a high energy, interactive and educational game show format wine tasting that mimicked the TV show “Family Feud”. Shayn Bjornholm guided the festivities from the helm with his powder blue polyester 70's style tuxedo.




Local Sommeliers added to the fun with the whole audience participating in the spectacle. We enjoyed “blind tasting” numerous as wines as we tried to name the varietal and region. It was a blast for everyone there to try to determine if a wine was Riesling or Chardonnay, from Washington or France.

A big “Shout-Out" for Shayn…. Nice job!

We will definitely attend Crave Arizona again next year.