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The Festival Event Schedule

November 18, 2011 - Celebration of the Arizona Wine Growers Winemaker Dinner at Quiessence Restaurant!
The winemaker dinner is open to the public but capped at 100 guests. This special evening includes an awards reception followed by a specially prepared four-course dinner using local produce by Quiessence Executive Chef Greg LaPrad. Each course is paired with winning wines from the 2011 Arizona Grower’s Cup and Winemaker’s Medal competition. Each of the winning wineries will be present to discuss their wine and winemaking philosophy. The cost for this special evening is $125 per person. Guests will have an opportunity to mingle and meet the honored Arizona Grower's Cup and Winemaker's Medal award winners while sampling the top scoring wines from the 2011 competition.

November 19, 2011 - Festival at the Farm at The Farm at South Mountain!
Don't miss your chance to meet the folks behind the rising Arizona wine movement
and sip the juice from our state's beautiful wine regions! Vino lovers from amateurs to aficionados will love the outdoor interactive events, educational seminars, and live auction at the 3rd Annual The Festival at the Farm.

1:00-5:00PM | Grand Wine Tasting
Presented by Arizona Wine Growers Association

• Over 20 Arizona wineries offer hundreds of wines for tasting, meet winemakers from across the state, sip and discover the varietals grown in Arizona
• Sample delectable bites from some of Arizona's best businesses

1:30-3:30PM | People's Choice Award Voting

• Taste some of the top scoring wines from the 2011 Arizona Wine Growers Competition. Choose the "people's choice" winners and enjoy a lively discussion with the folks who are on the front lines selling Arizona wines. Hear from them regarding the challenges they face getting AZ wines out to the public.

1:30-2:00PM | Food and Wine Pairing 101

• Have you ever struggled to find the perfect wine to go with a special dinner? Or create the perfect menu to go with a terrific bottle of wine? The secret about food and wine pairing is simple - there are no rules. The days of having white wine only with fish or chicken and red wine with meats are gone with the rule of not wearing white after Labor Day. Hear from two experts - a highly acclaimed chef and winemaker (and devoted foodie) - discuss the art of food and wine pairing.
  Moderators: Chef LaPrad, Quiessence, Executive Chef/Owner; Curt Dunham, Lawrence Dunham Vineyards, Winemaker/Owner

2:30-3:00PM | Mystery of the Wine Label & Other Wine Facts

• Some wine labels have a lot of information, some very little. Learn from AJ's cellar masters what is required on a label, what the words mean, and what they would like to see more or less of on a label to help you learn about a wine and make a good buying decision.
  Moderators: Mark Stanton, Sharon L. Webster, Steven Sphar, AJ's Cellar Masters

3:30PM-4:00PM | Celebrate AZ Award Winning Wines

• The Arizona Wine Competition is conducted annually by the Arizona Republic with an expert panel of judges. Taste some of the winners from the 2011 Wine Competition and learn why the judges selected the wine as the best of the best. Each winemaker will provide the vision for the wine, background on how the wine was created, and discuss that vintage's growing conditions that might have influenced the wine's quality.
  Host & Moderator: Richard Ruelas of the Arizona Republic
  Winemakers: To Be Determined when the winners are announced!

1:00-4:30PM | Picnic Lunch In The Grove

The Farm Kitchen has prepared a picnic lunch to pair with your favorite wines. When you are ready, please walk over to the kitchen and the folks at The Farm will serve a choice of:

• Farm Fresh Seasonal Sandwich with Local and Seasonal Vegetables, Italian Cheese and Organic Field Greens on Crusty Roll
  
• Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich with Roasted Chicken Breast, Celery, Green Onions, Pecans, Herb Mayo and Arugula on Baguette
  
• Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Freshly Sliced Ham, Cheese, Onions, and Field Greens on nine-grain bread
  (All options are served with a side of pasta primavera and a chocolate chip cookie.)

1:00-3:30PM | Silent Auction

• Bid on wine, special dinners, gift certificates and more.

3:30PM | Live Auction

Amazing auction lots include Chef-Winemaker pairings, vacation packages and wine tasting experiences. The Chef-Winemaker pairings will include an opportunity to bid on a culinary and wine tasting adventure. This year's packages are expected to be similar to the 2010 packages, which included dinners for six prepared by the chef along with wines produced by the winemaker.

Those pairings for 2010 were:

• Rod Keeling of Keeling Schaefer Vineyards-Willcox & Rod Kass Cafe Roka-Bisbee
• Eric Glomski of Page Springs Cellars-Cornville & Jeff Smedstad of Elote Cafe-Sedona
• Sam Pillsbury of Pillsbury Wine Company-Cottonwood & Greg LaPrad of Quiessence Restaurant-Phoenix
• Kent Callaghan of Callaghan Vineyards-Elgin & Charleen Badman of FnB Restaurant-Scottsdale
• Todd Bostock of Dos Cabezas WineWorks-Sonoita & Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco-Phoenix
• Dick Erath of Cimarron Vineyard-Willcox & John Hall of Canela Bistro-Sonoita
• Maynard Keenan of Caduceus Cellars-Jerome & Mark Tarbell of Tarbell's Restaurant-Phoenix

Make sure to pre-register at the silent auction in order to qualify for some great giveaways!

5:00PM | Conclusion of The Festival