Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival

The last time I attended a wine festival, it was the middle of summer, we had gorgeous weather, and an abundance of food and wine. I was thoroughly amazed by the vineyards and taken by the vendors sampling out their goodies.  My friends and I had a terrific time and I thought it was an experience that was hard to top.

Until the Newport Mansions entered the picture.

It blew my last wine festival out of the water. This past weekend, I went to the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival at the Marble House and it was a festival on steroids. Everything was bigger, better, and more packed. Touted as “the most sophisticated wine and food festival on the East Coast,” it featured over 100 wineries, celebrity chefs, a jazz brunch, seminars, a two-day Grand Tasting, a silent auction, and a gala celebration. No wonder my friend Meghan considers it as one of her very favorite events in the world!

I had numerous little bites to eat, and many, many, many sips of wine. The whole event was very well-planned, and I love that it was held at the beautiful Marble House.

fun fact: the Marble House was a summer house or "cottage" of the Vanderbilts

The Vanderbilt family remain one of the wealthiest families in history. One of the heiresses, Gloria Vanderbilt, was a fashion designer in the 70s. And one of her sons became one of the most prominent broadcast and TV personalities. Do you know who it is? It’s Anderson Cooper! Yup, the Silver Fox is a Vanderbilt.

Aside from the mansion, here are my top five favorite things from the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival:

pulled pork tacos with a goat cheese cream sauce from Eleven Forty Nine restaurant

the surf and turf bun from David Burke - with rib eye and lobster

stuffed quahog ("stuffie") from Dave's Marketplace

Is it just me but do you also think of Family Guy whenever you hear Quahog?

the best drink of the day: St-Germain sangria

I love St-Germain and sangria has a very special place in my heart so this drink was hands-down my favorite. This is something that’s very easy to re-create at home. It was just St-Germain, red wine, and peaches and grapes. Pure perfection.

lat but not least, dessert: pineapple bread pudding with caramel sauce

It’s always best to end with something sweet, right? This was a lovely way to cap off the festival.

In other news, something very excited happened to Confessions of a Chocoholic this month! My blog is featured as “The Blog for Foodies” in the Fall issue of Edible Boston.

my blog is on page 36!

I was very excited when I was contacted by Claire Willett, who wrote the feature, for an interview a couple of months ago. And now I am so happy to finally see it in print! My blog is one of seven food blogs highlighted and I am in great company. As the article states, “all of them will make you very hungry.”  The featured blogs are:

Confessions of a Chocoholic, blog for foodies

Grow, Cook, Eat, blog for food producers

Food on the Food, blog for locavores

Boston Food Finds, blog for dining out

Mike Kostyo,   blog for David Foster Wallace fans

La Tartine Gourmande, blog for serious gourmands

Fresh New England, blog for fresh-churned butter lovers

You can check out the digital issue of Edible Boston, or grab a free copy from these locations.

I hope you are all having a delicious week! What was your favorite bite this week?

Tagged as: blog awards, cheese, cocktails, Edible Boston, food blog, food fest, New England, Newport, Rhode Island, sangria, St Germain, wine, wine fest