Virginia Wine Lovers' Luncheon @ Acacia Mid-Town Restaurant presented by Richmond magazine

Whether you’re in town for the Virginia Wine Expo or not, you simply can’t miss this special luncheon prepared by Chef Dale Reitzer, proclaimed, years ago, by Food & Wine magazine as one of America’s top ten up-and-coming chefs in America.   Chef Reitzer has meticulously planned this delicious three-course lunch with three outstanding Virginia wines.

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Appetizer

• Potato gnocchi, fresh crab, parmesan truffle butter sauce OR
• Warm shitake mushroom and smoked chicken salad, leek flower, aged sherry vinaigrette paired with 2008 Naked Mountain Chardonnay

Entrée

• Bacon wrapped duck stuffed with apples on smoked gouda polenta, shaved brussel sprouts, pine nuts, lingonberry sauce paired with 2009 Blenheim Vineyards Painted Red, Monticello
• Sautéed virginia rockfish, carmelized onion risotto, sauteed spinach, red wine sauce paired with 2008 Barbousville Barbera Reserve, Monticello

Dessert

• Panna cotta, blueberry sorbet, vanilla foam, milk chocolate cremeaux, crispy chocolate fuilletine, creme fraiche, ice cream
  paired with 2009 Rockbridge V'dor

Prelude to the Expo Soirée at Bistro 27 presented by Richmond magazine

New to the Expo, take off early for the weekend and join us at Bistro 27 for delicious hors d’ oeuvres and Virginia wine.  This is the perfect prelude to the Walk-Around Grand Tasting later in the evening.  Only blocks away from the Virginia Wine Expo at the convention center, you can get a head start on the fun as you enjoy Chef Carlos’s amazingly creative cuisine. Once you’ve satisfied your appetite and ignited your tastebuds, you can walk from the restaurant to the Expo and enjoy Virginia’s hottest wine event of the year!

This event includes heavy hors d’ oeuvres, samples of Virginia wine and a complimentary commemorative Virginia Wine Expo crystal wine glass.

Virginia wine will be available for sale by the glass at very special prices.

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New Kent Winery Chardonnay served with:

• Grilled Chicken Skewers - Grilled chicken breast with Italian ham-(bacon), tomatoes, and pineapple, brushed with olive oil.
• Iinternational Fruit and Cheese Display - Example of cheeses will be Danish Blue, Sharp Cheddars, Fontana, and Goat Cheese, along with fruit and fresh Italian bread.

Pollak Viognier served with:

• Shrimp and Tomato Relish-Fresh shrimp, tomato,and basil tossed in garlic olive oil served cold with toast rounds.

Blenheim Table Wine served with:

• Oven Dried Tomato and Herb Cheese - French bread toasted/grilled with oven dried tomato and herd cheese.

Barboursville Cabernet Franc served with:

• Homemade Duck Ravioli Pasta - Ravioli stuffed with a duck and diced winter vegetables, and served with a ragu sauce.

King Meritage 2009 served with:

• Kobe Beef Carpaccio - Kobe beef sliced thin served with white truffle oil, walnuts parm cheese, and parsley.
• Smoked Salmon Carpaccio - In-house smoked salmon with diced onions, capers, olive oil, and parsley.

Opening Night Walk-Around Grand Tasting presented by Mercedes-Benz

New to the Expo schedule, there’s no better way to celebrate the end of the workweek than heading over to the Virginia Wine Expo.   If you work downtown or anywhere close by, don’t bother going home.  Tell your boss to have a good weekend, take off your tie (if you wear one) and head over to the convention center for an evening with co-workers, friends or your significant other as you taste hundreds of delicious Virginia wines.

Sample and buy over 450+ bottles of wine from 75 of the top wineries in Virginia.  Also, enjoy sampling gourmet food from some of the region’s finest restaurants, caterers, and specialty food purveyors.  Each attendee receives a beautiful Riedel crystal wine glass.

This tasting is a unique and extraordinary experience.   Nowhere else in the nation can you spend hours in a convention center tasting Virginia wine, talking with the winemakers, wine owners or knowledgeable representatives of the wineries and buy bottles for immediate consumption or to go.   Also, wine may be purchased by the glass.

You will not need to spend all day on your feet.  If you want to take a break, you’ll be able to sit down and relax in the nTelos Wine Garden, where you can talk, eat and drink wine.

Although you will have plenty of time to taste, it will not be possible to taste all of the wine available during this Grand Tasting.   Consider buying the Grand Tasting Weekend Package, which will give you admission to both the Friday and Saturday Walk-Around Grand Tastings.

Virginia Wine Expo After Hours at T-Miller’s

New to the Expo schedule, don’t let the party end at the Expo.   Walk over to T-Miller’s and Liberation Lounge at the Richmond Marriott Hotel, where you will be greeted with music and a selection of gourmet dinner specials and late-night apps that will be sure to satisfy even the most acute case of the munchies.  NO TICKET IS REQUIRED FOR THIS EVENT.   FOOD AND BEVERAGES MUST BE PURCHASED.

Featured menu:

Toasted Portabella & Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta With Sun- dried and kalamata aioli
Steamed Edamame Potsticker Simmered in a yuzu miso broth with sake braised shitake mushroom
Coconut Crusted Chicken Skewer With Mango & Avocado Relish 
Sugarcane Skewered Shrimp Bourbon Peach Bbq Glazed Sugar over a Asian Slaw
Pan Seared Lobster Ravioli With saffron mascarpone cream topped with a shaved baby fennel, arugula salad tossed with white truffle oil 
Cocoa & Mint Marinated Lollipop Lamb Chop Topped with espresso yogurt butter
Sweet Ending - Chef’s Sampler Plate

Late Winter Harvest Luncheon at Lemaire Restaurant presented by Richmond magazine

New to the Expo schedule, Chef Walter Bundy of Lemaire Restaurant at the historic Jefferson Hotel, has created a sumptuous three-course luncheon paired with Virginia wine.

Chef Bundy will source local produce grown during the winter by some of his favorite Virginia farmers. 

If Luncheon attendees purchase the Luncheon and Walk-Around Grand Tasting ticket package, they will receive complimentary transportation from The Jefferson Hotel to the Greater Richmond Convention Center, where they can enjoy the Grand Tasting.

Each Luncheon participant receives a complimentary Virginia Wine Expo commemorative crystal wine glass.

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First course

• Jo and Rob’s Manakintowne Farms lettuces
• Cherry tomatoes / pickled red onions / sheep’s milk cheese / pine nuts
• Barboursville Pinot Grigio ’10 Monticello

Entrée

• Crispy skinned chesapeake bay rockfish
• Butternut squash risotto / brussels sprouts / cider-bacon jus
• Michael Shaps Viognier ’08 Monticello

Dessert

• Chocolate cheesecake
• Michael Shaps rasin d’etre 2008

Walk-Around Grand Tasting presented by Mercedes-Benz

Sample and buy over 450+ bottles of wine from 75 of the top wineries in Virginia.  Also, enjoy sampling gourmet food from some of the region’s finest restaurants, caterers, and specialty food purveyors and cheese.  Each attendee receives a beautiful Riedel crystal wine glass.

This tasting is a unique and extraordinary experience.   Nowhere else in the nation can you spend seven hours tasting Virginia wine, talking with the winemakers, wine owners or knowledgeable representatives of the wineries and buy bottles for immediate consumption (you can open a bottle in the exhibit hall) or to go.   Also, wine may be purchased by the glass.

You will not need to spend all day on your feet.  If you want to take a break, you’ll be able to sit down and relax in the nTelos Wine Garden, where you can talk, eat and drink wine.

SEMINAR: Fresh Southern Favorites & Virginia Wine

Mmm, mmm good! Start the day off with a special seminar featuring classic, but modern Southern Cuisine, paired with their perfect Virginia wine counterpart. Menu and featured wines coming soon!

SEMINAR: Your 'Pleasure' Senses and Professional Wine Tasting Techniques with Bob Talcott, Wine Director, CAN CAN Brasserie

Learn how to taste wine like the pros!  Practice the techniques professional wine tasters use to evaluate the quality, character and "style" of fine wines.  An essential seminar and tasting exercise for those wine lovers who desire to focus and improve their ability to discern and articulate the pleasures of fine wines.

SEMINAR: Why Virginia? The State of Wine in Virginia

What makes Virginia so special? Virginia is poised to be a great wine region, a contender on the international stage.  What is it that is propelling this industry forward? Is it our history, our terroir, our people?  Delve into these and other fascinating ideas to discover what it is that makes this state special. Tastings will come from a wide variety of vineyards and wineries designed to show the breadth of wine offerings from Virginia.

Virginia Wine & Hors d' oeuvres Reception at The Tobacco Company Restaurant

Mingle with fellow wine lovers by the fireplace in our luxurious Victorian Lounge. Enjoy one glass of Virginia Wine (or Virginia Beer) from our menu selections including Barboursville Vineyards. Indulge in hors d’oeuvres including:

• Coconut Shrimp Black tiger shrimp battered in flaky coconut and deep fried, served with Cajun tartar and chili mango sauce
• Virginia Barbecue Bruschetta Virginia barbecue pork in a spicy bourbon sauce over crisp focaccia
• Vegetable Potstickers A medley of chopped carrots, celery and onions, seasoned with garlic and ginger wrapped in dumpling wrapper
• Spinach and Artichoke Dip Warm spinach and artichoke dip served with flatbread
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries Large strawberries hand dipped in chocolate.

SEMINAR: Modern Charcuterie and Virginia Wines presented by Belmont Butchery

Tanya Cauthen, owner of Richmond's premier, artisanal charcuterie, Belmont Butchery, leads a fascinating and mouthwatering wine and food pairing that will educate attendees on how to pair fine charcuterie with wine.    Don't miss an opportunity to learn from one of the most celebrated butchers and cooks in the country as you taste both traditional and "exotic" meats matched with delicious Virginia wine.   Yum!

Virginia Wine Expo After Hours at T-Miller’s

New to the Expo schedule, don’t let the party end at the Expo.   Walk over to T-Miller’s and Liberation Lounge at the Richmond Marriott Hotel, where you will be greeted with music and a selection of gourmet dinner specials and late-night apps that will be sure to satisfy even the most acute case of the munchies.  NO TICKET IS REQUIRED FOR THIS EVENT.  FOOD AND BEVERAGES MUST BE PURCHASED.

Featured menu:

Toasted Portabella & Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta With Sun- dried and kalamata aioli
Steamed Edamame Potsticker Simmered in a yuzu miso broth with sake braised shitake mushroom
Coconut Crusted Chicken Skewer With Mango & Avocado Relish
Sugarcane Skewered Shrimp Bourbon Peach Bbq Glazed Sugar over a Asian Slaw
Pan Seared Lobster Ravioli With saffron mascarpone cream topped with a shaved baby fennel, arugula salad tossed with white truffle oil
Cocoa & Mint Marinated Lollipop Lamb Chop Topped with espresso yogurt butter
Sweet Ending - Chef’s Sampler Plate

Virginia Wine + Brunch at Selba Restaurant presented by Richmond magazine

Start Sunday off with a feast of local provisions, all beautifully prepared at the hands of Chef Abram Jackson. This special menu created just for the Virginia Wine Expo is outstanding. Selba believes believes that you should know what is in the food you eat and where it came from, and it's menu always features fresh, natural ingredients from local and regional farmers.

First Course

Winter Radish Salad
Manakintowne watermelon radish, black Spanish radish, avocado, Caramont Farms goat feta, Manakintowne mixed greens, blood orange vinaigrette. 
Paired with Ingleside Virginia Brut Sparkling

Gingerbread Pancakes
Virginia maple syrup, house-made VA apple butter, whipped Cherry Glen ricotta, house-cured maple bacon. 
Paired with Chrysalis Vineyards Sarah's Patio Red (whole cluster pressed Norton rosé)

Grilled Hanger Steak
Rappahanock oysters dusted in Wades Mill cornmeal and lightly fried, Brussels sprouts and white sweet potato hash, poached farm-fresh egg, bacon hollandaise. 
Paired with Linden Vineyards Claret

Third Course

Crepe
Black sesame crepe, pickled VA pears, whipped mascarpone cheese, mint anglaise.
Paired with White Hall Vineyards Viognier

Walk-Around Grand Tasting presented by Mercedes-Benz

Sample and buy over 450+ bottles of wine from 75 of the top wineries in Virginia.  Also, enjoy sampling gourmet food from some of the region’s finest restaurants, caterers, and specialty food purveyors.  Each attendee receives a beautiful Riedel crystal wine glass.
 
This tasting is a unique and extraordinary experience.   Nowhere else in the nation can you spend five hours tasting Virginia wine, talking with the winemakers, wine owners or knowledgeable representatives of the wineries and buy bottles for immediate consumption (you can open a bottle in the exhibit hall) or to go.   Also, wine may be purchased by the glass.

You will not need to spend all day on your feet.  If you want to take a break, you’ll be able to sit down and relax in the nTelos Wine Garden, where you can talk, eat and drink wine.