Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail in Michigan Introduces 3 New Touring Loops

The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail in Michigan is introducing three new touring loops: the Northern Loop, Sleeping Bear Loop and Grand Traverse Bay Loop.

The number of wineries in Michigan topped the 100 mark in January. Twenty-five of them – fully one-quarter – are along the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail, the state’s oldest and largest.

“The growth in wineries in Leelanau Peninsula has been amazing, and our loops have been developed to make it easier for visitors to plan trips through wine country,” states Trail President Matt Gregory. “The main goal is to offer an enjoyable experience for people to explore our wines and tasting rooms and to unlock the hidden treasures of Michigan’s Wine Coast.”

The Northern Loop covers the northern half of the peninsula and holds ten wineries located in and around the villages of Lake Leelanau, Leland, Northport and Omena and iconic destinations like the Grand Traverse Lighthouse and Fishtown.

The Grand Traverse Bay Loop stretches from just outside Traverse City to Suttons Bay along the east side of the peninsula and features nine wineries and the Leelanau Bike Trail.

The Sleeping Bear Loop consists of six wineries in the western half of the peninsula from Glen Arbor to Cedar to Lake Leelanau and boasts the stunning beauty of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Visitors can pick up a Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail brochure with a handy map at any of the wineries and various regional businesses. The brochure and maps are available online at www.lpwines.com. The trail has also released a free iPhone app for easy access to Leelanau wineries, lodging, restaurants and more.

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Access Trips Exclusive New Culinary Tour in Sonoma Highlights Best of Wine Country Culture

From exclusive cooking classes with Sonoma’s top chefs to private vineyard tours and tastings, Access Trips new five-day culinary tour is a foodie fantasy in the heart of California’s Wine Country. The new tour offers access to some of Sonoma’s most renowned local restaurants, chefs and vintners, as guests learn to cook with organic, locally sourced ingredients that change seasonally and showcase the best of California cuisine.

Nestled in a lush valley with trellised vineyards climbing the surrounding hills, and bound by a central plaza and a historic Spanish mission, Sonoma is arguably one of the most beautiful towns in California. Offering a quaint, intimate alternative to the usual tourist trails in Napa, Sonoma is a mecca of cultural and culinary treasures awaiting discovery.

For an “ultimate” California experience, Access Trips has partnered with the Sonoma International Film Festival to offer a discounted three-day, three-night Film Festival VIP extension package for guests on Access Trips’ first Sonoma Culinary tour departing April 7, 2013. The tour’s July departure was also timed to dovetail on Destination Race’s Napa to Sonoma half marathon on July 21, 2013.

California Wine Country Culinary Tour
Five-days from $2,590 pp

From once-in-a-lifetime cooking classes with Sonoma’s finest chefs to wine, cheese and chocolate truffle tastings and a tour of one of California’s oldest family owned vineyards, Access Trips’ California Wine Country Culinary Tour is a gourmand’s dream. Indulge your palate during sumptuous meals at top Sonoma restaurants, Café La Haye and Harvest Moon Café, before enjoying exclusive cooking classes led by such big names as Harvest Moon Chef Nick Demarest. Surrounded by beautiful gardens, olive groves and rolling vineyards, visit Stone Edge Farm for a multi-course cooking class with acclaimed chef, John McReynolds, and learn tricks to add variety to recipes at home. Discover the local farmers market, take in the sites during a hike along the Glen Ellen Reservoir and relax poolside at the luxurious, boutique, Macarthur Place – one Sonoma’s finest Inns and Spas.

http://www.accesstrips.com/sports/culinary-tour/

Sonoma International Film Festival VIP Package
Three-days from $2,000 pp

Get in touch with your inner movie star during Access Trips’ three-day, three-night Sonoma International Film Festival extension. Enjoy VIP-access passes to all films, filmmakers, and discussion panels, and of course, exclusive parties with the best in California wine and cuisine! Savor your red carpet moment at the red carpet gala, where you’ll find out which celebrity will be honored by the association. The main festivities are in the Sonoma Plaza, just four blocks walking distance from Macarthur Place, your luxurious inn and spa. Book the Film Festival package along with the California Wine Country Culinary Tour and receive 10% off both the tour AND the extension, for a total savings of $459 per person. Space is limited to just 12 guests.

Access Trips is a leading adventure travel operator specializing in exotic learning vacations to 14 countries worldwide. This company offers a wide range of small-group outdoor sports and culinary-focused trips that are expertly designed to allow guests to experience a new culture, learn new skills or fine-tune existing ones, and revel in the splendor of their destination. Based in San Francisco, California and launched in 2001, Access Trips’ portfolio includes cooking, surfing, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, and multisport itineraries. Regardless of the focus of the activity, Access Trips caters to a variety of skill levels, serving the novice as well as the expert in a relaxed, non-intimidating setting with the help of world-class instructors and multilingual guides.

For more information about Access Trips and the adventure tours available, visit www.accesstrips.com.

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Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Winery to Host 4th Annual FOOD & WINE Voyage Aboard Oceania’s Riviera

Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, one of Italy’s most lauded wineries, will be the winery host on FOOD & WINE Magazine’s fourth-annual Wine Voyage. This seven-day cruise will be on Oceania Cruises’ newest cruise ship Riviera, which leaves from Monte Carlo on October 11, 2013 and arrives into Civitavecchia, the port of Rome on October 18.

The Riviera is a mid-sized cruise ship specifically designed for the food and wine lover, with Executive Culinary Director Jacques Pepin overseeing seven no-extra-charge restaurants, the cruise industry’s first restaurant collaboration with Wine Spectator magazine and the first at-sea hands-on cooking classroom.

Onboard will be Leonardi Raspini, Ornellaia’s general manager, who along with FOOD & WINE’s long-time wine expert Anthony Giglio, will preside over a series of private events that include a vertical tasting of multiple Ornellaia vintages and a five course gourmet, wine-paired dinner.

As Ornellaia is one of Italy’s highest-rated and most expensive wines, the cruise affords a rare opportunity to cruise the French and Italian Riviera in luxury, while tasting multiple vintages back-to-back and mingling with fellow wine enthusiasts and top wine experts.

Ornellaia’s hospitality will also be extended when the ship visits Livorno, the port of call for Tuscany. Here, the estate normally closed to the public, will open for an optional and opulent private group luncheon and tour.

The Fourth FOOD & WINE Wine Voyage includes other opportunities for the food and wine lover to experience the culinary terroir of the regions they visit. From the French port of Marseille, an optional tour of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is offered, with a wine-paired luncheon cooked by a Michelin-starred chef and a private tasting Domaine de la Janasse, another highly rated winery. In Sorrento, the group has the option of visiting the Stabiae Villas, thought to be the home of the regions governor which, like Pompeii, was buried by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. Following a tour led by a local archeologist, the group drives up the volcano’s slopes for a private tasting and lunch at Azienda Sorrentino Winery, featuring varieties of grapes and wines not found anywhere else in the world.

Rates of the Fourth FOOD & WINE Wine Voyage begins at $2,624 per person double occupancy and includes Oceania Cruises’ free airfare* from 26 major US airports. All bookings are to be made through Food & Wine Trails, one of the nation’s oldest and largest wine-travel companies. Bookings made before March 31, 2013, will receive a complimentary $100 shipboard credit and prepaid gratuities.

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Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine introduces 5 biking/gastronomy tours in Italy’s Dolomites

Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine introduces five bike tours in the Dolomites starting this spring that showcase outdoor recreational grandeur and gastronomy of Northeastern Italy.

The new six-night tours are: “Train Like a Local” departing May 26 and September 1; “The Agony and the Ecstasy” departing June 9; and “The Classic Climbs” departing July 7 and September 8. Rates start at $3,695, per person, based on double occupancy and include accommodations, all ground transportation, guide services, all breakfasts and three dinners. A 15% discount is offered on the September 8 tour if both tours in September are booked.

Each tour invites a riding exploration of the Dolomites in Northeastern Italy and delves into the region’s rich culinary heritage, pairing opportunities to sample Marostica cherries and Bassano’s famed white asparagus with challenging climbs along routes unknown to mainstream tour companies. http://www.italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.com/index.php/bike-tours-italy-ski-holidays-italy/dolomites-cycling-tours

“Train Like a Local” tour– May 26 – June 1; and September 1-7, 2013: Focusing on the “mid-mountains” with climbs ranging between 900 and 1700 meters, this tour explores the foothills south of the Dolomites, an area widely considered the preferred training ground for local and race teams. An ideal introduction to riding in the mountains, the “Train Like a Local” tour prepares cyclists for more challenging ascents in the upper elevations of the Dolomites and the Alps.

“The Agony and the Ecstasy” tour – June 9 – 15, 2013: Comprising the hardest climbs in northeast Italy (those rated at the 200-point difficulty level), the aptly named “Agony and Ecstasy” tour is designed for cyclists who have trained hard and are ready to embrace the most difficult climbs the Dolomites can offer. This tour takes guests on epic climbs through the regions of Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia, with stops to sample and savor local delicacies such as prosciutto, homemade gnocchi and grappa.

“The Classic Climbs” tour – July 7 – 13; and September 8-4, 2013: “The Classic Climbs” traces a path through the heart of the Dolomites, combining little-known passes with the renowned and rigorous bike climbs that have made the region a sought-after destination for cyclists. While exploring the Dolomites the way locals do, riders will have opportunities to experience the blend of Italian and Austrian/Germanic cultures that define this picturesque region.

Led by expert cyclist and mountain guide Vernon McClure, and cooking instructor and chef Kathy Bechtel, also an avid biker, Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine cycling tours introduce both new and accomplished cyclists to the spectacular Dolomites region, taking care to sample regional cuisine and discover local wines unknown beyond the area. Daily coaching and challenging climbs are interspersed with opportunities to explore off-the-beaten-path towns such as Rovereto, an ancient fortress town; Conegliano, the heart of the Prosecco DOCG zone; and Bassano del Grappa, for a grappa tasting.

Tours are tailored to provide a balance of activity, rest and relaxation. A maximum of 12 persons per group allows for daily itinerary customization and refinement, based on participants’ interests, pacing, and real-time “finds.”
For more information or to receive Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine newsletter, recipes and wine information, visit http://www.italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.com or Chef Kathy Bechtel’s blog at http://www.chefbikeski.com.

Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine is an owner-operated private guide service, creating and guiding active culinary tours in Northeastern Italy. Unique in their ability to combine active biking, skiing and hiking adventures with world-class culinary programs — including tours with James Beard award-winning chefs — Italiaoutdoors customizes vacations for groups of 4 to 12 people. Italiaoutdoors has more than 15 years of recreational programming experience in the region, plus formal culinary and wine training. Programs also include cooking classes, wine tastings, and restaurant dining which explore the best in local regional cuisine and undiscovered wines. Itineraries are rounded out with city visits, shopping, cultural excursions or just relaxing. The owners — experts in fitness, food, and the region — personally lead each tour. http://www.italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.com, 978-270-5774. Twitter @italiaoutdoors. Facebook http://www.facebook.com/foodandwineitaliaoutdoors.

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Enter Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Sweepstakes for Chance to Win Trip to Miami

Time Warner Cable is currently running a sweepstakes where five lucky Grand Prize winners will win a trip for two to Miami on February 21-24 to enjoy the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE.

Each of the five Grand Prize winners will get a three-day/two-night trip for two to Miami to attend the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival including tickets to select events at the Festival, select talent meet and greets, $500 in spending money and one year of the best available Digital TV and Broadband Internet service.

To enter the Sweepstakes, entrants must be a fan of the Time Warner Cable Facebook or Mi Cultura Facebook pages in order to fill out and submit the online registration form by January 21. The Official Rules are available at www.facebook.com/TWC or www.facebook.com/MiCultura. The Grand Prize winner will be selected on or around January 22.

No purchase is necessary. void where prohibited. The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Sweepstakes presented by Time Warner Cable is open to legal U.S. residents who reside in a serviceable area of Time Warner Cable or Insight Communications and those living in the same household in the following states/areas: AL, AZ, CA, CO (only in Gunnison), GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, or WI, and 21 years of age or older. Starts 10:01 a.m. ET 12/26/12 & ends 11:59 p.m. ET 1/21/13.

For the official rules and complete details, visit facebook.com/twc or facebook.com/micultura. Sweepstakes sponsored by Time Warner Cable Inc.

All proceeds from the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE benefit the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University (FIU).  To date, the Festival has raised more than $16 million for FIU.  For more information on the Festival,  visit www.sobefest.com.

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Access Trips has new culinary tour highlighting best of California wine country culture; partners with Sonoma Film Festival

From exclusive cooking classes with Sonoma’s top chefs to private vineyard tours and tastings, Access Trips brand new five-day culinary tour is a foodie fantasy in the heart of California’s Wine Country. The new tour offers access to some of Sonoma’s most renowned local restaurants, chefs and vintners, as guests learn to cook with organic, locally sourced ingredients that change seasonally and showcase the best of California cuisine.

Nestled in a lush valley with trellised vineyards climbing the surrounding hills, and bound by a central plaza and a historic Spanish mission, Sonoma is arguably one of the most beautiful towns in California. Offering a quaint, intimate alternative to the usual tourist trails in Napa, Sonoma is a mecca of cultural and culinary treasures awaiting discovery.

For the ultimate California experience, Access Trips has partnered with the Sonoma International Film Festival to offer a discounted three-day, three-night Film Festival VIP extension package for guests on Access Trips’ first Sonoma Culinary tour departing April 7, 2013. The tour’s July departure was also timed to dovetail on Destination Race’s Napa to Sonoma half marathon on July 21, 2013.

California Wine Country Culinary Tour
Five-days from $2,590 pp

From once-in-a-lifetime cooking classes with Sonoma’s finest chefs to wine, cheese and chocolate truffle tastings and a tour of one of California’s oldest family owned vineyards, Access Trips’ California Wine Country Culinary Tour is a gourmand’s dream. Indulge your palate during sumptuous meals at top Sonoma restaurants, Café La Haye and Harvest Moon Café, before enjoying exclusive cooking classes led by such big names as Harvest Moon Chef Nick Demarest. Surrounded by beautiful gardens, olive groves and rolling vineyards, visit Stone Edge Farm for a multi-course cooking class with acclaimed chef, John McReynolds, and learn tricks to add variety to recipes at home. Discover the local farmers market, take in the sites during a hike along the Glen Ellen Reservoir and relax poolside at the luxurious, boutique, Macarthur Place – Sonoma’s finest Inn and Spa.

http://www.accesstrips.com/sports/culinary-tour/
Sonoma International Film Festival VIP Package
Three-days from $2,000 pp

Get in touch with your inner movie star during Access Trips’ three-day, three-night Sonoma International Film Festival extension. Enjoy VIP-access passes to all films, filmmakers, and discussion panels, and of course, exclusive parties with the best in California wine and cuisine! Savor your red carpet moment at the red carpet gala, where you’ll find out which celebrity will be honored by the association. The main festivities are in the Sonoma Plaza, just four blocks walking distance from Macarthur Place, your luxurious inn and spa. Book the Film Festival package along with the California Wine Country Culinary Tour and receive 10% off both the tour AND the extension, for a total savings of $459 per person. Space is limited to just 12 guests.

Access Trips is a leading adventure travel  operator specializing in exotic learning vacations to 13 countries worldwide. This company offers a wide range of small-group outdoor sports and culinary-focused trips that are expertly designed to allow guests to experience a new culture, learn new skills or fine-tune existing ones, and revel in the splendor of their destination. Based in San Francisco, California and launched in 2001, Access Trips’ impressive portfolio includes cooking, surfing, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, and multisport itineraries. Regardless of the focus of the activity, Access Trips caters to a variety of skill levels, serving the novice as well as the expert in a relaxed, non-intimidating setting with the help of world-class instructors and multilingual guides. For more information about Access Trips and the adventure tours available, visit www.accesstrips.com.

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Food & Wine Trails Offers 12 New Cruises for 2013

Food & Wine Trails has released details of 12 new food and wine cruises for 2013, filled with opportunities to drink the best wines, experience great meals and travel with top wine and food personalities.

Among the highlights:

• A multi-course, wine-paired dinner at Chateau Smith Haut-Lafite in Bordeaux hosted by star Napa winemaker David Ramey who has previously worked in Bordeaux – on the Oceania Nautica June 13-20 Lisbon to London cruise.
• A vertical library tasting of Duckhorn’s acclaimed Merlot, with founder Margaret Duckhorn – on the June 26 to July 3 Azamara Journey Rome to Monte Carlo cruise.
• A private wine-maker hosted luncheon at a top Chateauneuf-du-Pape winery served by a Michelin starred chef on the Azamara Journey July 3-11 Monte Carlo to Barcelona cruise.
• A tour of the Grgich family winery in Croatia with Violet Grgich – on the Oceania Riviera Sept 7-19 Venice to Barcelona cruise.

The value of a Food & Wine Trails cruise becomes apparent when viewed against a comparable land-based culinary vacation. Whereas a typical price for a land-based wine program is $4,000 to $5,000 per week per person, the price of a similar length Food & Wine Trails wine cruise starts at $2,274. This includes the cruise cost with transportation to and within Europe, all meals and entertainment, plus an exclusive to the group wine experience with winemaker dinners, parties, receptions and educational wine tastings.

The mission of Food & Wine Trails is to provide authenticity, value and access to the world’s best food and wine travel experiences. Each program is led or organized by a recognized local culinary expert to provide the guest with insight, access and a behind-the-kitchen (or cellar) door experience. Food & Wine Trails is the tour division of the HMS Travel Group, a 25-year-old company based in Santa Rosa, California. The company designs culinary travel programs for enthusiasts and for the creme of the food and wine world, producing programs for Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and many of America’s top food magazines and wineries. Larry Martin, the president of Food & Wine Trails, is a wine collector, vegetable gardener and the Northern California Regional Governor for Slow Food, an international food advocacy organization. The editors of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine have chosen Martin as World’s Top Wine Travel Specialist for three consecutive years.

Contact Food & Wine Trails at 800 367-5348, or info@foodandwinetrails.com. A complete list of 2013 wine cruises can be found at www.foodandwinetrails.com/cruises.

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Vermont Life Wine and Harvest Festival is Savored at Mount Snow Resort, September 21-23

Mount Snow is an enviable scenic location at any given time of year, but pair its 3,600’ alpine advantage with a three day epicurean fête; queue up the vibrancy of fall foliage and it’s no wonder the Vermont Life Wine and Harvest Festival, September 21-23, is a perennial favorite for oenophiles along the Eastern seaboard.

Seventeen diverse winemakers, plus distillers, brewers, specialty food producers, musicians and local artisans are staged within the Vermont Life Wine and Harvest Festival’s main tents. The event annually welcomes more than 2,500 visitors for a long weekend of tastings, culinary demonstrations and entertainment that stretches beyond the resort and into nearby towns.

On Friday, there’s a festival preview tasting and a Village Stroll, featuring live entertainment and the Vermont Soup Tasting Contest in the heart of Wilmington. On Saturday and Sunday, tastings, exhibitors and entertainment are located at Mount Snow Resort. In the evening, festival dinners are held in two of West Dover’s most popular restaurants, Dover Forge Restaurant and Matterhorn Inn; the Haystack Golf Club is host to an elegant evening of wine and cheese pairings.

The Vermont Life Wine and Harvest Festival has earned designation as a Vermont Chamber of Commerce Top Ten Fall Event and is listed as a U.S. Top 100 Event by the American Bus Association. “The accolades indicate the caliber of this event and the efforts we have made to continuously surpass guests’ expectations,” Adam Grinold, Executive Director of Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce said. “The recognition as a ‘U.S. Top 100’ event attracts American and Canadian motorcoach tour operators to the Mount Snow Valley and it’s our every intention for this festival to grow, and like a fine wine, get better with age.”

Chairlift rides, hiking trails, and nearby fishing and kayaking sites encourage festival goers to partake in Vermont’s outdoors. Lodging packages are available at several locations within walking distance of the festival and free shuttle bus service on “the MOOver” is available.

“We are privileged to experience such a fine festival within a stone’s throw of equally acclaimed outdoor recreation, historic sites and beautiful villages,” Megan Smith, Commissioner of Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing said.

For tickets and more Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival information, visit http://www.TheVermontFestival.com.

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Tickets on Sale for 7th Annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival

The Elms is one of the historic Newport Mansions hosting the 7th annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, September 21-23 in Newport, Rhode Island, featuring world-renowned celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and father-daughter duo Jacques and Claudine Pépin, as well as exclusive wines from around the world © 2012 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.

The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival celebrates its 7^th year as the most sophisticated wine and food festival on the East Coast. The event returns September 21-23, featuring world-renowned celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and father-daughter duo Jacques and Claudine Pépin, as well as exclusive wines from around the world, and fabulous food from the region’s most-celebrated restaurants and caterers. Sponsored by FOOD & WINE, the Festival takes place in the historic Newport Mansions, Rosecliff, The Elms and Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island.

The fun kicks off with the Wine & Rosecliff Gala, where guests will enjoy vintages uncorked exclusively for the evening alongside delicious food pairings. The activities continue throughout the weekend, with a 2-day Grand Tasting, informative seminars with some of the industry’s most respected personalities, auctions, and new this year, a Collectible Wine Dinner at The Elms.

Tickets to the 7^th annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, including the Grand Tasting on Saturday and Sunday, as well as all-inclusive weekend packages, are on sale now, and may be purchased at http://www.NewportMansionsWine andFood.org.

Ticket packages are tailored to satisfy the interests of all guests, whether in town for the day or the weekend. Individual tickets are available for each event, but for those guests who want to enjoy more of the weekend, combination tickets are available. The Connoisseur’s Package includes Wine & Rosecliff admission and either the Saturday or Sunday Grand Tasting at Marble House. For those who want to experience everything that the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival has to offer, the Wine Lovers Weekend Package, new this year, provides admission to Wine & Rosecliff, one Grand Tasting day, the Collectible Wine Dinner, and three seminars.

Wine seminars will be offered all three days of the Festival, offering entertainment and enlightenment for everyone from the curious new wine drinker to the most seasoned connoisseur. Seminar presenters will include Thirsty Girl’s Leslie Sbrocco, Master Sommelier Laura Maniec of New York City’s Corkbuzz Studio, Stuart and Suzanne Bryan of Pride Mountain Vineyards, and wine writer Jordan MacKay, among others.

The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival is also sponsored by National Trust Insurance Services, Buitoni, Porsche of Warwick, United Airlines, Alex & Ani, Stella Artois, Dasani, Alaska Seafood, Clarke Luxury Showrooms, Dave’s Fresh Marketplace, Honest Tea, Vinho Verde & Wines of Portugal, Casa Cornoer and the Italian Trade Commission, Hyatt Regency Newport, Amtrak, Johnson & Wales University, Roseann Tully’s Intermezzo, Travelocity, New England Home and Yankee Magazine.

All proceeds from the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival benefit The Preservation Society of Newport County, a non-profit organization accredited by the American Association of Museums and dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area’s historic architecture, landscapes and decorative arts. Its’ 11 historic properties—seven of them National Historic Landmarks—span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.

For more information and to purchase tickets for the 2012 Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, visit www.NewportMansionsWineAndFood.org, or call 401-847-1000.

Food & Wine Trails 2013 Wine Cruises Include One Featuring Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia Wine Events

Food & Wine Trails has announced their 2013 wine cruise series, with eleven adventures hosted by top California wineries and one hosted by one of Italy’s most famous wineries.

The 2013 California winery hosts include V.Sattui Winery, Martinelli Vineyards & Winery traveling with Foxen Winery, Mira Winery traveling with Ideology Cellars, Ramey Wine Cellars, Domaine Chandon, Sojourn Cellars, Duckhorn Vineyards, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Grigch Hills Estate and Cameron Hughes Wine.

On their Fourth Annual Wine Voyage, FOOD & WINE Magazine has partnered with the Italian Super Tuscan Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia. One of the few wineries in the world to receive a perfect 100/100 score from Wine Spectator, Ornellaia will be providing their wines for the onboard events including tastings and a wine-paired dinner.

These cruises sail the Mediterranean between April and October, because according to Food & Wine Trails President Larry Martin, “It’s the ancestral home to today’s wines and the best time of year to visit. When combined with the region’s natural beauty and popularity of the Mediterranean lifestyle and diet, it is no wonder that the Med has always the most popular destination for the food and wine lover.”

All Food and Wine Trails’ cruises include a private onboard wine program, and extras such as free or included gratuities, a $100 early-booking shipboard credit and discounted or free airfare from the US to Europe. Each cruise is held on a small to mid-size Oceania Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises ship, and is hosted by winemakers or winery principals.

Martin explains, “It’s important for us to offer great content and personal access to the movers and shakers of the wine-industry. All our programs not only include private tastings of library and current vintages, exclusive group parties, and winery hosted dinners, they also allow the guest to visit top wine estates while in port for private tours and luncheons. This makes each wine cruise a unique and educational experience.”

Stateroom prices for Food & Wine Trails’ 2013 wine cruises start at $1985 per person (double occupancy) with departures from April 21st with V.Sattui Winery through October 11th with FOOD & WINE Magazine and Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia.

Food and Wine Trails, 707A 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95404, 707-526-2922, foodandwinetrails.com.

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