Looking for a different kind of weekend trip? How about attending a fall wine festival? Almost every state in the South has a wine festival. Many are held at grand hotels or resorts and are usually a combination of food prepared by famous chefs, wines from all over the country and enough live music to spice up the party.

All of us know about the famous California, Oregon and Washington state wines—but did you know that Virginia has over 150 wineries and that North Carolina was one of the leading wine-growing states prior to prohibition? Today, both these states have excellent wine festivals where you can taste wines from around the world, eat gourmet meals and listen to extraordinary music… all in the company of jovial, like-minded people. There is hardly ever a dull moment, with seminars on wine tasting, the proper selection of wines to go with food, cooking classes and entertainment galore.

Where Can You Go?

Southern Breeze magazine conducts festivals all through the Gulf States that celebrate the lifestyle and culture of the American South.

And how about New Mexico, home to 19 wineries, where warm days and cool nights combine to create
excellent growing conditions? The Southern New Mexico Wine Festival attracted 40,000 people this year and featured 100 chefs and wine professionals who shared their expertise through seminars and cooking demonstrations.

St. Michaels Maryland Food and Wine Festival fills the tiny resort town on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay for a long and boisterous weekend.

This year, the Charleston Food and Wine Festival had 16 of the city’s top chefs, as well as winemakers from around the country, at their equally spectacular event.

In Miami, South Beach has a three-day wine festival which draws between 40,000 and 50,000 people. It’s a star-studded culinary weekend that is covered annually by the Food Network.

The Blue Ridge Food and Wine Festival in the charming mountain town of Blowing Rock, NC, is like a huge party filled with seminars about pairing wine with food, as well as a vintage wine seminar. It culminates
in a grand tasting party on Saturday afternoon.

What Happens at a Wine Festival?

So what can a person expect at a wine festival? The whole concept is to introduce guests to wine manufacturers and varieties that they may not have the experience or knowledge to purchase on their own. Seminars abound, and the best minds in the industry give hints and share expertise on pairing wines with food. All of this is done in a party atmosphere, often in huge circus-like tents, with indigenous music, jazz or classical music playing in the background. It is an atmosphere where strangers become instant friends through their shared interest in food and wine. Who knows? A fun-filled wine festival may be