An adorable cake from What the Cake? at the 2014 Dark & Delicious
If you’re a red wine lover who enjoys food and wine events then you should know that the annual Dark & Delicious Petite Sirah™ event provides an amazing experience and it’s coming to the East Bay on February 20th. Over 40 premium Petite Sirah wineries join forces with Bay Area restaurants, caterers, and food purveyors to provide you a chance at plenty of fun, food, and wine in a convenient location (and with free parking, no less).
Dark & Delicious Petite Sirah™ is the preeminent Petite Sirah annual event, produced each year by PS I Love You, Inc. The festivities will take place on Friday, February 20, 2015 from 6 to 9 pm and it will be held once again at Rock Wall Wine Company (2301 Monarch Street, Suite 3D, Alameda). Part of the Mission of organizer PSILY is to emphasize the terroir uniqueness amongst Petite Sirah wines and the Dark & Delicious event helps deliver that with wines made from grapes grown all over California.
Tickets for the annual Dark & Delicious Petite Sirah™ are only available in advance and they are limited so you should really go here and buy them soon. The cost is $65 per person or $55 per person for groups of 6 or more. In addition to a broad range of wine and food samples, the event also presents a Silent Auction so you can have fun bidding between tastes of incredible Petite Sirah. Last year’s items included private tour and tasting activities, lodging and tasting packages, and bottles of wine ranging from 375 ml to 3 liters.
Gustafson Family Vineyards
Some of the participating wineries at this year’s Dark & Delicious will be Ballentine Vineyards, Berryessa Gap Vineyards, Clayhouse Wines, Concannon Vineyard, The Crusher, Fenestra Winery, Field Stone Winery, Gustafson Family Vineyards, Miro Cellars, Ridge Vineyards, Robert Biale Vineyards, Rock Wall Wine Company, Trentadue Winery, and Tres Sabores.
Dashe Cellars
Some of the original (2002) PS I Love You winery members are Foppiano Vineyards and Wilson Vineyards, both of whom will be pouring again this year. Recent winery members (who will also be sharing their wines at the 2015 Dark & Delicious) include Bianchi Winery, Carol Shelton Wines, Dashe Cellars, Fulcrum Wines, Klinker Brick Winery, Kokomo Winery, Neal Family Vineyards, Pendleton Estate Vineyards & Winery, Vasco Urbano Wine Company, Venteux Vineyards and Kenneth Volk Vineyards.
FYI, P.S. I Love You has been working on their own Petite Sirah, crafted by winemaker Miro Tcholakov of Miro Cellars and this wine recently won “Best of Show” at the 2014 Grand Harvest Awards. It won’t be available for sale until next year’s Dark & Delicious, but be sure to drop by Mr. Tcholakov’s table to sample his other wines to recognize his talent and build your anticipation.
In addition to great wine, this event has a substantial amount of well-prepared and scrumptious food for attendees. Last year, we enjoyed dozens of delicious Petite Sirahs along with these outstanding bites:
Roasted Pork Crostini from California Rose Catering
- Chili Roasted Pork Crostini with a Parsley, Mint, Cilantro, and Basil Chimichurri from California Rose Catering
- Liquid Vanilla Caramel, Ginger Caramel, and Blood Orange Bon Bon from Coco Tutti Confections
- Chocolate Kahlua Truffle from Oz Catering
- Vanilla Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream from What the Cake?
2014 Dark and Delicious
Those organizations are all returning for the 2015 Dark & Delicious, and of the other food purveyors will include Bonehead’s Texas BBQ, Chunky Pig, The Crepe Queen, Monterey Chocolate Company, Montibella Sausage Company, Sabores del Sur, Scolari’s Good Eats, and Simply Bliss Catering.
PS I Love You is a non-profit organization created to promote, educate, and legitimize Petite Sirah as a heritage variety with a special emphasis on its terroir uniqueness. Winery members who join the organization receive benefits such as social media exposure, media publicity promoting the varietal, discounts for the annual Petite Sirah Symposium, media tasting opportunities, and the opportunity to participate in the annual Dark & Delicious wine and food event.
Consumers can actually formalize their Petite Sirah “Groupie” status through PS I Love You as well. Membership benefits include VIP entrance to events, discounted rate at events, a T-shirt, and an annual Groupie BBQ with winemakers. Single Groupie membership is only $50 per year, and a Couple Groupie membership is just $25 more. To join, please go here.
You can click on this link to read how much we enjoyed last year’s event and then please join us at the 2015 Dark & Delicious by going here to purchase tickets.