October 2012

You might be wondering why I am writing about this not-so-family-friendly event on Family Fun Calgary. Well, sometimes mom and dad just need a night out to have a bit of fun while the kids get spoiled by grandma. When you love food and wine, what better place to go for some eats than the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival?

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The Calgary Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival returns for its 15th year celebrating fine wine, premium spirits, micro-brewed and import beer and gourmet food this weekend. Some of the foodie highlights include Crave Cupcakes, Craft Beer Market, Sunterra Market and Papa Chocolat.

In addition to these, I had a few of my own special favorites too.

I’m not sure if it was because of the row of pretty bottles or the fact they were showcasing their Peanut Butter and Jelly Vodka, but I had to stop by the Van Gogh Vodka booth. Their new dutch caramel flavoured vodka was a huge hit and I kept cracking up as I watched people’s eyebrows nearly hit the roof as they tasted the various vodkas. It’s not everyday you have espresso, caramel or peanut butter flavoured vodkas.

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I loved the pear tasting booth. Most of the booths had gourmet food samples with tons of flavour. Don’t get me wrong, they were all amazing but the pears were a nice break of fresh simplicity on my palate. I sampled three kinds of pears and confirmed I am a Bosc Pear kinda gal. I also got a kick out of their wine “pearing” suggestions to go with their varieties. Evidently, aged cheddar and Cab Sav go well with Boscs. Duly noted.

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You simply cannot have a food event in Calgary without a food truck. The ever popular Fiasco Gelato (one of my favorites) was of course there but I saw a brand new food truck tonight. The Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival was the debut event for the new Melrose Cafe and Bar food truck. I sampled one of their peanut butter cookies and swooned. It was that good!

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I did not get a chance to grab a photo (too busy sampling maybe) but you have to stop by the booth to the left of the Melrose Food Truck. The Monte Scroppino beverage they were serving tasted like a lime creamsicle slurpee (made with Prosecco). It was a great way to finish off our night, with a refreshing sweet treat.

If you are looking for a great date night idea for tomorrow night, head down to the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival. It’s running from 3-10pm tomorrow (October 13th, 2012) at the Stampede Park BMO Centre. Admission is $32.00 at the door. You can purchase food and beverage tickets for 50 cents each and prices of the samples start at 1 ticket and up. Most food and drink samples were about 3-6 tickets.

Please be sure to drink responsibly and have a plan to get home that does not involve you driving. There are too many yummy things to try so be sure to have some taxi cab telephone numbers handy before you head out. This event is for individuals ages 18 and older.

Bon Appetit!