Taste of Yountville – March 23 & 24

Yountville, the “culinary capital” of the Napa Valley, will host the 19th Annual Taste of Yountville weekend celebration March 23 – 24, 2012 to showcase the town’s finest food, wine and arts. Taste of Yountville will culminate in a town-wide block party on Saturday, March 24 in which epicureans and oenophiles can sip and sample local favorites while taking a stroll along picturesque Washington Street.
In addition to Saturday’s signature block party event, the Taste of Yountville weekend will play host to several special events throughout Yountville, including local fine arts events hosted by the Yountville Arts Committee, special cooking demonstrations and guided tours of The illustrious French Laundry’s garden.

On Friday, March 23rd, as part of the NapaStyle Culinary Classroom series, NapaStyle will host a special cooking demonstration featuring James Beard Award winner, New York Times best-selling author and NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” Nutritionist Cheryl Forberg. The 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. event at V Marketplace 1870 is $50.00 per person. For tickets and more information, visit www.napastyle.com/culinary or call 707.945.1229.

The Yountville Arts Committee will also present the popular Taste of Yountville Show & Sale Artist Reception hosted by Napa Valley Open Studio Artists from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m – read more about it on our previous post.

On Saturday, March 24, the weekend culminates with the feature event, the 19th Annual Taste of Yountville block party, where the town’s acclaimed restaurants and wineries will offer savory bites, micro brews and wine along pedestrian-friendly Washington Street. The event, hosted by ABC7 News Arts and Entertainment Reporter, Don Sanchez, will take place from noon to 5 p.m., and admission is free. Tasting tickets to experience many of Yountville’s restaurants and dozens of Napa Valley wineries are only $1 each.

The line up of Taste of Yountville block party participants are:

Restaurants:
•    Bistro Jeanty
•    Bouchon
•    Bottega
•    etoile at Domaine Chandon
•    Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar
•    Lucy Restaurant & Bar at Bardessono
•    NapaStyle Paninoteca
•    Pacific Blues
•    Redd

Wineries:
•    Bell Wine Cellars
•    Cliff Lede Vineyards
•    Domaine Chandon
•    Girard Winery
•    Cornerstone Cellars
•    Goosecross Cellars
•    Hopper Creek Winery
•    Jessup Cellars
•    Somerston Wine Company

A special garden tour of The French Laundry’s two-acre culinary masterpiece by culinary gardener Tucker Taylor is also available (weather permitting). In addition, a one-day Passport will be available to visitors to get stamped along the event route during Taste of Yountville for a chance to win special prizes at day’s end.

For more information and updates on Taste of Yountville and the weekend’s events, visit www.yountville.com or Yountville’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YountvilleChamber.