2006 South Beach Wine and Food Festival Presented by Food & Wine magazine Celebrates its 5th Anniversary

Friday, February 24 – Sunday, February 26, 2006

Miami Beach, Fla. – Building upon four phenomenally successful years, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, hosted by Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida and Florida International University, plans to celebrate its fifth anniversary in 2006 with some of the world’s greatest culinary superstars and wine and spirits personalities, all of whom will converge in South Beach for three glorious days of non-stop food and wine indulgence, Friday, February 24 – Sunday, February 26.

On opening night, Friday, February, 24, 2006, the always popular Moët & Chandon BubbleQ will feature Bobby Flay & friends (Dean Fearing, Kevin Rathbun, Adam Perry Lang, Jack Stacks, Douglas Rodriguez, Claude Troisgros, Kenneth Collins, Vicki Wells), a brat-pack of “grill masters” gathered from all corners of the USA, under the stars, beach side at the casual-chic Delano.

While the bubbly flows at the Moët & Chandon BubbleQ, the finest reserves and library wines from over 25 of the country’s top wineries will be poured by their respective winemakers and principals and matched with the mouth-watering bounty of sophisticated cuisine prepared by some of today’s hottest culinary masters including Michael Mina, Scott Conant, Laurent Tourandel, Alfred Portale, Tom Colicchio, Geoffrey Zakarian, Todd English, Angelo Elia, Dewey LoSasso, Michael Bloise, Mark Militello and Clay Conley at the Best of the Best Reserve Tasting held at Miami Beach’s crown jewel, the Fontainebleau Hotel & Resort.

On Saturday, February 25, 2006, Tom Matthews, executive editor of Wine Spectator, will kick off the Wine Spectator Wine Seminars featuring an impressive lineup of seminars. Winemakers and principals will lead these teaching tastings on Sryah and Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Caymus, The Wines of Thomas Brown, the wines of Giuseppe Caviola, a luncheon paired with the wines of Chateau Ste. Michelle and a Château Lafite seminar hosted by Baron Eric de Rothschild who will also be honored with the Southern Wine & Spirits of America Lifetime Achievement Award at a Tribute Brunch the following day. Andrea Immer will also return to South Beach in 2006 to lend her expertise of pairing wines with food along with Joe Bastianich on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26.

To top off a day filled with exquisite wine seminars on Saturday, February 25, the Festival will honor Spain’s most revered chef, Ferran Adrià at a dinner orchestrated by some of his peers and friends, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the festival’s headquarters and host hotel. Adrià’s long-time protégé and friend Jose Andres will spearhead this dinner and will be joined by culinary superstars Emeril Lagasse, Marc Ehrler, Norman Van Aken, Thomas Keller, Gray Kunz, Nobu Matsuhisa, and Pierre Herme to prepare the ultimate salute to the man who has influenced their creativity in cooking. Hosted by renowned chef and restaurateur, Anthony Bourdain, the dinner will conclude with a special documentary filmed by Bourdain in Ferran Adria’s secret research laboratory.

Following this dinner, one of South Florida’s all time favorite pastry chefs, Hedy Goldsmith, will host the greatest dessert party seen in South Florida where guests will be invited to enjoy decadent desserts prepared by local and national pastry chefs poolside at the Loews Miami Beach. Margaret Braun, sugar-artist and cake expert extraordinaire will reveal a brilliantly crafted extravagant cake in honor of the Festival’s Fifth anniversary with all-star Festival guest chefs on site at this dessert extravaganza to help blow the candles out on this perfect evening commemorating the Festival’s Fifth Anniversary. The following day, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival will pay tribute to everyone’s favorite dessert chef and cookbook author Maida Heatter with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival’s tribute brunch where leaders in the food and wine industries will be honored.

On Friday, February, 24, Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26, 2006 more than 75 of South Florida’s greatest restaurants & caterers, and more than 150 world-class wineries and spirits producers will offer their best under the Grand Tasting Tents prominently located on the beautiful white sand of South Beach just steps away from the Atlantic Ocean. There, festival guests will be invited to partake in a series of Culinary and Lifestyle Demonstrations, featuring top chefs and food personalities including Alton Brown, David Lieberman, Al Roker, Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence, Pierre Herme, Margaret Braun, Daisy Martinez, Anthony Bourdain, Nobu Matsuhisa and Bobby Flay to name a few.

To commemorate its Fifth anniversary, the South Beach Wine and Food Festival will kick off its first ever “Just for Kids” Cooking Demonstrations hosted by Emeril Lagasse, Alton Brown and Rachael Ray on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26, 2006. The Festival plans to collaborate with the Dade-County school system to introduce inner-city kids to the culinary world by designing programs to create healthier eating habits for kids as well as giving these children the once-in-a-lifetime experience to interact with Food Network personalities like Emeril Lagasse, Alton Brown and Rachael Ray.

Likewise, local university students will get a taste of what it’s like to work with top culinary masters and other high-ranking members of the hospitality industry. Majors from Florida International University’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management will organize and run many of the weekend’s events. “We are so proud of our students who share their time, energy, expertise and professionalism to several areas of the event production, from food preparation, logistics, to marketing, ticketing and hosting our guests,” said School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Dean Joseph West. Festival Founder and Director, Lee Brian Schrager, adds, “The students’ contribution is an essential element to the mix. Many of the students work side-by-side with the grand luminaries of the wine, spirits and culinary world who make this a gastronomically thrilling affair.”

The annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival has collectively raised approximately $2 million in support of educational programs and facilities at the nationally respected School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University, home to the state-of-the-art Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.

Visit www.sobewineandfoodfest.com