Okanagan Feast of Fields 2010

600 people standing in a field eating and drinking. Wow.

That may not sound that exciting, but let me tell you — it was. Feast of Fields is an event put on by the Farm Folk City Folk organization and is held annually in the Okanagan, Lower Mainland, and on Vancouver Island.

This year’s Okanagan edition featured some of the area’s top restaurants and wineries and included some of my favourites from around the Okanagan Valley.

The format for the event is straight forward and is basically a 4 hour grazing session involving wine tasters and small bite size portions from each vendor. Each food item is paired with some type of drink for the most part with an emphasis on local.

I can’t really describe this event in any other way than a veritable food orgy as I spent the better part of four hours sauntering around in search of the perfect food/drink pairing never without either, or likely both, in my hand. For the most part this involved wine, but there were some locally sourced beers and cocktails in the mix.

While pretty much everything was amazing there were a few standouts in the crowd that I feel deserve some mention, and I’m sorry if I can’t more eloquently describe the experience, as I don’t remember all of the exact ingredients since I was in a mild food/wine fuelled daze.

So without further adieu, here are my top 6 pairings of the day:

Chocolate Brownie from the Bench Market in Penticton meets Elephant Island Pink Elephant sparkling fruit wine. Wow is all I can say about this. The tart and dry factor of the wine is not something I would expect to go well with a chocolate brownie, but the two were like a match made in culinary heaven. Surprising and delicious. I loved it!
Butter Chicken from Waterfront Wines in Kelowna paired with a Noble Ridge Chardonnay. This was also a big winner, for me and a perfectly harmonious blend of flavours. Chef Mark Filatow dished up something fantastic. The creamy zing of the butter chicken met with the cool, smooth, buttery Chardonnay from Noble Ridge made for an excellent pair.
Two Rivers Specialty Meats sausage with chutney or mustard paired with Rustic Roots Peach Nectarine fruit wine. Another surprise here, and a new winery in my mental catalogue. I’d never heard of Rustic Roots, but I will be making a trip out there soon. The wine was not overly sweet and fairly subtle. They likened it to a Pinot Gris. That combined with the mildly spicy organic sausage was fantastico!
Gray Monk Rotberger Rose elegantly paired with Anise Brulee Wild Halibut Ceviche featuring organic tomato jam, carrot, and chive bellini from Wild Apple Restaurant at Manteo Resort in Kelowna. This was truly divine. I’m not sure either of these would be a favourite on their own, but together they were a huge send-up to the importance of food and wine pairing. Absolutely delicious.
Joy Road Catering heirloom tomato bruschetta with the Blue Mountain Vineyards Brut sparkling wine. The bruschetta was delectably simple with tomato, home baked thin bread, and basil, but it was a total flavour bomb on the palate. Apparently the secret might be this Amelia olive oil which was something else, let me tell you! Topped off with a swig of my perennial Okanagan sparkling favourite the Blue Mountain Brut this was a solid pair.
Last but not least Victoria Road Bistro from Summerland concocted a Poplar Grove Double Cream Camembert with almond and some kind of local fruit puree on bread which was subtly sweet and savoury all at the same time. It was one of my favourites of the day on its own, but it was particularly delicious when paired with the 8th Generation Pinot Gris, also from Summerland. Amazing stuff from one of my favourite restaurants in the Okanagan.

Of course there were a ton of other notable and amazing wines and dishes, but I would have to spill another couple thousands words to describe them all.

If you have a chance to attend a Feast of Fields event in your area definitely do it. $85 may seem steep to some for a ticket, but it is well worth the price. What better way to spend the day than by celebrating great food and wine with some great people out in the country sun!

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Below is the semi-live portion of this post that I posted while at Feast of Fields:

11:50am — Pre-FOF coffee at The Bench Market in Penticton. Through misunderstanding I take the wrong coffee (I don’t usually get a “to-go”). Rightful recipient wags finger at me — puts me in precarious mood.

1:00pm—on the bike along Skaha Lake. Much better mood now. Thinking of great wine/food ahead. Revving the metabolism to fend off potential en-mass weight gain to the midsection.

1:35—Arrival. Glad I didn’t drive judging by line for shuttle in parking lot 3km away from Brock Farm. RCMP making presence known. Please don’t drink & drive. Re-applying deodorant and heading for the food!