On Sunday, April 7, food and wine fans gathered at Central Piedmont Community College for the tasting event at the second annual Sensoria Food and Wine Festival, part of CPCC’s longstanding Sensoria: A Celebration of Literature and the Arts. CPCC and the Piedmont Culinary Guild brought local chefs together with North Carolina winemakers to create 15 small dishes paired with 15 North Carolina wines and 15 wines from across the U.S.
The event, sponsored by Springer Mountain Farmers Chicken, Members Foodservice, and CPCC, featured dishes made with locally-sourced ingredients and aimed to educate guests on food and wine pairing as well as local ingredient sourcing. Sensoria Food and Wine Festival has come one of PCG’s top events of the year to help raise funds and to support PCG’s mission “of connecting the local food chain and strengthening the local food system.”
Here’s a taste of what was served at this year’s Sensoria:
Piccione Nero Braised Springer Mountain Farms Chicken Thighs – Chef Vince Giancarlo of Zeppelin
Cheerwine Korean chile BBQ sauce, kimchi-pickles vegetables
NC Wine Pairing: Piccione Nero Amaro
Slow-Roasted Korean Style Two Pigs Farm Pork – Chef Adam Reed of Santé
Steamed bun, tropical salsa, chipotle aioli
NC Wine Pairing: Parker Binns Petit Manseng
Beef Tartare – Chef Paul Verica of The Stanley
Brioche, pickled potato, truffle, egg yolk, herbs
NC Wine Pairing: McRitchie 2013 Ring of Fire
Spring Onion Rigatoni – Chef Major Hall of Kindred
Braised pork, parmigiano Reggiano
NC Wine Pairing: Raylen Cabernet Franc
Guests were given a ticket to vote for their favorite pairing after sampling each one. The winning dish of the day was Chef Chris Coleman’s (Stoke and Charlotte Marriott City Center) Smoked Pork Belly with sweet fry bread, peanut, benne, and chili jam paired with NC wine Shelton Vineyards Two. Five. Nine. Tannat.
Outside of the tasting kitchen, attendees enjoyed classes such as Food and Wine Pairing 101, Why Doesn’t Beer Get More Respect?, Fortified Wines, and Beyond Champagne. A limited number of tickets were available to a Riedel tasting of cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, Riesling, and chardonnay, which included Riedel glassware to take home. Each wine was served in a Riedel glass made specifically for the wine variation.
Piedmont Culinary Guild now begins planning for its Second Annual Farm to Fork in the Garden, scheduled for Oct. 6, 2019 at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. For more information on that and other Piedmont Culinary Guild events and initiatives, check out their website or follow along on Instagram.
