"Green on the vine...

...like strawberry wine..."

Saturday evening we attended the 9th Annual Enid Wine and Food Festival sponsored by the Enid SPCA. It was a very fun evening and we got all dressed up, as the invitation directed. I was a little disappointed that not everyone followed the "Evening Dress recommended" suggestion. I saw several people there in jeans and the young man with the backwards baseball cap should have been smacked around a bit, but it was fun to see the different outfits and to sit back and people watch.

It wasn't a true wine tasting per se, there were enough people attending that the winery folks didn't have time to truly educate or work with any one person. But it was a good representation of the wine available in Enid. I've decided that I don't care for most of the regular grape wines (like Cabernet, Merlot, Reisling) - they are too sour and, at times, left an almost chemical aftertaste on my tongue. I completely fell in love with the berry wines from the Plain View Winery though. My favorites were the Raspberry and the Plum, Richard enjoyed the Sand Plum, and Laura liked the Strawberry wine. I did NOT enjoy the Elderberry and, of course, I did not even attempt the Peach, though Laura and Richard both said it was good. I think we may have to see about a real wine tasting at Plain View this Fall or Winter. I'd also like to do a tasting at Indian Creek Village Winery in Ringwood. I've always wanted to find a decent drinkable wine to fancy up dinner or to cook with. I could actually envision some of the berry wines being very good in sauces for chicken or pork. They might be too delicate for beef dishes but you never know. Hmm...methinks the Food Network hath created a monster! *LOL*

As for the food, nibble and bits of course. Plenty of cheese spreads and dips and finger-style foods good for walking around and tasting as you mingle. And remember, this IS Enid America we are talking about so I wasn't the least bit surprised that at one table I tried roasted pork loin in a Mission fig sauce (Costello's Continental Cuisine) and at the very next table was Godfather's Pizza and I had a cinnamon bread stick. *G* I also sampled the savory cheese spread and the pineapple cheese spread from Angel Delight Cafe and Catering, a cheese blintz from Panevino's Wine and Tapas Bar, chicken tenders from Golden Chicken, a coffee cake from Starbucks, and some tidbits from the "general buffet" in the center of the room (which included meatballs from Advance! *L*). It was all pretty good, especially the roasted pork. We were at Costello's the other night - Eric treated Richard and Laura to dinner for their 25th anniversary - and I had the pork loin with a Harverst Spice sauce - absolutely wonderful!! I generally get Chicken Kiev there but they removed it from their menu so I had to try something different and I was pleased with it. I've also had pork with a rosemary balsamic glaze at Romano's Macaroni Grill in OKC and that was great too - I managed to almost duplicate that sauce at home, yummy! *G*

Anyways - we had a fun time, tried some good food, some great wines, and had a wonderful time whispering about some of the more...uhmmmm..."creative" fashions of the younger set, the not-so-younger set, and the should-know-better set of Enid society. I'm hoping there will be pictures in the next issue of E-Town Magazine, not of us of course, but of the event in general. And I'm looking forward to "A Taste Of Enid", sponsored by the Enid Rotary Club, next April!