Forks & Corks - Wining and Dining All Weekend Long!

This past weekend encapsulates everything I absolutely love about living in Sarasota, FL!  Every January Sarasota hosts the Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival, and Laurie and I set out to make the most of every opportunity available to wine and dine all weekend long. I’ll let you decide whether we took maximum advantage of the opportunities after reading this post!

Place setting for Adelsheim wine tasting dinner at Sage Restaurant in downtown Sarasota

The unfortunate thing about living in Sarasota is that there are simply too many things to do every weekend to take advantage of them all – tough problem to have, I know! But this city really is the best at leveraging the great weather and celebrating the fantastic food, wine, and culture scene down here. We have many favorite activities that we take advantage of frequently, but by far our favorite is the annual Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival that takes place every January.

The festival is planned and hosted by a group of local independent restaurateurs that are intent on preserving the unique culinary identity of Sarasota and the Suncoast. That means more independently owned restaurants and fewer McDonalds, Arby’s, and Longhorn Steakhouses! There are many activities to choose from as part of the 5-day weekend festival: wine tasting dinners at some of Sarasota’s best restaurants; University Master Wine Tasting classes; wine tastings at boutique wine shops throughout the city; an on-line wine auction with proceeds going to charity; and the penultimate event, the Grand Tasting!

Laurie and I did our best to experience as many of these events as possible this year. First up was a wine tasting dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Sarasota, Sage Restaurant. The chef at Sage, Chef Cristopher Covelli, is an award-winning chef that has competed on numerous Food Network shows and also serves as a consultant to the network. The wines for the dinner were provided by Adelsheim Vineyards, an Oregon winery in the Willamette Valley that Laurie and I visited during our vacation there a couple of years ago. The food and wine at the dinner were both fantastic, and we got a chance to meet both the chef and the winemaker for Adelsheim.

Sage dining room, and Adelsheim wine tasting dinner menu

 Scallop in roasted tomato heirloom soup, pan seared salmon with Israeli cous cous and curry honey, chicken roulade with mushroom sauce, grilled skirt steak with lobster breadcrumbs, and chocolate and salted caramel creme brulee

The next day, I headed back to downtown Sarasota to attend two University Master Wine Tasting Classes. These wine seminars showcase some of the best domestic and foreign wines and are led by a panel of the winery owners and/or winemakers themselves who share their stories as well as the stories of the wines included in the tastings. Each seminar included tastings of 12 wines served alongside a charcuterie plate. I attended two classes this year: Global Icons & Bold Reds, and Cool-Climate Masterpieces. Both courses were entertaining and educational, and the wines were fantastic – highly allocated and sought after wines with high price tags as well – perfect choices for sampling since I wouldn’t ever have the opportunity to taste them otherwise!

Table setting for the Global Icons & Bold Reds seminar at Forks & Corks

On the final day of the Festival, Laurie and attended the highlight of the weekend – The Grand Tasting which is held at the beautiful courtyard of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. The festival showcases food specialties from about 50 local restaurants and a collection of more than 300 unique and hard-to-find wines from 118 different wineries from across the globe. It also includes live entertainment, photobooths, a beer garden and a wine shop to purchase bottles of your favorite samples from the festival. We had a great time as we always do and enjoyed the beautiful 70-degree and sunny weather as well!

 Laurie with Chef Covelli from Sage Restaurant, selfie at the grand tasting, delicious seafood treats, and the courtyard for the grand tasting

Finally, we participated in the on-line wine and food auction for the first time this year. This auction includes a high-end collection of lots featuring rare and exquisite wines, travel, and one-of-a-kind dining experiences. Best of all, the value of the lots varied in price from $50 to over $2000, which provided ample opportunities to win a lot without breaking the bank! Laurie and I ended up with the highest bid on two lots – a magnum of Fess Parker “Ashley” Pinot Noir, and a three-bottle collection of Oregon wines from some of our favorite Oregon wineries.

One of my favorite features of this festival is that they provide you with opportunities to purchase the wines you taste at each event, which is quite unusual, especially given the caliber and limited production & availability of most of these wines. So, as an added bonus, we were able to add a couple of cases of rare and hard-to-find wines to our collection which we will share and enjoy with friends and family over the coming year!

So, tell me - do you think we took maximum advantage of all this year's Forks & Corks festival had to offer?! Also, I’ve given you all yet another reason to come and visit us down here at Sarasota – we’d love to have you join us at the 2026 Forks and Corks festival next year – we’re taking reservations now for your visit!! In the meantime, cheers and happy noshing!!!