Newport’s Wine and Food Festival; A Sampler of Educational Seductions

 

For the past 20 years Newport has marked the end of summer with a Wine and Food Festival.  This year the three day gala at Rosecliff seduced the senses with a sophisticated sampler of sensations.

The vibe was as warm as the late summer’s sun, belly laughs were as deep as the old-port, and countless selfies were snapped for frame-worthy memories.

The Festival encouraged guests to flirt with the idea of preparing nuanced charcuterie boards to pair with silky smooth bourbons then cocktails and mocktails to sip with patés. Like changing our clocks back, the annual event time-lines a season of exploring old horizons in new ways.

Entertainment is one objective of this Preservation Society of Newport Gala, another is to celebrate the colony’s vibrant history. The Wine and Food Festival offers more than a nostalgic walk into the Gilded Age, it anchors the port to monumentality. Newport’s longitude and latitude mark an attitude of American excellence.  As much as this fête is dedicated to delectable things, it also serves food for thought.

Rosecliff was modeled after Versailles in 1893, designed for the Oelrich family whose fortune was derived from owning a steamship line. The intention was to landmark the social-scene for people of significant accomplishment. Newport was and remains a posh destination for lounging, laughing and learning.

Four miles from Rosecliff stands another hallmark of the enclave’s history. Built in 1884 the U.S. Navel War College (USNWC) is the port-of-call for excellence in naval education.  The college is a monument for in-depth and interdisciplinary scholarship. It’s a “Home of Thought” linking academic rigors to the mastery of international savor-faire.

Currently enrolled in continuing-ed classes at USNWC, Surface Warfare Officer Lt. Commander Sara Zanitsch and Public Affairs Officer Lt.Commander Sarah Niles attended a few of the Wine and Food Festival’s lectures at Rosecliff.  With colleagues in London boasting of British bubblies, a lecture on how to pair caviars with American sparkling wines blended opportunities for the Officers to match Newport’s style with diplomatic bragging rites.

The Officers also compared a fleet of bourbons. Lt.Commander Niles summed up the experience “Amber pours with hints of vanilla and smoke have smooth as silk finishes. YES is the best way to approach each splash! ”

Next autumn, allow yourself to be seduced into following the late summer sun to Newport’s Wine and Food Festival for a few belly laughs and frame-worthy memories.  The vibe of the old port offers bucket-list deliciousness and food for sophisticated thought.

Upcoming Educational Events in Newport: 

October 6:

Chinese Tea House, Marble House

Mid Autumn Festival 5:30-7:30PM

October 16:

The Elms

Plein Air Painting 9AM-4PM

October 16:

Rosecliff

Lecture – Mars and the Gilded Age Imagination 6PM

October 24-25 

The Breakers
Trick or Treat 5:30 & 6:30

November 1

The Breakers

Greenhouse, Carriage House and Stable Guided Tour 10:00 AM

November 6 & 7 

Rosecliff and Marble House

The French Influence in Newport

8:30 AM -3:45 PM

for tickets and more info : newport mansions.org