Unless you’ve been invited to one of Guy Fieri’s birthday parties (and I’m still waiting for my Evite), you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more expansive gathering of chefs and winemakers than Pigs & Pinot in Healdsburg.
The annual event, which will be held March 15-16, is now in its 17th year.
It is centered around the Taste of Pigs and Pinot, a sampling of over 60 wines (mostly pinot noir) and pairings from Dry Creek Kitchen, guest celebrity chefs including Nancy Oakes of Boulevard in SF, Neal Fraser of LA’s Redbird, Bryan Voltaggio of Maryland’s Thacher & Rye along with local Healdsburg restaurants, including Molti Amici, Spoonbar and Valette.
But that’s just the start. The weekend extravaganza also includes a whole pig Iron Chef-style competition at The Matheson, with guest chefs preparing dishes for a pork-loving panel of judges. There’s also the Ultimate Pinot Smackdown, with four Master Sommeliers pitting 16 pinot noirs against each other.
Two gala dinners will be held at Dry Creek Kitchen and The Matheson but are reserved for guests who purchase Hotel Healdsburg packages that include two nights at the Healdsburg Hotel for a cool $6,500.
The event benefits various culinary and wine scholarships, including scholarships to The Culinary Institute of America, Sonoma State Wine Program, Court of Sommelier Level 1 and Odyssey Wine Academy, as well as the Healdsburg and Luther Burbank Centers for the Arts, and several other local educational and arts programs.
For more details about the event and ticket sales, go to pigsandpinot.com.