November 21, 2010 Phoenix, Arizona

2011 Arizona Wine Growers awards banquet at Quiessence

This past weekend the Arizona Wine Grower’s Association celebrated its 3rd annual awards banquet and festival.

The awards banquet was held at the AAA Four Diamond award winning Quiessence restaurant.  The cozy little farm house is nestled in the back end of the 10 acre urban Farm at South Mountain.  Executive Chef and owner Gregory La Prad created a stunning 5 course meal paired with the Gold medal winning wine in each category.  Guests paid $125 each to dine with the Arizona Republic Wine Competition winners.  The intimate evening was the culmination of 12 months of difficult work for the wine growers and makers, but made all the worthwhile by mixing with their biggest fans.  I was lucky enough to be invited thanks to Chris Fiscus at Moses Anshell, Patti King at the AZWGA and Peggy Fiandaca president of the AZWGA.

Watch this 2 minute video featuring scenes from the banquet: