Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards of Sonoma is again calling for Best Appetizer recipes, a year after its successful national “Glorious Bites” contest in 2015. Budding home cooks who are 21 and over might channel their inner foodie and submit their recipe for this nationwide contest. And they could pocket the $5,000 prize.
Appetizers will be judged on originality, taste appeal and their ability to pair well with Sonoma Brut, the sparkling wine Gloria Ferrer has been producing in Sonoma for 30 years.
Eva Bertran, Gloria Ferrer’s vice president of Marketing, said, “After 30 years of great sparkling winemaking, Gloria Ferrer knows that nothing kicks off the start of a terrific gathering with friends and family like bubbles paired with a few small bites.”
Last year’s winner was Donna Wolfe, a reference librarian from Hamilton, New Jersey. “She wowed us with her Fried Lobster & Goat Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms with Sweet Thai Chili Dipping Sauce,” said Bertran. “We can’t wait to see your entries this year.”
All recipes will be reviewed by a panel of wine and food experts who will select the top 18 semi-finalists to participate in three live regional cook-offs, held during September in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas. Three home cook finalists will move on to the National Finals at Gloria Ferrer on Saturday, Oct. 15.
A new panel of judges for this year’s contest will include Chef Stuart O’Keeffe, a former Glorious Bites semi-finalist from Ireland who competed in Los Angeles and is popular on Food Network shows and network talk shows; Nycci Nellis, a Washington D.C. semifinalist who is a food and wine journalist in Washington, D.C.; Linda Nguyen, another semi-finalist from Austin, Texas, who writes the food blog “Girl Eats World”; Sara Deseran, an editor-at-large for San Francisco magazine who was a finalist last year in Sonoma; and Executive Chef Jennifer Luttrell of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, who will collaborate with Gloria Ferrer to create an appetizer using Point Reyes Original Blue cheese.
Yum!
View the official rules at gloriousbites.com and get your entries in by Aug. 31.
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