Food and wine at the Wine Country Film Festival

Putting the ‘wine’ in Wine Country Film Festival|

This longtime film festival, now centered in Glen Ellen and Kenwood, seems to have morphed from a general film festival, then to an environmental film festival, and now with almost a food and wine film festival with many interesting films mixed in.

Check out the wine lovers’ highlight on Saturday, Sept. 23, a seated tasting seminar dubbed “Taste Your Senses: The Family Wines of the Duel” featuring the wines in the comedy “The Duel of Wine” about a sommelier who has lost his sense of taste.

The film will be shown after the seminar.

What makes it special is that sommeliers Charlie Arturaola and Christopher Sawyer, and Michael Traverso of Italian Estates, will introduce the wines from the Italo-Argentinian film, “The Duel of Wine.” Arturaoloa plays the sommelier in the film.

Lots of chefs and winemakers from Piemonte, Veneto, Umbria and Sardinia play themselves, while Arturaela grew up around his father’s bar in Uruguay and started his career as a wine waiter on a Venetian cruise line and grew into a world-famous sommelier.

Among the wines to taste will be Montefalco from Umbria, Champagne Gosset from Reims, France, Venissa Bisol from Veneto, Italy, Txakoli Pilota from Euskadi,, Chianti Classico from Tuscany, MonteBuena Rioja Alvesa from Euskadi, Malbec Catena Zapata from Argentina, and Tannat Blend from Preludio, Uruguay.

Rainy Day Chocolate and Catering, which just won Best of Show Candy for their Zebra Dark & White Chocolate Layered Truffle at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, will prepare and sell food at every evening screening from Hungarian Goulash and a vegetarian Fozelek stew with creamed vegetables Friday night to go with “Kinscem,” chicken cacciatore and penne with roasted vegetables to accompany “The Duel of Wine,” and beef bourguignon and orecchiette with goat cheese and vegetables to go with “Tour de France.” Tasting seminar $75. 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, reservations required. Tickets to “The Duel of Wine” $20. More info, schedule, and tickets at wcff.us.

Films will be shown at Quarryhill Botanical Garden and Kenwood Depot, according to their website.

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