17th Annual Pigs & Pinot

On Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16, Chef Charlie Palmer will bring together culinary and wine elites from around the country to participate in the 17th Annual Pigs & Pinot weekend. Held at the award-winning Hotel Healdsburg and Dry Creek Kitchen this celebration has become a tradition among pork and wine enthusiasts eager to experience the creations of over 60 wineries and 20 chefs who showcase their talents each year. All net proceeds from Pigs & Pinot benefit the Palmer Family Education Foundation, PFEF (in partnership with the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation) raising money for Educational Programs including Culinary and Wine Accreditation, Music, and the Arts.

Participating Chefs

Nancy Oakes (Chef/Owner), Boulevard Restaurant, Dean Fearing (Chef/Owner), Fearing's Restaurant, Neal Fraser (Chef/Owner), Redbird and Vibiana, David Nayfeld (Chef/Co-Owner), Che Fico, Mark Stark (Chef/Owner), Stark Reality Restaurants, John Stewart & Duskie Estes (Chefs/Owners, Black Pig Meat Co., Ryan Urig (Executive Chef), Grand Wailea Resort, Dustin Valette (Chef/Owner), The Matheson, and Bryan Voltaggio (Chef/Owner) Thacher & Rye.

Gala Guest Wineries

Benovia Winery, Bricoleur Vineyards, Hartford Family Winery, Lombardi Wines, Papapietro Perry, Pisoni Family Vineyards, Ponzi Vineyards. Vaughn Duffy Wines, and Williams Seylem.

Taste of Pigs and Pinot

Friday evening’s festival kickoff is the lively Taste of Pigs & Pinot where guests sample 60 highly-acclaimed Pinot Noir wines competing in the Pinot Cup competition, both from Sonoma County and around the world. Two Rosé wines will be offered in addition to the lineup of 60 Pinot Noirs treating guests to a “white wine” twist on Pinot Noir. Tastings are served alongside a variety of pork dishes, including homemade sausages, charcuterie, grilled pork, patés and other special creations from Chef Palmer, Dry Creek Kitchen, guest celebrity chefs, and local Healdsburg restaurants including Troubador, Spoonbar, and Valette.

Pinot Cup

The Pinot Cup is our annual wine competition where 60 hand-picked Pinot Noirs compete in a blind-tasting competition in hopes to be named “the best of the best” by a renowned judging panel including Wine Writer and Reviewer, Virginie Boone, Meridith May, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief The Tasting Panel & The Somm Journal and Keith Goldston, Master Sommelier. The winner and runner-up will be revealed at Friday’s Taste of Pigs & Pinot event.

Seminars

On Saturday afternoon, Pigs & Pinot participants can attend two seminars: Tournament of The Pig where four guest chefs will divide into two teams to prepare the best pork-inspired dishes. This iron-chef style competition will be hosted by Charlie Palmer and Mario Cantone; and “The Ultimate Pinot Smackdown” led by Master Sommeliers, Keith Goldston, Michael Jordan, Andrea Robinson, and David Yoshida.

The Matheson Gala Dinner

Saturday evening’s Pigs & Pinot Gala features a multi-course dinner at Dustin Valette’s The Matheson. As a collaborative offering, each course features a signature creation from Valette and his guest chefs including David Nayfeld, Mark Stark, Duskie Estes, and John Stewart. Each course will be paired with two limited-production Pinot Noirs from highly acclaimed wineries including Benovia Winery, Bricoleur Vineyards, Hartford Family Winery, and Lombardi Wines. Dinner will be emceed by Spreti Valente.

After dinner, guests are invited to continue the party at Hotel Healdsburg for after-dinner drinks and sweets.

Dry Creek Kitchen Gala Dinner

Saturday evening’s Pigs & Pinot Gala features a sumptuous five-course dinner at Hotel Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen. As a collaborative offering, each course features a signature creation from Palmer and his guest chefs including Nancy Oakes (Chef/Owner), Boulevard Restaurant, Dean Fearing (Chef/Owner), Fearing's Restaurant, Neal Fraser (Chef/Owner), Redbird and Vibiana, Ryan Urig (Executive Chef), Grand Wailea Resort and Bryan Voltaggio (Chef/Owner) Thacher & Rye.

Every course will be paired with two limited-production Pinot Noirs from highly acclaimed wineries including Matt Duffy (Owner and Winemaker), Vaughn Duffy Wines, Jeff Mangahas (VP, Director of Winemaking), Williams Seylem, Ben Papapietro (Co-Owner/Executive Winemaker), Papapietro Perry and Gary Pisoni (Owner), Pisoni Family Vineyards.

After dinner, guests are invited to continue the party at Hotel Healdsburg for after-dinner drinks and sweets.