1st Annual SLOW FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL Features Outstanding Food, Top-Notch Wines

Hopewell Valley Vineyards, Pennington, New Jersey

Date: Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29, 2008
Time: Noon to 5:00pm

What could be better than exquisite food paired with the perfect wine?  This is the inspiration behind the Slow Food of Central Jersey’s first annual Slow Food & Wine Festival.

The festival will held June 28th and 29th from Noon to 5:00 p.m. at Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington, New Jersey and will include some of the area’s best restaurants and the most celebrated professional New Jersey wineries.

Attendees can sample summertime dishes prepared with the season’s locally grown vegetables, fruits, seafood, chicken, meats and more dished up by some of the most exciting chefs in New Jersey Some of the area’s most highly-regarded restaurants are participating including Tre Piani, the Forrestal Village restaurant that received New Jersey Monthly’s Reader’s Choice Award; Brother’s Moon, Slow Food Central New Jersey Chapter, Mercer County Community College’s Culinary Institute and more.

Attendees can sample wines to pair with the food from award-winning New Jersey wineries including host Hopewell Valley Vineyards (Pennington) which melds three generation of Tuscan winemaking with New World style to produce top Italian variety wines;  Alba Vineyard (Finesville) whose wines have won “Best of Division,” “Best of Class” and Gold medals at prestigious international wine festivals;  Unionville Vineyards (Ringoes) which serves award-winning wines from a gorgeous scenic winery;  Cape May Winery (Cape May) which under the ownership of Toby Craig, former owner of the renowned Washington Inn Restaurant in Cape May, produces top quality vinifera wines; and Laurita Vineyards (New Egypt), which concentrates on European noble varieties, lavishing attention on both its vineyards and its hand crafted wines.

In addition, there will be cheeses from local artisans, fresh baked breads, food demonstrations, cook book authors, wine seminars, honey producers, displays from the New Jersey Mycological Association and the Garden State Seafood Association, flower, plants and seafood for purchase, craft vendors, music and more.

This fun and informative event will take place under tents and will be held rain or shine at Hopewell Valley Vineyards, 46 Yard Road, Pennington, New Jersey. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door. The entrance fee includes wine tasting, a souvenir wine glass and entrance into the cooking demonstrations and wine seminars.  Food will be available at a nominal fee.  Directions to the event can be found at www.hopewellvalleyvineyards.com or by calling the winery at 800-HVV-WINE.

Slow Food is a non-profit organization formed in 1986 in Italy in response to the opening of the first McDonald’s in Rome. The organization currently has 100,000 members worldwide in 45 countries. Slow Food “promotes a philosophy of pleasure, protects small food producers who make quality products, counters the effects of industrial and fast food culture and works towards safeguarding traditional food and wine heritage.”  For more information on the Central New Jersey Slow Food chapter, contact Jim Weaver at 609-452-1515.

New Jersey wineries have captured the attention of the wine world and local wine connoisseurs with their award-winning wines. The five wineries participating have won numerous national and international medals for their wines as well as the respect of the wine industry. They are all open for tours and tastings and summer is an ideal time to visit them.