Food and Wine Preview: Tour De Vin At Whole Foods Tomorrow

This morning, we actually saw some fall weather outside...at least for an hour or two. Celebrate this shocking development and the beginning of red wine season with the Wine and Food Foundation's Tour De Vin, an annual tradition on the Whole Foods Downtown rooftop deck.

The event features wine from around the globe, and this year's lineup offers quite a bit to choose from. Our top picks include the lovely new world reds of Montes, the amazing Oregon Pinot Noirs of Archery Summit, Washington rising stars Amavi and Pepper Bridge, bargain priced gems from Santa Ema, and the lush California reds of Turnbull. There are dozens more to try, but these are the wines we'd taste first - a visit to any of these tables should leave you reeling.

Fall wines are fantastic enough, but many Tour De Vin visitors are just as interested in the fall flavors being served by many of Austin's most interesting chefs. This year's participants include Aquarelle, Buenos Aires Cafe, The Clay Pit, Gypsy, Hayashi, Kenichi, Lambert's, Málaga, NoRTH, parkside, and Roy's. There will also be live music from Robert Rodriguez sibling and local favorite Patricia Vonne on the roof deck. This is a fancy party with no dress code, so feel free to turn up after work and make a night of it. One final note: if you buy a membership ($50) for the Wine and Food Foundation, you can attend Tour De Vin for only $25. That means you'll get discounted member pricing on all Foundation events for a year, so you can partake in events like the upcoming Washington Wine and Spring Fling events in 2009. Cheers!