Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival Preview: Sunday Fair

In many ways, the Texas Hill County Wine & Food Festival feels not unlike a drag race. For three days, beginning with today’s festivities, it is a an all-out, high-octane gastronomical thrill ride, jam packed with cooking classes, wine tastings and delectable feasts. At some point though, all dragsters cross the finish line, release their parachutes and glide to an eventual and quiet stop; think of the Sunday Fair as your very own palate-pleasing parachute.

By far the most laid back event of the fest, Sunday Fair will have you loping about the greenscape of the soon-to-be Salt Lick Winery, amidst a bevy of vendors sampling their wine, food, liquor and more wine. Let’s say that again: WINE. Sunday Fair will play host to over 30 wineries from across the globe, giving you ample opportunity to discover your new favorite bottle. Our absolutely-can’t-miss picks range from the top end Chateau Ste. Michelle from Col Solare to the lovely, consistently enjoyable Oregon Pinot Gris and Pinot Noirs of Willakenzie Estate Winery. We also suggest Hope Family, who we interviewed earlier this week, Cape Classics, the premier importer of South African wines, and Tablas Creek with their French style Rhone blends, grown and bottled in Paso Robles, California.

For the complete Sunday Fair schedule and some pro-tips, follow the jump!

While you are sipping, we also suggest that you pop in on our friends at Edible Austin and learn about some of the sustainable food projects happening across our city, as well as the good people from Owl Tree Roasting, Teo Gelato and Zhi Tea, all of which produce superior quality products in their respective fields. And we would be remiss if we didn’t pay the Live Oak Brewery table a visit, as their clean, crisp and clove-ey Hefeweizen is the only thing to get us through our sweltering Texas summers.

In addition to the drinking and noshing, there will also be cooking demonstrations by John Besh, 2006 recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast, Jason Dady of The Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills in San Antonio, Rebecca Rather of Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredericksburg and David Bull of the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas.

As we did last year, we’d like to give you a few survival tips for Sunday Fair, especially considering that you have already burned up most of your gas with the preceding three day’s events:

Go early, not late. By the end of the day, the crowds are larger, and some of the wineries are out of their samples. Thus, noon is a better arrival time than 2:30.
Hydrate. You'll be having a lot of wine and beer, and it's warm outside in Texas! Have some water between each wine table to avoid getting yourself into trouble...and to refresh your palate a bit.
Eat. There are tons of snacks: Elgin sausage, dips, desserts, you name it. Have some here and there and take a break from the wine to pace yourself. We’ll even go so far this year as to suggest that you have a meal before you hit the event. While the snacks are delicious, they are no match for the amount of wine and spirits available for consumption.
Designate a driver. We all know that a drive to The Salt Lick is no small journey, so think twice before driving home with wine in your system. To combat ill-advised driving, the festival is offering a designated driver ticket for $30 which includes all the food, but no alcohol. If someone is willing to assume this role, let them - it's a wise and thoughtful way to approach the day.
Take notes. Nothing is worse than finding the perfect wine, then forgetting the name when you head into the Wine Merchant or Whip-In the following week. Write it down and take it to your local retailer for help!

The complete Sunday Fair Lineup includes:

Cooking Demo:
12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. John Besh, Recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast and author of My New Orleans: The Cookbook (There will be a book signing Post-Demo)
1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Jason Dady of The Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills in San Antonio
2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Rebecca Rather of Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredericksburg
3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. David Bull of the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas

Music Stage
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Suzanna Choffel
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Kat Edmonson
3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Trishas

Sunday Fair takes place at 12:00pm on Sunday, April 18th at The Vineyards at The Salt Lick. Tickets are $45 and can be found here

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.