Cécile Burban
Pierre Lurton, Directeur Général
Vendanges 2014 - Chateau Cheval Blanc
For the past 17 years, it's been fun to see which food world dignitaries will travel to Southwest Florida for the Naples Winter Wine Festival, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious.
The talent is expectedly deep for the 2017 fest, and there are some familiar faces along with intriguing wunderkinds.
As for the chefs, Wolfgang Puck, who had previously this year been named the 2017 Naples Winter Wine Festival's Chef de Cuisine, is returning for his third star turn (his first in the honorary role). A testament to the strength of the lineup, Top Chef star Tom Colicchio will also be cooking a Friday night vintner dinner, and in total, the 18 chefs cumulatively hold 11 Michelin stars and 13 James Beard Awards.
We have the full chart of which chefs will be paired with each vintner below for the dinners on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. But two more refreshing pairings are Ryan Hardy of New York’s Charlie Bird, representative of a new wave of culinary celebrities, with Château Haut-Brion and Francis Mallman, Argentina’s most celebrated chef, with both Silver Oak and Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate.
For the 2017 festival, Pierre Lurton of Bordeax’s Château Cheval Blanc and Château d'Yquem is the Honored Vintner, and he is joined by three dozen other dignitaries who represent the best of 12 wine producing regions throughout the world.
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