Music City Food + Wine Showcases Nashville’s Culinary Scene

Fiona Chandra

Music City Food + Wine Festival returns for the fifth year this September, showcasing the best Nashville has to offer. The weekend-long festival will be filled with multiple tasting events.

The main event, Grand Taste, will be held on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Both sessions will feature more than 80 wineries, breweries, restaurants and food artisans. The lineup for the Chef Showcase for each Grand Taste differs by session. On Friday evening find Carey Bringle (Peg Leg Porker), Brandon Chavannes (Moto Cucina & Enoteca), Tony Galzin (Nicky’s Coal Fired) and many more. On Saturday, the lineup includes Andrew Rodriguez (Pinewood Social), David Tieman (Five Points Pizza), Nick Pellegrino (Mangia Nashville), and others. Both sessions will feature distilleries such as Appleton Estate, Casa Noble Tequila, Don Julio Tequila, Four Roses Bourbon, Hendrick’s Gin and many more. Wines will be poured by Chateau D’Esclans, Justin Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, Champagne Taittinger and others, along with a number of local breweries.

Both days will also feature chef demos with Jonathan Waxman, Andrew Zimmern, John Besh, Marcus Samuelsson, and other celebrity chefs. There will be special tasting seminars of Charles Krug wines, tequila, Puerto Rican rum, and food pairing with Guinness.

New this year is the Gospel Brunch. The brunch will be held on Sunday and will feature Southern classics and creative brunch dishes from previous Lamb Jam winners such as Lars Taylor (The Honey Paw, Portland, ME), Mark Stark (Bird and Bottle, SF) and Jason Stude (Boiler Nine, Austin). Local chefs like Karl Worley (Biscuit Love) will also be participating. Other events include food and music-filled Harvest Night as well as the meat-focused Martin’s BBQ & Friends Live Fire.

Lucky attendees will be selected to attend an exclusive Pappy Hour tasting with Preston Van Winkle of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. To be eligible, guests must have purchased an All-In Ticket or a Saturday ticket by Sept. 7.

All-In tickets are $525 per person and include Friday and Saturday festival access including cooking demos and panel discussions, access to Martin’s BBQ & Friends, and Harvest Night. Tickets to Friday or Saturday Grand Tasting including cooking demos and panels are $165 each. Tickets to Harvest Night are $275 per person and Gospel Brunch tickets cost $85 per person.

Stay at Germantown Inn, a boutique hotel in a converted two-story 19^th century home in the burgeoning Germantown neighborhood, convenient to Bicentennial Park. The upscale Hermitage Hotel, set in a 1910 beaux-arts building, is Nashville’s longest standing hotel which retains its AAA Five-Diamond rating with luxurious amenities and impeccable service. For something more hip and artistic, the 21c Museum Hotel marries contemporary art museum and boutique hotel. The rooms boast high ceilings, large windows and plush robes.

Music City Food + Wine takes place from Sept. 15-17. Purchase tickets here.