Meet Baja's star winemakers at weekly event in Bankers Hill

Meet Baja’s star winemakers at weekly event in Bankers Hill

A different winemaker from Baja's Valle de Guadalupe will be pouring at a Bankers Hill event every Tuesday through September 25. The Meet the Winemaker series is a run up to the upcoming Valle Food & Wine Fest Oct. 5-7 and will be held at Franco on Fifth.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Aug. 10, 2018 11:15 AM PT

If you’re like us and you can’t wait for Baja’s Valle Food & Wine Fest Oct. 5-7 — what’s sure to be the all-star culinary event of the year — here’s a glass of good news.

San Diegans can get a taste for the talent of the Valle de Guadalupe’s winemakers at a weekly event at Franco on Fifth in Bankers Hill. The Meet the Winemaker series will feature several tastes, paired with bites, from a winery participating in the festival.

Even if you’re not heading south, this is a delicious way to discover one of the trendiest — and best — wine regions in the world.

The schedule:

Aug. 14, El Cielo;

Aug. 21, Cava Maciel;

Aug. 28, Torres Alegre;

Sept. 4 Finca La Carrodilla and Lomita;

Sept. 11, Bodegas F. Rubio;

Sept. 18, Alximia;

Sept. 25, Vena Cava.

Meet the Winemaker

7 p.m. Tuesdays. Franco on Fifth, 3334 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. $35 at the door or through Eventbrite, bit.ly/2OnG8nV (service charge applies). (619) 888-8033. facebook.com/Francoon5th

If you are headed south for the Valle Food & Wine Festival, here’s are the participating chefs from both sides of the border (when buying tickets, mention CHEF15 for a 15 percent discount):

Visiting chefs from the U.S.:

Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Leña Brava), Nancy Silverton (Mozza Restaurant Group), Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn); Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto, Adele’s); Michael Mina (The Mina Group); Ori Menashe (Bestia, Bavel); Walter Manzke (République, Petty Cash); Nancy Oakes (Boulevard); Chandra Gilbert (Gracias Madre, Cafe Gratitude); Dahlia Narvaez (Mozza Restaurant Group); Ryan DeNicola (Chi Spacca).

San Diego chefs:

Brian Malarkey (Herb & Wood); Andrew Spurgin (Bespoke Event Styling); Martin San Román (Dobson’s); Trey Foshee (George’s California Modern, Galaxy Taco); Jason McLeod (Ironside Fish & Oyster, Born & Raised); Jason Knibb (Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar); Flor Franco (Franco on Fifth) and Claudia Sandoval (Claudia’s Cocina).

Local Baja chefs:

Javier Plascencia (Finca Altozano, Misión 19); Benito Molina and Solange Muris (Manzanilla); Drew Deckman (Deckman’s en el Mogor); Miguel Ángel Guerrero (La Querencia, La Esperanza Baja Med);) David Castro Hussong (Fauna); Sheyla Alvarado (TrasLomita); Giannina Gavaldón (Olivia El Asador Del Porvenir); Angelo Dal Bon (TreGalline); Denise Roa (Rancho La Puerta); Adria Montaño (Don Ramen, Azarosa); Ruffo Ibarra (Oryx Capital, Pancracia), Marco Marín (Latitud 32); and Bianca Castro-Cerio (Biscotti’s).

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirl

Eat | Drink

Michele Parente

Michele Parente is the Dining, Wine + Lifestyle reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Her areas of expertise include the Valle de Guadalupe wine region, fashion, television, women’s issues and coverage of aging, such as the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia and family caregiving. Michele is the former Sunday and features editor, where she oversaw profiles, special projects, such as the Legacy of WWII and in-depth reports on a variety of topics. She joined the U-T in 2003, supervising coverage areas that have included features, fashion, TV, Food, Consumer Health and Arts & Entertainment. Previously, Michele was the assistant features editor at The Oregonian, in Portland, as well as the Portland City Hall reporter. She spent 10 years at New York Newsday as a reporter on the crime, education, state legislature and New York City Hall beats. She was part of a team that won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting. A native New Yorker, Michele received her B.A. in political science and Italian Literature at UC Berkeley. In 1980, she studied at L’Università di Urbino, in Italy. One of her life’s goals is to make her way through each of the world’s great wine regions.