Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic Features Trend-Setting Chefs

The Grand Tasting takes place under the tent on the Tanglewood lawn.

LENOX, Mass. — This year's 11th Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic again began with a bow to the Berkshires.

Four Berkshire trend-setting chefs presented the Best of the Berkshires Wine Dinner, a sold-out cocktail reception and wine pairing dinner at the Hawthorne Tent, located between Ozawa Hall and Highwood Manorhouse on Thursday night.

The dinner kicks off three more days of the best dining and samples the Berkshires can offer, with an educational "Charcuterie Throw Down" on Friday night, the "grand tasting" and a summer wine tasting on Saturday, and a Sunday brunch and, suitably, a chocolate and wine event to cap the weekend.

Building on their strong relationships with local farmers and food artisans, Brian Alberg, executive chef and director of food and beverage at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and Eat on North in Pittsfield; Kyle Nottingham, chef de cuisine at Canyon Ranch in Lenox; Daire Rooney, chef at Allium Restaurant in Great Barrington; and Jeremy Stanton, owner of Fire Roasted Catering and The Meat Market, both in Great Barrington created Thursday evening's menu by featuring Berkshire raised or crafted components.

This menu is simple but the flavors of the carefully grown, fresh ingredients are rich in themselves.

For example, the beets for the first course "tartare" were sourced from Markristo Farm in Hillsdale, N.Y. The cheese is from Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown, greens are grown on Mill River Farm.

Howard Imber, Frog's Leap Winery Northeast sales manager, will present the Napa Valley wines for the three-course meal.

Wine has always been the impetus for this weekend so, there is wine with everything.

Early evening on Friday, griller, butcher and charcuterie-maker Stanton; chef Jim Corcoran of Mezze Catering in Williamstown; Dean Corbett, chef and owner of Corbett's: An American Place in Louisville, Ky.; and Paul Callahan, executive chef of No. 8 Kitchen & Spirits in Amesbury, will offer a lighthearted seminar at what they are calling a wine pairing and "throw down" about charcuterie.

Berkshire area chefs, restaurateurs, food creators and wine sellers, a baker, a beer maker, a distiller and a tea importer will be part of the Grand Tasting afternoon in the Hawthorne Tent on Saturday. This is always a carnival of nibbling and drinking, with well over two-dozen wineries and other wine suppliers bringing multiple varieties. Tickets for this lavish event are available by reservation or as you enter the tent at the time of the tasting.

A listing of all the weekend's dinners and programs, with descriptions, prices and online ticket purchase, can be found here.

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