Wine, chocolate and art will mix at Wine Weekend St. Pete, the Margaret Acheson Stuart Society's annual benefit for the Museum of Fine Arts. Wine & Chocol'Art is the theme of this year's three-day celebration, whose tickets are on sale now.
The first event, Coastal Chic Party, will kick off Wine Weekend at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 with craft beer, wine, Florida eats and chocolate. Dressy casual resort wear is encouraged to the bash hosted at downtown St. Pete's MFA, and individual admission costs $99.
Paint the Town Red, White & Chocolate will follow. From 6:30 to 11 p.m. Feb. 11, the $300 dinner, also planned for the MFA, will feature dishes and wines curated by Parkshore Grill executive chef Tyson Grant. Other highlights include big-ticket live and silent auctions (um, like a 10-day cruise to anywhere in the world) and the TomKats Jazz Orchestra. Cocktail attire is suggested.
The celebration of food and wine's final event is the 1000 Points of Wine Gourmet Dinner, starting at 7 p.m. Feb. 18. Held at Pinellas Park's Rolls Royce Tampa Bay Showroom, the limited-seating, "dress-to-impress" meal will offer five courses from chefs David Varley and Jeffrey Hileman of San Francisco-based Mina Group, which brought Locale Market to the Sundial. Ten wines with the highest rating of 100 from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate will pair with each course.
But it'll cost you. Individual tickets are $1,800, and a combined ticket to 1000 Points and Paint the Town is available for $2,000.
To purchase Wine Weekend St. Pete tickets, contact wineweekendreservation@stuartsociety.org via email.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2016 – Jan 5, 2017.