In early June, Shake and I were invited to attend the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival. I did write about our fantastic experience meeting Sarah and Sparky Marquis of Mollydooker Wines, but I’ve been remiss in posting about the event in general.

You see, I wanted to do a cool video edit of my photos, like the snazzy ones Trey Ratcliff (Stuck in Customs) and Petra Cross (Stopmotionista) do. What is it they say about roads paved with good intentions and what not? Yeah, anyway, I thought that this video approach might speed things up because I wouldn’t have to worry so much about photos shot in low light not being perfectly sharp (since they’d be on-screen for fractions of a second), nor would I need to write up photo descriptions…but I think this took me longer!

But, here’s my first stab at a stop-motion-style video edit, condensing four days at the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival into just under a minute:

Events covered in the video:

• VIP Welcome Reception

• Sparkling Wine & Cheese Seminar (with Michael Jordan, MS; Chuck Furuya, MS; Roberto Viernes, MS; Patrick Okubo, MS; Kent Torrey of The Cheese Shop of Carmel, Calif.)

• Napa Cabernet Brain Trust Wines Seminar (with Philippe Melka, Melka Wines; Mia Klein, Selene Wines; Andy Erickson, Leviathan & Favia Wines)

• Grand Tasting Event (featuring food from Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar; The Plantation House; Pineapple Grill; Merriman’s Kapalua; The Terrace Chef-Crafted at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua; Kai Sushi at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua)

• In Pursuit of Balance Wine Seminar (with Rajat Parr, Michael Mina and Sandhi Wines; Pax Mahle, Wind Gap Wines; Jamie Kutch, Kutch Wines; Gavin Chanin, Chanin Wine)

• Cooking Demonstration with Celebrity Chef Nancy Oakes (Boulevard, San Francisco)

• Heroes of Pinot & Chardonnay Wine Tasting (with Geoff Labitzke, MW, Kistler Vineyards; Michael Browne, Kosta Browne Winery; Gary Pisoni, Pisoni Vineyards & Winery; Fred Scherrer, Scherrer Winery)

• Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar Winemaker Dinner: “Supper on the Patio”
with Sarah & Sparky Marquis of Mollydooker Winery

• Que Sera Syrah Sera Wine Tasting (with Matt Trevisan, Linne Calodo; Sparky Marquis, Mollydooker Wines; James Ontiveros, Autonom Wines; Sergio Carlei, Carlei Wines)

• Cooking Demonstration with Celebrity Chef Gary Danko (Restaurant Gary Danko)

• Seafood Festival (featuring food from Capische?; Fleetwood’s On Front Street; Gannon’s; Honu/Mala; Hula Grill; I’o & Pacific’o; Japengo; Kahana Grill; Kai Sushi at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua; Makena Resort Restaurants; Maui Culinary Academy; Roy’s Restaurant; Star Noodle; The Terrace Chef-Crafted at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua)

As you can see, there’s lots to learn/eat/drink at the Festival. (Fun fact: In the 48 hours preceding the festival, the Ritz-Carlton received over 3,000 bottles of wine to be poured at the various events.) If you’re a budding wine geek, this is a great event because you have the opportunity to learn a lot about wine in a relaxed atmosphere. Shake enjoys attending the seminars because, he says, there aren’t a lot of “wine snobs” (most everyone is very friendly) and the winemakers bring some very interesting wines that you normally can’t get your hands on here. (It can be a little disappointing if you decide you want to buy a bottle later, but the opportunity to try them is incredible, especially considering that many of the bottles are out of our price range.)

Just be sure to buy your tickets right away—the organizers had to turn away quite a few last-minute-locals this year because the events sold out by the start of the festival.

Disclosure: Sugar + Shake were hosted by the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hotel and the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival. Travel for Shake, accommodations and access to festival events (with the exception of the Mollydooker wine dinner, to which we bought tickets on our own) were provided by the hosts, but no compensation was received for this post, and the opinions expressed are strictly my own.