Vintners Plaza Grand Tasting helps make Maui Strong

HEALDSBURG, Calif. -- Sonoma County has always been known as a top-notch destination for food and wine. The Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience is a weekend-long celebration that features only the best of Sonoma County.

"The Healdsburg wine and food experience is a celebration of all the agriculture and bounty of beautiful Sonoma County," Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience CEO/Founder Steve Dveris shares, "and the pinnacle of which is showcased in Healdsburg, which is sort of the greatest tourist destination in Sonoma County."

One of the highlights of the event is the Vintners Plaza Grand Tasting.

"We have 125 different wineries there. We have 28 chefs. We have spirits. We have cocktails. We have non-alcoholic cocktails. It's basically a food festival, carnival for adults, it's going to food heaven," Dveris reveals.

This year, the Maui Pavilion highlights farmers, growers and chefs from Maui.

"We're participating in the grand tasting where we are utilizing products from Hawaii," Chef Jonathan Pasion from Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui explains," It's kind of showcasing here in Healdsburg."

Guests can sample items like Kuai Estate Chocolate, Lahaina Honey Company's honey and Maui Gold pineapples.

"It's been great to kind of have everybody here, kind of helping to promote us and what we offer and welcoming guests back to the island," Chef Ryan Schelling from Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea says.

After the tasting concludes, a special dinner was held at The Matheson on Healdsburg Square.

"We're really honored to be able to host the Maui at the Matheson dinner at this gorgeous establishment in Healdsburg to benefit the Maui Strong Fund and give back a little bit to Maui," Community Leader & Cultural Practitioner Kainoa Horcajo says.

The event also exists as a reminder that Maui is ready to welcome visitors back to the island.

"I think it's important for people to come back to Maui and visit because it's important not only for the economy of Hawaii, but to showcase who we are and what we have to offer," Pasion states.

"We went through something eight months ago that I hope no one ever has to go through," Horcajo shares, "when people, nice people come out and just share Aloha with us that really, you know, that makes all the world of difference."

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