Santa Margherita Wine

Saturday, September 25th, 2010; it was a beautiful day at Millennium Park in Chicago and thousands of people gathered at one of the nation’s premier food and wine events – the Chicago Gourmet Festival. The Festival served as host to the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge Finale. The Finale took place on the main stage where 3 finalists fought for the cooking crown, explaining their dish and inspiration to the judges in front of an enthusiastic audience! Laurie Lufkin traveled from Essex, MA; Fred Piccinni from Lynnfield, MA; and Paul Phanthalangsy from Torrington, CT. Their excitement and nerves were at their highest Saturday as they were photographed, interviewed, and adored.

Congratulations to Fred, the GTC winner. And congrats to Laurie, the fan favorite. This year’s GTC has been so exciting and we’re looking forward to making next year even better! We are very thankful to have had such wonderful contestants and incredible support and encouragement from our judges: Chef Fabio Viviani, Bon Appétit Restaurant Editor Andrew Knowlton, and the Terlato family!

Stay tuned on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SantaMargherita) for additions to our GTC photo album and videos from the event!

Winner Fred Piccinni and Tony Terlato

We love hearing from our fans and luckily for us, our finalists are very chipper these days!

Fred: “Let the countdown start!!! This is Fred and I am one of the contestants in the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge occurring in Chicago this weekend. Well with 3 days to go, the adrenaline is starting to pump and I am about ready to pack my bag for this event. I have now run my recipe through my head more times than I have actually cooked it – go figure!

The level of excitement has started to rise and most of my family and friends are getting just as excited as I am about this weekend. Today our office had a small coffee hour in my honor for this event. Regardless of the outcome, they are expecting me to cook this meal for them when I return… all 100 of them!!! For all of my friends, both local and abroad, you can follow this adventure on Facebook either at the Santa Margherita page or mine.

Stay tuned!”

Yes, do stay tuned – the updates will be rolling through Twitter and Facebook.

Want to meet Fred, Paul & Laurie? Get FREE TICKETS HERE!

After hearing from Fred Monday and Paul yesterday, we now have some words from Laurie!

“Hi Everyone! I am so excited to be coming to Chicago this weekend. The people at Santa Margherita have been wonderful and I am thrilled to be part of this experience – and really hope my recipe comes out on top! I made my recipe again last night for dinner, a huge batch, and shared it with family and friends to get their thoughts on my flavor combinations and wine pairing. I used all of the seasonal ingredients I could get my hands on and used some artistic license to make the dish – I love using what is local and in season! Looking forward to meeting Fred and Paul and being part of such a terrific event.”

So for everyone attending the Festival, be sure to watch our GTC finale at 2pm. Then walk over to the Bon Appétit tent to taste all 3 dishes with some Santa Margherita wine.

For those outside of Chicago, we’ll have updates via Facebook (http://bit.ly/d3pjcV) & Twitter (SMPinotGrigio) throughout the day this weekend so all can share the excitement.

One day closer to the finale where the winner will be selected for a 3-day trip to LA for cooking lessons with Fabio Viviani and Santa Margherita wine classes with Jacapo Fellini at Café Firenze!

We’ve asked our finalists to tell us their thoughts and feelings as their big day approaches. You heard from Fred yesterday, today we have some insight from Paul!

“So it’s a couple of days until the event. I’m pretty excited to be participating in something this large. The opportunity to showcase one of my recipes is really hyping me up. The anticipation is really getting me excited. Will my recipe take the prize? I suppose it could go either way but regardless of that, I feel like I can take whatever comes my way. This is going to be a great experience; one that I’ll remember for a long time. I’m hoping everyone enjoys the dish as much as I did working on it.”

Be sure to tune in tomorrow to hear from Laurie!

We have renowned Chef Fabio Viviani!
We have Bon Appétit Restaurant Editor Andrew Knowlton!
And of course we have our very own President Bill Terlato!

You all know our finalists – Laurie Lufkin, Fred Piccinni, and Paul Phanthalangsy – wish them luck as they compete from 2:00-2:30 on Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Chicago Gourmet Festival. View their recipes at http://ww2.santamargherita.us/Contest/2010/Finalists and give these amazing dishes a try at home. And if you’re lucky enough to live in Chicago and are attending the Festival, come see us at both the Santa Margherita and Bon Appétit tents (we have wine!).

Check out what finalist Fred Piccinni had to say about this opportunity:
“Wow, it is finally September, and I still can’t believe that I made it to the finals of the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge. Back in May it just seemed like a fun thing to do, and honestly I never figured that my video would have gone viral and got me into the finals.

Well Chicago is one week out and the reality is starting to set in. I keep on running my recipe through my head and keep on trying to figure out if I should have added some other ingredients or perhaps made something entirely different – Oh well it’s too late to worry about that now.

Just need to make it to the airport on time to enjoy whatever happens next.”

Stay tuned for the final event!

Santa Margherita is popping up everywhere.

We joined HBO and the Emmy’s for the amazing HBO Emmy Party in Los Angeles – that was an honor. The Train concert at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago was another great event. We gave out so many wine samples we ran out!

More recently, and quite suddenly, we have been asked to participate in the Fashion’s Night Out celebration tonight, September 10th in NYC! Fashion designer Michael Kors has chosen our Prosecco for his toast as he debuts his new line. In celebration of this special night in fashion, Kors is opening 23 US stores at 6pm featuring special events, music, and refreshments (that’s us!).

Next step… the Great Taste Challenge Finale in Chicago!

It’s still Summer. It’s Friday. It’s The Weekend. It’s a Three Day Weekend. All in favor say Aye!!!!!!

We can’t hear you but we’re all saying “Aye!” over here. Business is ending for the week but we’re here to present methods and formulas for your weekend Labor Day party.

Cooling off with a frozen treat no longer means sacrificing your summer body! Our method? Low calorie cocktails – less calories than other cocktails and more delicious because they feature Santa Margherita Prosecco wine. We’ve heard less is more, but we choose less & more.

Top Chef fan favorite, Fabio Viviani, worked with Santa Margherita to create two low cal cocktail blends featuring our Prosecco wine. Sprinklers on, shirts off! Click to view our low-cal recipes.

The formula for food? Check out what Executive Chef Colin Crowley has in store – he’s sharing exclusive grilled recipes including clams, chicken, ribeye, potatoes, and fruit kebabs, that pair perfectly with the family of Santa Margherita wines. We’re here to help turn everyday grilling into something unique.

It’s time to show off your style and party-throwing abilities with the flavors and signature recipes from Tuscany, Italy. Click to view our Exclusive Tuscan Summer Grilling Recipes.

Great food. Great wine. Have fun and be safe this holiday!