Mendocino County Crab & Wine Days

Mendocino, CA

Website: http://www.visitmendocino.com/festivals-events/2011-01-21/mendocino-county-crab-wine-days

Every January for the past thirteen years, Northern California's Mendocino County has been celebrating locally harvested Dungeness crab and award-winning wines from "America's Greenest Wine Region" with a festival that satiates the taste buds of foodies and oenophiles alike. From gourmet, crab-themed dinners in four-star restaurants, to family-style cioppino feeds, to the ever popular Crab Cake Cook-off featuring local Mendocino chefs, this festival has something for everyone! And to wash down the abundance of crab, local winemakers will be pouring at winemaker dinners throughout the county and also at the official Wine Tasting Competition, held in conjunction with the Crab Cake Cook-off. Visitors will enjoy a multitude of dinners, tastings, demonstrations, excursions, events and lodging specials over the course of the ten days -- hosted by Visit Mendocino County, the Mendocino Coast Clinics, innkeepers, restaurants, wineries and more.

The festival takes place from Friday, January 20th - Sunday, January 29th. Some special highlights not to be missed include:

Crab and Wine Days - January 20th and 21st in Fort Bragg, CA - Two Benefit Events!

Mendocino Coast Clinics hosts the two flagship events of the Crab & Wine Festival. Over the course of two days, visitors can take part in Crab & Wine Days. Held at Pentecost Hall in Fort Bragg, spectacular ocean bluffs and majestic redwood forests create an incredible backdrop for the festivities.

Jan 20 - Cioppino Dinner: Family-style dinner, serving steaming bowls of fresh Cioppino, hand-tossed salad, dessert, wine, beer, coffee & lots of homemade hot bread for dipping. $35 for adults and $15 for children, dinner served at 4:30, 6 and 8 p.m.

Jan 21 - Crab Cake Cook-Off and Wine Tasting Competition: The premiere event of the Crab & Wine Festival! Held under a big tent set up just behind Pentecost Hall, this is where Mendocino County chefs and wineries compete for the coveted "Professional's Choice" award (chosen by a panel of esteemed food, wine & travel editors) and the "People's Choice" award (chosen by festival attendees). Taste hand-crafted crab cakes from 12 Mendocino County Chefs while sipping from 22 wineries! Also on offer: "Made in Mendocino" products, such as Shamrock Artisan Farmstead Goat Cheese, Cocoa Bungalow from Wicked Bon Bons and locally roasted Thanksgiving Coffee. Hot Crab Cioppino and cool Crab Salad with Cafe Beaujolais bread round out the offerings. $75 for adults, Noon - 3 p.m.

Proceeds from the Cioppino Dinner, the Crab Cake Cook-Off and the Wine Tasting Competition benefit the Mendocino Coast Clinics, a non-profit, board-governed community health center that provides medical, dental, perinatal and behavioral health care to all Mendocino Coast residents & visitors, regardless of their ability to pay.

www.mendocinocoastclinics.org or 707-961-3463