Well, after months of planning and weeks of preparation and days of getting things in order – the First Annual Long Island Food and Wine Festival — “Eat.  Drink.  Local”,  kicks off with a VIP reception at Roanoke Vineyards at 7:00 PM tonight.  There will be over 40 different local wines being poured with food prepared by Tom Schaudel of A Mano Osteria & Wine Bar.

If you did not get you tickets to this event, it is a shame.  You really missed out on a great opportunity.  But all is not lost.  You can still buy tickets for the Grand Tasting at Mitchell Park in Greenport on Sunday at 2PM.  The ticket price at the door will be $50 per person.  I STRONGLY urge you to go to this event – there will be over 50 wineries and restaurants offering their bounty that day.  Sadly, I will not be at the event on Sunday.  I am working.

If you can’t make it on Sunday, there is also events and activities at almost every vineyard.  You can check out the full schedule here.

However, I will be at the VIP Kick Off.  I will have my webcam and my camera hoping to get some of the action.  I am also hoping to sit down – if there is time – with some of the participants and wineries that will be at the VIP kick off.  I will also be live tweeting from the event.  I am not sure what hash tag (#____) I will be using, but I will up date this post as soon as I know.  You can follow along with me tonight.  I will have some posts next week about the VIP kickoff

If you are going tonight, make sure you stop by and say hello.  But most importantly, make sure you take the time and enjoy the wonderful food and wine that Long Island’s North Fork has to offer.