Pigs & Pinot 2010

**ALL TICKETS TO PIGS & PINOT ARE SOLD OUT**

Charlie Palmer Announces Fifth Annual Pigs & Pinot Epicurean Benefit at Hotel Healdsburg
And he's not alone: Tyler Florence, Top Chef's Kevin Gillespie and Bryan Voltaggio, Roland Passot to join in festivities

On Friday, March 19 and Saturday March 20, Charlie Palmer turns Healdsburg into hog heaven. It's year number five for Palmer's annual Pigs & Pinot weekend (www.pigsandpinot.com), held at the award-winning Hotel Healdsburg, located in idyllic Healdsburg where three of California's most important wine producing regions—Dry Creek, Russian River, and Alexander Valley—converge.

This year, Charlie gets his swine on with all-star partners in pork:
• Tyler Florence (Food Network)
• Kevin Gillespie (Woodfire Grill & Top Chef finalist)
• Bryan Voltaggio (Volt restaurant & Top Chef finalist)
• Roland Passot (La Folie, Left Bank and LBSteak restaurants)

As featured in this season's Top Chef, Pigs & Pinot brings together the country's most prolific pork and wine professionals, including four Master Sommeliers, toasting and tasting their way to determine the winner of the coveted Pinot Cup. Proceeds from Pigs & Pinot 2010 will benefit Share Our Strength® and local Healdsburg education, including: The Healdsburg Education Foundation, St. John School, and The Healdsburg School.

The Pork Project: For this year's feast, Palmer planned ahead and will raise two suckling pigs, hand-picked from Clark Summit Farm. These pigs will be raised in the gardens of Quivira Vineyards, a biodynamic vineyard, under the watchful eye of Quivira's head gardener Andrew Beedy. Fed off Dry Creek Kitchen vegetable scraps and finished in the European style, with an acorn diet to produce a richer marbling and slightly sweet fat, the meat will be served as part of the chef's pairing course during the Pigs & Pinot gala dinner.

"Raising our own pigs for this event was a natural progression for Pigs & Pinot. Pigs & Pinot truly embodies all that is Wine Country – celebrating the local bounty from grape growers, producers and artisans and now to farmers," added Charlie Palmer.

Festivities begin on Friday, March 19, at the spirited Taste of Pigs & Pinot where guests can experience 50 highly-acclaimed Pinot Noir wines, all contenders in the Pinot Cup competition. These hand-picked Pinot Noirs, hailing from California and beyond, face a renowned judging panel in a blind tasting, including top wine media personalities: Ray Isle, wine editor of Food & Wine magazine, Virginie Boone, wine writer for Press Democrat, and Rusty Gaffney, founder of The Pinot File. The winner and runner up of the prestigious Pinot Cup will be revealed during the Taste event.

Tastings are served alongside a variety of pork dishes, including homemade sausages, charcuterie, grilled pork, pates and other special creations from Chef Palmer and Dry Creek Kitchen Chef de Cuisine Dustin Valette, guest chefs, and many local Healdsburg restaurants including Cyrus, Zin, and Manzanita.

Saturday, March 20, Pigs & Pinot celebrants can attend two Swine and Wine seminars:

• 10:30am-12:30pm: Tournament of the Pig (at Relish Culinary Adventures)
Charlie Palmer and three of his guest chefs will be divided into two talent-packed teams. The two teams will be given three different pork products which they will use to create three distinct dishes, along with ingredients they can find at Dry Creek Kitchen. The winning team, will be determined by a pork-loving judging panel. And yes, the audience gets to taste, too.

• 1:00pm-3:00pm: Ultimate Pinot Smack Down
What do you get when you add 16 Pinots and four Master Sommeliers? An exciting race to reach the Pinot pinnacle, with room for only one winner. Each Master Sommelier—Keith Goldston, Fred Dame, Drew Hendricks and Aureole Las Vegas Wine Director William Sherer—enters the room with his personal selection of four Pinot Noirs from around the world and proceeds to "sell" his favorites in this lively head-to-head pitch contest, followed by a tasting in which the audience picks the winner.

Saturday evening's Pigs & Pinot Gala features a sumptuous five-course dinner at Hotel Healdsburg's Dry Creek Kitchen. As a collaborative offering, each different course features a signature creation from Palmer or each guest chef, paired with a limited-production Pinot Noir from wineries Paul Hobbs, Papapietro Perry, Kosta Browne, Soter Vineyards and Domaine De L'arlot.

Pigs & Pinot Late Night is a late evening celebration following the gala with after-dinner drinks and dessert in the Hotel Healdsburg lobby. All Pigs & Pinot celebrants are welcome to attend.

Hotel Healdsburg is offering two special guest packages during Pigs & Pinot weekend. Both packages include tickets to all events for two, VIP check-in to all events, and exclusive access to the Pigs and Pinot Gala.

• The Suite Pigs & Pinot Package includes two night accommodations for two in a Hotel Healdsburg Plaza or Courtyard Suite at $2,018 for double occupancy, plus applicable fees and taxes.

• The Deluxe Pigs & Pinot package price includes two night accommodations for two in a Hotel Healdsburg Deluxe Room at $1,729 for double occupancy, plus applicable fees and taxes.

Taste of Pigs & Pinot tickets can be purchased separately for $135; Swine & Wine Seminars are $75 each; gala tickets are $300; and Pigs & Pinot Late Night is free to all Pigs & Pinot weekend participants. A limited number of weekend packages and a la carte tickets are available, and can be booked by calling Hotel Healdsburg's Chief Concierge Tegan Wilson at (800) 889-7188.

Pigs & Pinot is sponsored in part by Visa. Visa Signature cardholders receive 15% off package prices and 5% off a la carte ticket prices along with exclusive event privileges. Complete details can be found by visiting the following Web site: www.visa.com/signature.

Pigs & Pinot's exclusive print media sponsor is San Francisco magazine.

Hotel Healdsburg and The Spa Hotel Healdsburg are located at 25 Matheson Street at the corner of Healdsburg Avenue on the western edge of the historic Healdsburg Town Square. Dry Creek Kitchen is adjacent to the hotel on the Town Square. The hotel can be reached by phone at (707) 431-2800 or toll free at (800) 889-7188. Visit the Hotel Healdsburg Web site at www.hotelhealdsburg.com.

More information is available at www.pigsandpinot.com

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About Charlie Palmer
Hospitality Entrepreneur and Chef Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature "Progressive American" cooking, a style built on rambunctious, intense flavors and unexpected combinations with an infusion of classical French cuisine. In 1988, he made a landmark commitment to creating dishes featuring regional American ingredients at his sublime Aureole, located in a brownstone off Manhattan's Madison Avenue, and over the years has established an impressive roster of restaurants across the country, from New York and Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas, Reno and Sonoma. A frequent guest on NBC's Today Show, Palmer is also the author of four cookbooks, Great American Food (Random House/1996), Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking (Harper Collins/2001), The Art of Aureole, (Ten Speed Press/2002), and Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen (Melcher Media/2006).

About Share Our Strength®
Share Our Strength® is the leading national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. By weaving together a net of community groups, activists and food programs, Share Our Strength catches children at risk of hunger and ensures they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Working closely with the culinary industry, Share Our Strength creates engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation®, the nation's premier culinary benefit; Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale®, a national grassroots effort; Share Our Strength's A Tasteful Pursuit®, a touring dinner series; Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out ®, a week-long program involving thousands of restaurants nationwide; and Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline®, a cooking-based nutrition education program. Visit Strength.org and learn more about our goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.

About Visa Signature
Visa Signature is a premium consumer payment card offering cardholders a range of benefits that provide special access and save time and money. Visa Signature is the preferred card for Pigs & Pinot. In addition to points, miles, cash back or other premium rewards offered by Visa Signature partners, Visa Signature cardholders enjoy perks such as 24/7 complimentary concierge services and exclusive offers for fine wine and food, travel, and sports and entertainment events.

Media contacts:

Ceci De La Montanya
Charlie Palmer Group
212.755.7050 x21
cdelamontanya@charliepalmer.com

Alison Stout
Glodow Nead Communications
415 394-6500
Alison@glodownead.com