Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2014

Launched in 1993, the annual is one of Victoria’s hallmark events. Each March the festival promotes Melbourne and Victoria’s food and wine culture.

Operating on a not-for-profit basis, the festival’s charter is to promote the produce, talent and lifestyle of Melbourne and Victoria, and to promote Melbourne as the "food and wine capital of Australia". Since its beginnings with a small program of events, the festival has grown to become known for events including Langham Melbourne MasterClass, World’s Longest Lunch and Cellar Door at Southgate.

The festival is managed by a board of management and is supported by a small team who are responsible for the coordination of its events, in close collaboration with Victoria’s food and wine industry.

20th Year Celebrations 2012[edit]

The 20th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, presented by Bank of Melbourne, celebrated its 50th year over 20 days, 2 – 21 March.

A Riverside Opening Weekend saw more than 30 events staged along Melbourne’s Yarra River and Docklands. The Festival launch also saw the opening of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Greenhouse by Joost, a temporary eco-restaurant erected solely for the 20 days of the Festival.

2012 international chefs and wine personalities included Rene Redzepi (Denmark), Brett Graham (UK), Massimo Bottura (Italy), Corey Lee (USA), Stevie Parle (UK), David Chang (USA), Telmo Rodriguez (Spain), Allen Meadows (USA) and Virginie Taupenot-Daniel (France).

History[edit]

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival commenced in 1993 with a simple program of 12 events. Since its inception it has grown annually, the Festival attracts food and wine experts from across the world, including chefs and winemakers, growers, purveyors, authors, food and wine commentators and critics to present alongside some of Australia's best.

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The 19th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival attracted more than 350, 000 punters across more than 250 events over 11 days.

The Festival was bookended by two hallmark events:

• On the first day almost 4, 500 gluttons sat down to 26 World’s Longest Lunches held simultaneously across Victoria. The Melbourne lunch saw 10, 000 broad beans, 1, 800 cherry tomatoes and more than 200 kg of veal consumed;

• The last weekend of the Festival saw 2, 600-plus food and wine lovers join more than 100 chefs and wine presenters for Langham Melbourne MasterClass.

2011 International talent included: Nigella Lawson (UK), Elena Arzak (Spain), Roy Choi(USA), Margaret Xu (Hong Kong), Pedra Miguel Schiaffino (Peru), Atul Kochhar (UK), Rachel Allen (Ireland), Telmo Rodriguez (Spain), Zakary Pelaccio (USA), Jean-Guillaume Prats (France), Chris Salans (Indonesia), Warren Gibson (NZ), Thorsten Schmidt (Denmark), Anna Hansen (UK), Brett Crittenden (UK), Bompas & Parr (UK), Angela Hartnett (UK), Alexa Johnston (NZ), Hisako Ogita (Japan)

2011 Australian talent included: Stephanie Alexander, Maggie Beer, Will Studd, Gabriel Gaté, George Calombaris, Mary Calombaris, Ben Shewry, Philippe Mouchel, Anna Gare, Jude Blereau, Paris Cutler, Cath Claringbold, Rosa Mitchell, Anthony Ross, Sally Wise, Alla Wolf–Tasker, Adrian Richardson