A Good Reason to Wine

Navigate the 13th annual Midwest Winefest like a connoisseur.

Strolling around with friends, sipping fine wines and eating as much gourmet food as you desire probably doesn’t sound like typical charity work. But at the 13th Annual Midwest Winefest, you can give back to the community while enjoying more than 200 wines from around the world and learning about a wide array of spirits.

The annual event welcomes locals to savor fine wines while raising funds for the Guadalupe Clinic, which serves Wichita’s working poor. “The event gives you an opportunity to taste a lot of things that you wouldn’t get to taste normally,” says Guy Bower, the founder of Wichita’s chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food and host of “The Good Life” on 1330 AM.

Midwest Winefest consists of three days of vineyard-induced bliss. Each day offers a different experience. The weekend kicks off with Thursday’s walkabout in Old Town. More than a dozen venues serve appetizers and wine. Attendees get 20 drink tickets, enough to sample every vendor with some tickets left over. Trolleys transport tasters between venues, and live music fills the air along the way. But beware: the event’s 1,000 tickets go quickly.
On Friday, wine dinners offer elegant meals at select hotels and restaurants. These intimate events include vintners who teach about the featured wines and why each drink is paired with a particular course. Menus include prime rib, wild game, venison and more.

The main event occurs Saturday night, when you can choose from 200 to 300 wines at the Grand Tasting at Century II. There are silent and live auctions where you can buy a bottle to bring home, cooking-with-wine seminars, a reserved room for special high-dollar wines and more. With so many choices, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. “You can’t just work your way around and think you’ll get to taste it all,” says Bower. He recommends planning ahead by perusing Midwest Winefest’s website at midwestwinefest.com.

Events on Thursday and Saturday benefit the Guadalupe Health Foundation, a clinic that serves Wichita’s uninsured and working poor. In its 13 years of existence, the fundraiser has brought in more than $1 million for Guadalupe Health Foundation.

Wine 101: Tips from Guy Bower, Co-Founder of Midwest Winefest

- Start with dryer wines, and then taste sweeter ones. This allows the palate to recognize the wines’ distinct flavors.
- Grab some of your favorite wines, but also sample offerings from different countries. Along the way, note the colors.

Here’s a handy guide to types of wine when in doubt:

- White: Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are well-known dry-style wines. Lighter picks include Rieslings and Gewurztraminers.

- Rosé: Rosé doesn’t necessarily mean white zinfandel. There are more food-friendly rosé wines in the market today than ever before.

- Red: If you love cabernet, try a Malbec from Argentina.

- Desserts & Sparkling: Midwest Winefest typically includes an array of late-harvest dessert wines. These thicker, almost syrupy wines usually come in small bottles. The event typically includes only a few dessert and sparkling wines.