I hardly ever want convincing to move to Charleston. I imply I wrote a complete submit on why you SHOULD go within the winter! When the #BloggersDoTravel ladies heard about Charleston Wine + Meals Competition it was a unanimous choice to make our manner there to expertise it. Certain, I’ve been to “different” meals, wine, and all the things else, festivals. However let me let you know one thing. Nothing I’ve ever been to holds a candle to this pageant. Right here’s what I wore, what we did and 5 the explanation why it is best to add this to your journey checklist for subsequent 12 months.

PS Tickets are actually on sale for Charleston Wine + Meals 2023, seize them right here!

First, what precisely is Charleston Wine + Meals?

Charleston Wine + Meals is a 5 day wine and meals expertise like no different. The guts of the occasion is the Culinary Village that occurs Friday by way of Sunday. Set in Marion Sq. which is off King Road, this park will get remodeled into a real village of meals, beverage and experiences. This area has distributors, native cooks, cooking demos, and stay music and even a silent disco. You may eat for five hours straight and take a look at one thing new each single chew. Certainly one of my favourite issues in regards to the Culinary Village (versus every other foodie pageant I’ve been to) just isn’t solely the quantity of meals that’s served however the unbelievable high quality. These aren’t simply bites of hen, or veggies. No, no. We ate ALL THE THINGS.

Just a few favourite issues we had whereas strolling round Culinary Village was the andouille sausage, pimento cheese scorching canines. Unimaginable. We additionally indulged in lobster bao bun rolls. Sure, lobster. There was additionally paella chock stuffed with shrimp and tender meat. We had brisket, duck, scallops and extra. They don’t skimp on the meals! Then got here all of the wine. However not simply wine, there was additionally tequila, my favourite Don Julio, and bourbon like Coopers’ Craft and all the things in between. Certainly one of my favourite areas was their rosé tent. It was a complete part devoted to all issues rosé. It was a fundamental ladies’ dream!

Causes To Expertise Charleston Wine And Meals

1. Expertise New Eating places & Cooks From ALL Over

My favourite a part of this was seeing eating places I’ve been dying to go to in Charleston. It was such an effective way to attempt their specialties and even chat with the cooks. One very cool factor about this pageant too is that quite a lot of eating places and cooks from exterior of Charleston are available for it. There have been a number of eating places from Atlanta like Saltyard and Fox Bros BBQ. Some even from New York, Maryland and North Carolina.

2. They Do Not SKIMP

There’s no different meals pageant I’ve ever been to that serves this a lot QUALITY meals. We ate like QUEENS you guys. We had all of the issues from all of the meals teams. Caviar, scallops, ribeye, shrimp and extra. You identify it, we in all probability ate it. The worth tag of the tickets for this isn’t even that unhealthy. For $135 per day, you may indulge for five straight hours. It’s an effective way to spend a day in Charleston and eat and drink. The ticket solely contains one-day admission although, however in all honesty, I feel in the future is ideal! You’d undoubtedly spend far more than that on meals and drinks between lunch and dinner at a restaurant within the metropolis.

TIP: My pro-tip, lots of the cooks did a menu change midway by way of. So you might do a lap and take a look at all of the issues. Then at round 3:30, they did a swap and altered out their choices so you might do ANOTHER lap. Guys, it was superb.

3. There’s Extra Than Simply Culinary Village

Since Culinary Village is Friday-Sunday, I undoubtedly advocate doing in the future there after which testing what’s past CV. You may completely head to Charleston Wine + Meals and simply do Culinary Village and have an unbelievable time. However, if you wish to dig deeper into meals and occasions, they’ve a slew of choices. We did the Au Pure wine tasting at Graft. Cathy and Kristin did Lunch Squad (whole envy we didn’t get to affix), and all of us did Winderlust collectively. I feel Winderlust was a private favourite. Between the unbelievable venue and views to the ridiculous meals we loved, it was a spotlight!

These tickets are separate from Culinary Village and I like to recommend including a minimum of 2 to your itinerary for the weekend. Under are a number of snaps from our Au Pure Wine Tasting Class at Graft. This was the proper beverage workshop to take to study a bit about wine and style some new ones. There are such a lot of arms on lessons you may take too, decide and select what you’re keen on!

4. It’s In Charleston

I imply, how are you going to actually say no to a motive to go to Charleston. From the walkability, unbelievable meals, nice climate, there’s no higher place for a Wine + Meals Competition. My favourite a part of it being in Charleston was how simple it was to stroll to all the things (I favor a motorbike although!). We did must drive to Winderlust, however Uber’s are simply accessible and inexpensive. Plus, the views on the occasions and venues are often unbelievable. Charleston is the #2 marriage ceremony vacation spot for a motive. Lots of the occasions have been held at a number of the finest venues within the metropolis like Winderlust at Lowndes Grove Plantation. It was really beautiful.

5. Strive New Issues & Make New Reminiscences

There have been meals, drinks, liquors and beers I by no means would’ve thought to attempt earlier than this occasion. With educated distributors, you may study a bit about what you’re making an attempt and get to attempt new issues. Plus, all of those experiences with mates makes for some actually enjoyable recollections.

What I Wore To Charleston Wine + Meals

My largest tip for visiting Charleston it doesn’t matter what you’re there for is to pack snug sneakers. It’s very a lot a strolling metropolis and also you’ll need to discover on foot for many of it. I all the time pack denims, chucks and an espadrille like my Marc Fisher LTD ones, light-weight tops and jackets to simply layer. The nights can get cool (moreover the recent sweaty summers after all) so undoubtedly verify the climate. Our first day there was fairly chilly at evening and required scarves and jackets! Right here’s what I wore…

For Day One

We headed to Graft, a enjoyable wine bar to attend an Au Pure wine tasting. The women and I discovered all about sulfates, pure wine making and extra. This area is so lovely and in the event you’re ever in Charleston, I extremely advocate heading in to Graft for a glass of wine or two! I wore this new CeCe floral print denim jacket that’s for certain going to be a staple for spring and summer time. I really like a superb denim jacket however by no means love pairing it with extra denim. Having this one will enable me to put on it with all my denims!

SHOP MY LOOK

For Day Two

To attend the Culinary Village, I went COMFY. The solar began to shine on Friday and it lastly warmed up. So I ditched the sweaters and went for a enjoyable ruffle tee (final seen right here) and Converse. Culinary Village is about in a park with plenty of straw on the bottom so that you don’t need to put on any opened toe sneakers or something actually that good. My model new platform Converse have been fairly soiled after simply in the future there. Plus, I uh, spilled meals on them…

SHOP MY LOOK

For Day Three

We headed out to do a number of touristy issues like go to Rainbow Row. It’s a should go to if you’re in Charleston and simply oh so colourful. I wore my new Marc Fisher LTD espadrilles and matched my tee to them. After somewhat exploring, we went to Tradd’s for dinner to wrap up the journey with a scrumptious meal.

SHOP MY LOOK

Seize Your Tickets!

Tickets for the 2023 Charleston Wine + Meals go on sale now. Guide experiences, workshops and day passes to the pageant right here.

All pictures by Julie Livingston Pictures