This weekend I was given the opportunity to visit Destin, Florida, for the first time, working at the Sandestin Wine & Food festival. I had posted a blog a couple of weeks ago telling you all I would update you on how it went...well here we go:  It was great!!

The ABC display in the retail tent.

Now the five and a half hour drive that gets you to Destin isn't the most scenic drive ever, but once you get there visuals are beautiful. As I had said earlier, this is one of the most anticipated and exciting wine festivals in the southeast, and it lived up to all that hype. The area in and around the Sandestin Golf and Beach Club--an area already busy with shops, restaurants, golfers and beachgoers--transforms itself into a festival teaming with individual tented tables of wines that are both sampled and sold at a giant retail tent. All of this for a wonderful charity, the Fisher House for Children.

Nadia and Ken at the Sandestin Wine & Food Festival

We started the weekend loading up over 100 cases of wine, bundles of signage and more ABC staff in Tallahassee, then headed for the panhandle. The Destin Chamber of Commerce must have an important connection, because the weather couldn't have been any better--sunny, in the 70s with a gentle zephyr to keep everyone cool and comfortable. I have been to other wine events but never one like this. Everyone was smiling, asking questions and wanting to know all about the wines we were pouring.

Daniel Eddy, wine consultant in Gainesville, enjoying the sunshine.

The wines were very good, refreshing summer wines such as the Vigilance Sauvignon Blanc from Lake County, the "B" Chardonnay, Cornerstone Willamete Pinot Noir and Napa Valley's Infinite Red Blend among others. All these wines were very well received, and telling the guests that they will be soon getting an ABC Fine Wine & Spirits of their own in the very near future gave them all a reason to smile.

The Panama City ABC will be breaking ground about the same time you read this post, and the Destin store will be on its way as soon as possible. I look forward to next year's wine fest and the chance to see some familiar faces of friends we made this year.

Ken Amendola ABC FineWine & Spirits wine supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinekena