A whirlwind weekend of culinary extravaganza awaits you at Monterey County’s Great Wine Escape Weekend, presented by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. For its 11th year, the event includes seminars featuring local vintners, and over 20 winemaker dinners at restaurants around the county. There will also be self-guided and bus tours to tasting rooms at several wineries.

Our favorite event on the bill is the Shuttled Progressive Dinner. On November 9, the evening starts in the Cima Collina tasting room in Carmel, with hors d’oeuvres accompanied by matched wines. From there, you’re chauffeured to Grasing’s Coastal Cuisine for appetizers and salads paired with wines from Michaud Vineyard. The evening ends at the Carmel Chop House, with a main course and dessert featuring wines from Pessagno Winery. If having kids has made you hit the sack early these days, you’ll appreciate the options of two time slots, 5:30 or 7:30, so you can either make a rare night out of it or keep the status quo.

Where to stay? The Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa has a special package for this epicurean weekend, including:

• 3 nights accommodations in an Ocean View room (double occupancy)
• Palate Pleasers portion of Wine Escape weekend (3 seminars and a lunch, from 1o:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.)
• Winemaker Dinner on Friday or Saturday
• Monterey Wine Country Tour
• Boutique and Hidden Gems Wine Tasting
• The Grand Finale

Rates are $1,556 per person, taxes and parking not included. Rates include a 15% discount on event tickets. Note that additional events, including the Shuttled Progressive Dinner, are NOT included, but you may add them a la carte on th event website. For more information on the entire event and the individual components, and to book the package and/or individual events, click here (package booking option is at the bottom of the page). For more general information on the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa, click here.

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