Terri and Michael Klauber. Photography by Wendy Dewhurst-Clark.
See gallery from Forks & Corks.
It was an idyllic Florida day - with clear, blue skies and just the slightest of cool breezes - for the eighth annual Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting in the Ringling Museum Courtyard.
More than 1,500 guests formed a line that wove down Bay Shore Road towards New College, waiting for the doors to open at noon. Tickets for the event had sold out two minutes after going on sale back in November. The event, hosted by the Sarasota-Manatee Originals, benefits both the Ringling Museum and the All Faiths Food Bank.
Event chair Michael Klauber kicked things off for VIP guests, sabering the tops off of 10 magnums of Champagne, to toast another successful year.
More than 70 wineries and 47 restaurants offered tastings of their signature dishes and finest vintages, with tasting stations extending down both sides of the loggia and in the middle of the courtyard itself.
Seen at the event were Terri Klauber, Su Byron, event chair Kate Atkin, Sarasota-Manatee Originals President Steve Harner, Salvatore Ferragamo, Aundria Castleberry, Sandra Frank, Julie Hutchens, Judi Gallagher, Coral Pleas, Steve and Beth Knopik, Kim Livengood, John and Deb Ayres, Iris Starr, Mindy and Wayne Rollins and many more.
