I was thrilled when I heard that Philly was hosting its own weeklong celebration of all things wine. While I would have loved to cheers to the first annual ‘Philly Wine Week’ from one Sunday to the next, realistically it just wasn’t possible. I compromised and chose one night to celebrate my love of this city and its first official ode to wine.

The wine week organizers did a great job diversifying various tastings, pairings and toasts across the city’s best restaurants and bars. The event schedule accommodated people with different interests at all times during the day – wine and cheese pairings at lunch, one-time dinner menus created especially for the week and sparkling wine toasts at 10 p.m. every night. The temptation to partake in all of these was certainly took some restraint, but I ended up choosing a tried and true Philly staple – Barbuzzo. Chef Marcie Turney thought creatively about her contribution to the party and chose to pay homage to Sicily and its rustic wines and cuisine. She offered a Sicilian red, smoky and smooth, paired with a trio of bruschetta, arancini and asparagus that called my name. Literally.

We sat and we sipped, enjoying the crowded chatter of the other Philadelphians who came out on a Thursday night to indulge their senses just because Philly said it was wine week. I’ll cheers to that.

one-biters and a deep purple red almost too perfect to drink..almost