Wine Food Pairing 2008 Hot Air Balloon World Championships

Wine food pairing is HERE!  Where is that .... Hofkirchen, Austria to watch the 2008 World Hot Air Balloon Championships!  The event begins on September 13 and runs through the 20th.

We arrived in Austria the day before, but the opening festivities were something that we didn't want to miss out on.  We had press passes so we got in on all the  special activities. Great access to all the balloons and lot's of free wine and delicious food!

We met up with our friend Marion,

who was in charge of the press PR and his girlfirend Ursula .... so much to see and do ... they had a terrific "show" before the opening activities.

This particular world event had been in the planning stages in Austria for the last 3 years and even the smallest details were taken care of ..... down to the special labeled wines ...  too cool!

The opening ceremony included singing, dancing, fireworks all the while the balloons, still tethered to the ground, rising into the air to "strut" their stuff a bit!  Over 150 teams have come together here for the event and several teams from the USA are also here to compete.

We watched from the sidelines as all the crews drove past the podium to cheering onlookers!  When it was the USA's turn, the music blared out "Born in the USA"  it was the BEST!

After the parade and the fireworks we made our way in to the food tent where they had a terrific buffet set out for the press, VIP's and sponsors ..... I chose the mushroom soup to start.  this was no Campbell's canned soup, my friends , but an Austrian traditional "champignons suppe" ... hearty and rich I could have made a meal out of just the soup.  I followed it up with a wonderful selection of pasta salads, wursts and fresh breads that only the Austrians know how to make ... YUMMO!

I started the with champagne for the opening ceremonies, but quickly changed to the delightful Blauer Zweigelt 2006 bottled just for this event!

The Zweigelt was the perfect choice for all of this traditional fare.  Wine food pairing in Hofkirchen, Austria.  CHEERS!