It wouldn't be winter on the coast without the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival. It's the premier seafood & wine event of the west coast and the original Northwest seafood and wine festival.

Since 1978 the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival has attracted visitors from around the world to the central Oregon coast. This year's festival promises to be packed with all of the fun, food and wine you've come to know and love at the Newport Seafood and Wine Festival!

With more than 100 exhibitors, including dozens of food booths featuring the seafood specialties of some of the finest chefs in the West and most of Oregon's nearly 100 wineries, it's one of the biggest events of its kind in the United States. In addition to Oregon's major wineries, the leading wineries from Washington and California are also represented.

Food
Visit the Newport Seafood and Wine Festival this year and we know you won't go away hungry. Seafood is a definite highlight at the Festival. Delicacies including such exotic dishes as calimari, eel, as well as the area's renowned salmon, oysters and dungeness crab, are available for sampling during the Festival through the many food vendors. Like seafood? Then this is the place for you! If not, then there will be numberous other treats to try, some common and some not so common for the more adventurous. In any event, no one should go away hungry! One of our main goals is to promote the seafood of Oregon's coast. By giving you the opportunity to try so many wonderful treats we hope you will be tempted to try other seafood creations when you return home.

Arts & Crafts
While at the Festival you will be amazed at the number of vendors and artisans offering their goods for sale. Many of the booths are staffed by local civic organizations and school groups who use the Festival as their main source of raising funds for their annual projects. Photography, painting, framed exotic fish prints, handcrafted jewelry, original oceanscape paintings, wood carvings, wall hangings and pottery are just a few of the arts and crafts you can expect to find at the Festival.

Wines
Festival attendees will be able to quench their thirst for fine wines at this annual event. Taste wines from throughout the Northwest including Oregon, Washington and California.

Commercial Wine Competition
This will be the nineteenth year we have staged a Commercial Wine competition as part of the Newport Seafood and Wine Festival. Since this is one of the earliest competitions in the year, it has been cited in the press as an important preview of the better wines for the public to seek out in the coming year. Wines that do well in Newport, do well at other competitions throughout the year. Only festival participants from Oregon, Washington and Idaho are eligible to enter. Last year 142 entries were received. Of the 142, 77 received awards including 20 Gold, 22 Silver, and 35 Bronze. Best of show was a 2000 Troon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvigon. This winery is located in Applegate Valley, just south of Grants Pass, Oregon. Judges are selected on a basis of wine knowledge, experience in wine judging, and a general familiarity of the northwest wine region. The results are released to the press, judges, and the public after the judging is completed.

Amateur Wine Competition
From its humble beginning when only a few bottles of amateur wine were entered, this contest has grown both in size and in prominence to become one of the premier events of its type in the Northwest. During last year's tournament over 160 wines were entered from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. More than 90 medals were awarded demonstrating the quality home winemakers have achieved in recent years.

Wines are collected around the state at designated merchants specializing in home wine making and brewing supplies and brought to Newport for judging. Judging is "blind" which means the bottles are completely covered and known only by the number. Judging is based on a 20 point system with values awarded for color, clarity, bouquet, style and taste. Bronze, Silver, and Gold ribbons are awarded and an overall Best-of-show is selected as an additional honor for one outstanding wine.

Unique and unusual wines like blueberry, apricot, and potato join more traditional types such as Chardonnay, Merlot, and Pinot Noir to give a special variety of tasting challenges to the judges. Although amateur wines are displayed at the Festival, these wines cannot be purchased or sampled during the event.

For more information, dates and location, contact the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce at 541.265.8801