Talk about a wine pairing!
Two wine and food festivals will go glass to glass in a bottle battle in Brooklyn this Saturday. “The Toast of Brooklyn Wine and Food Festival” in Williamsburg and the “Brooklyn Crush: Wine and Artisanal Food Festival” in Sunset Park, will each hold afternoon and evening tasting sessions on Nov. 10. Each will have about 80 vendors pouring free samples of wine, cider, and spirits, spread out over two floors of their respective venues, along with food samples.
The founder of “Toast of Brooklyn,” who started his festival in 2007, said that he was not worried about the rival session in Sunset Park — in fact, he is happy to see other groups follow the path that he pioneered.
“We welcome these kind of newcomers,” said Edmon Braithwaite. “This is the 11th year of this event, and when we started, there was nobody doing anything like this in Brooklyn. Now everybody and their grandmother are having events in Brooklyn, and that’s great.”
This year the festival, happening on the sixth and seventh floors of the William Vale, will focus on “natural wines” made without additives, said Braithwaite, and will feature demonstrations from a variety of chefs. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the Caribbean Tourism Organization Foundation, which will offer scholarships and aid to kids affected by Hurricane Maria, according to Braithwaite.
The founder of New York Wine Events, the organization behind “Brooklyn Crush,” said that the audiences for the two events are different enough that he does not consider “Toast of Brooklyn” a rival.
“That’s more of a Williamsburg event,” said Sam Kimball. “Industry City and Sunset Park are more authentic and industrial. We’re more casual and down to earth.”
Kimball also emphasized the wide variety of vendors at “Brooklyn Crush,” which has been held twice a year since 2015.
“Every single Brooklyn Crush is new and different,” he said. “That’s the thing about this event — you could come to every single one, spring and fall, and you’d always encounter new food and drink.”
The events are about 28 minutes apart by car, according to Google Maps, so a high-tolerance wine fan could make the afternoon session for one and the evening event for the other.
“Brooklyn Crush” at Industry City Landing (enter on Second Avenue between 36th and 37th streets, newyo
“Toast of Brooklyn” (55 Wythe Ave., sixth and seventh floors, at N. 12th Street in Williamsburg, www.theto
