Certainly a good start to the holiday binging that is just around the corner, this year’s Food and Wine Show on October 19 through 21 included an impressive variety of exhibitors, from artisan cheese makers to high-end kitchen designers. With over 100 different exhibits and a bustling crowd, just walking through the Alliant Energy Center on Saturday was overwhelming. Moments after picking up my tote bag full of coupons, Wollersheim Winery tasting glass and tasting notebook, a gentleman at the Cameron’s Coffee booth asked me what my smile was for. I hadn’t realized it, but there certainly was a goofy, dazed smile on my face.

My friend, wine and cheese enthusiast Tristana von Will, suggested we plan our attack, and then suggested we start with the cheese. Great idea. There was a whole aisle devoted to cheese. We mostly encountered the Wisconsin staples: cheddar, brick, and swiss, but there were a few standout artisan cheeses presented as well. Bleu Mont Dairy’s Bandaged Cheddar was dry and sharp and made me wish for some red wine in my as-yet-empty glass. Carr Valley’s Mobay, a goat and sheep’s milk cheese with a layer of grapevine ash in the middle, was creamy and salty with a pleasant, lingering aftertaste. And every aged cheddar we came across was a hit. I love that lip-smacking sharp flavor and crumbly texture.

There were other snacks included in this aisle, notably Potters Crackers: organic, Madison-made crackers that include flavors like garlic and onion and carrot cake. Kickapoo Gold organic maple syrup from Viroqua was an unexpected treasure, with unbelievably balanced flavor and a honey-like consistency. The most interesting find on this side of the Exhibition Hall was the Farm Market Kitchen, a shared-use food processing incubator – a title that is more confusing than the explanation director Mary Pat Carlson gave us. The Kitchen, which is located in Algoma, began with Ms. Carlson and a Door County orchard full of unused cherries. Frustrated with the waste of fruit and the dwindling number of Door County orchards and realizing the potential in agricultural tourism, she came up with recipes for her cherries and sold the products to visitors looking for authentic, local foods. The Farm Market Kitchen grew out of this idea and Ms. Carlson’s efforts to involve other heritage cooks. In its simplest form, the Kitchen is a shared-use facility and provides food entrepreneurs with the resources to get their products out in the market. The Farm Market Kitchen also includes a Food Heritage Center dedicated to local, traditional delicacies. Tristana and I were impressed with the wealth of different products that featured local ingredients: an artisan marinara sauce, chocolate confections and Door County cherries and walnuts turned into glazes and syrups. Ms. Carlson also emphasized the cooperative aspects of the business incubator and the dedication to local and organic foods. Most of the products for sale were made with local organic eggs, butter and other ingredients.

Our wine odyssey began with the Purple Feet Wines booth where twenty wines were available for tasting. I’ll admit, I didn’t try all of them on Saturday, but I have tried several in the past, including the House Red, Plungerhead Zinfandel, and Washington Hills Riesling, so I didn’t feel too bad about limiting my tastes to some interesting German wines. The first wine I sampled was the St. Antonius Riesling Auslese. I was especially curious about this wine because I fell in love with the St. Antonius Spatlese this summer. Where the Spatlese shined with crisp, bright apple flavors, the Auslese was more subdued and sweet, with a smoother golden apple flavor. The next wine I tried was a shock to my tongue, mostly because it was a much drier wine than the Auslese, but also because it was dry compared to most German Rieslings. The Kern Classic Riesling, with an attractively minimalist label, was clean, crisp and minerally – certainly leaning towards the super-dry and lemony Alsatian style. The third wine I tasted was the Weber Erbe Morio-Muskat. The Muskat (or Muscat) grape is often found as a sweet, fortified wine served after dinner. However, it is also used to make a fairly light white wine with dramatic floral aromas and an underlying candied-fruit flavor. It’s not sweet, but it has a syrupy mouthfeel and a golden color. It is a wine to try – if you can find it. This was the first bottle I’ve ever seen in Madison.

The Tasting Room of Monona had some excellent wines to try. We tasted five wines starting with the lightest white wine and moving to the heavier whites and reds. First was the Riva di Rocca Prosecco. Fresh and light, it was fruitier and sweeter than many Proseccos and had fine bubbles and a balanced taste that left me wanting a bigger sample. Next was the 2006 Clos Marguerite Sauvignon Blanc. This was not a run-of-the-mill grassy, grapefruity New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. It had a creamy, buttery aroma and hints of woody gooseberries. No sharp edges or overwhelming acidity, just a delicious, grapey wine. The Scagliola Sparkling Rosé Petali di Rose tasted, as the name suggests, like rose petals. It was quite sweet, almost cloyingly so, but the wine is sparkling, which lightens it up a little. The rose flavors reminded me of certain Indian desserts, and perhaps this wine would be an interesting pair with Indian food. The 2005 Calcareous Pinot Noir was an intense, concentrated, California Pinot. John Roberts of the Tasting Room described the weather and the terrain of York Mountain in Paso Robles where this wine is produced. Intense fog and cooler temperatures create an ideal growing situation for the Pinot Noir grapes. Once the Pinot ran out (a couple of hours before the show ended that day), the Tasting Room gents opened up the Calcareous Zinfandel instead. Equally good, this Zin is intense and slightly peppery – a perfect, robust autumn wine. To round out the tasting, we had the 2006 La Mision Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. Produced using Old and New World techniques, this Cabernet was very smooth and elegant, with unassuming, subtle tannins and delicious smoky flavors. Because it’s a light Cabernet, I’m not sure how it would pair with the usual fare associated with this varietal – red meat and heavier dishes – but it would be fun to try.

Overall, the wine half of the show was a little more glamorous and exciting, prompting Tristana to comment that it should really be called the Wine and Food show, rather than the other way around. But despite the lack of sexy tasting dishes, the passion for good food and drink was obvious, and Madison’s savvy gourmands will have notes to compare for at least a season or two.