Returning the Flavor

One winemaker will use barrel samples to show how he raises Cain; another will provide a Groth experience with a tasting retrospective. (The winemakers hail from Cain Cellars and Groth Vineyards.) Other tastings--separate events--focus on olive oil, cigars and chocolate.

The most distinctive element of this year’s World of Wine and Food, which takes place this weekend at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, may be the number and caliber of celebrity chefs planning to participate.

“It is a big array,” said Christian Rassinoux, executive chef at the hotel and a founder of the 12-year-old festival, “all nominated for James Beard awards.” In fact, all are recipients of the award, considered among the nation’s more prestigious culinary honors.

A whopping 16 guest chefs include Jeremiah Tower of Stars in San Francisco; Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of Matsuhisa in Los Angeles and Nobu in New York City (his joint effort with actor Robert DeNiro); Nancy Silverton of Campanile and Michel Richard of Citrus, both in Los Angeles; Sanford D’Amato of Sanford in Milwaukee; and Chris Schlesinger of the East Coast Grill in Cambridge, Mass.

They’ll prepare menus for several of the highest-ticket events ($115 per person): a tasting tour of Italy’s culinary regions and wines Friday night; the sold-out Great American Tasting, featuring 80 wineries and a sampling of American regional cuisines Saturday night; and the festival’s capstone affair, a Te^te de Cuvee Champagne brunch on Sunday.

The brunch incorporates the creme de la creme of French sparklers--among them Dom Perignon 1990, Krug Grand Cuvee and Taittinger 1988 Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs--and salutes Beard, widely considered the father of American gastronomy, with a posthumous lifetime achievement award.

Other highlights among the dozen sessions include, on Friday, a port-and-cigar pairing seminar (3-5 p.m., $75) and a shellfish-and-wine pairing seminar (5-6 p.m., $60) called “In the Beginning Was the Oyster, and the Wine Was Right” and exploring “green” wines.

On Saturday’s packed agenda are:

* An interactive cooking demonstration featuring Valrhona chocolate (9-11 a.m., $60).

* A tasting of a decade’s worth of Groth Vineyards reserve cabernet sauvignons (10 a.m.-noon, $60).

* A South American culinary expedition featuring Jorge “Coco” Pacheco of Aqui Esta Coco in Santiago, Chile (12:30-2:30 p.m., $95).

* A Roll Out the Barrel seminar and sampling of more than 20 cabernet sauvignons (from top-flight producers including Chalk Hill Winery, Diamond Creek Vineyard and Silver Oak Cellars) from the 1996 vintage--before they’re bottled (3-5 p.m., $75).

* A Liquid Gold seminar featuring more than a dozen estate-bottled, extra-virgin olive oils from around the world (5-6 p.m., $60).

Count on learning a thing or two.

For instance: Never, ever buy olive oil in a plastic bottle, advises olive oil maven Betty Pustarfi.

“There’s a definite transfer of taste in plastic,” said the Pacific Grove-based Pustarfi. Uh-oh. Half the brands on supermarket shelves are packaged in clear plastic bottles. “A dark glass bottle is absolutely best,” she said. “Heat, light, air and age are the enemies.”

And what the heck are green wines?

According to Emmanuel Kemiji, master sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton/San Francisco and a festival host, the term is a translation of vinho verdes and describes certain wines of Portugal.

“It refers to the stage of ripeness the grapes are picked,” Kemiji explained. “They are picked fairly unripe, and so the word ‘green’ comes into play. They’re also bottled fairly young and are slightly petillant [fizzy].”

The grape varieties used are relatively obscure. The wines are definitely not green in color. “Ninety-nine percent of what is exported is white, while 70% of what is made and consumed in Portugal is actually red.”

As for greenery, festival organizers will donate $10,000 of the proceeds to the James Beard Foundation. The foundation gives grants and scholarships to up-and-coming chefs and restaurateurs and bestows the annual James Beard awards to those who have learned their lessons well.

BE THERE

World of Food and Wine, Ritz-Carlton, 1 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Dana Point. Noon-11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday. Individual sessions $60-$115. (714) 240-2000.