With the gorgeous weather we have been having in Southern California it's time for a weekend road trip up the coast to enjoy food, wine, friends and picturesque views as the Pebble Beach Food & Wine celebrates its fifth season as one of the country’s premier celebrations of wine and culinary excellence from April 12-15, 2012. The four-day program is filled with unprecedented, exclusive culinary and wine tasting experiences. Throughout the weekend, guests are provided access to current release and vintage selections from some of the most sought after wines in the world; two Lexus Grand Tastings; and a bevy of collaborative lunches, dinners, and culinary demonstrations from 75 of the world’s top chefs, including Daniel Boulud, Tyler Florence, Masaharu Morimoto, Jacques Pépin, Roy Choi, Chris Cosentino, Michael Chiarello, Sherry Yard, Pierre Francois Payard, Joshua Skenes, and David Myers, amongst others.

The Fifth Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine kicks off the morning of Thursday, April 12 with the annual Celebrity Chef & Winemaker Golf Tournament on the esteemed Pebble Beach Golf Links. That evening, guests are welcome to Lexus Opening Night Reception: Featuring the Lexus Culinary Masters and Friends, which transforms The Inn at Spanish Bay into one of the most lavish tasting events of the weekend featuring 20 celeb chefs and 125 world class wineries. Over the next three days, guests can choose from 15 exclusive dining experiences, two grand tastings, countless celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, wine tastings with the world’s most illustrious wineries, cocktail seminars, and after-hours parties, all throughout one of the most beautiful strips of coastline in the world, Pebble Beach.

Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2012 Event Highlights include:

Tribute to a Legend – Thomas Keller: This year’s honoree will be the revered, dynamic Thomas Keller. A select group of some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and winemakers, all of whom have touched Chef Keller’s life in some significant way over the years, will join under one roof for a memorable evening to pay tribute to a living legend. During the evening, a never before seen short film of Thomas Keller’s life will be showcased, featuring some of the most prominent chefs in the world.
Icon of Italy: The Wines of Gaja: Daughter of Piemontese titan Angelo Gaja, Gaia Gaja is graciously sharing an incredible selection of her family’s finest wines in celebration of the fifth anniversary of Pebble Beach Food & Wine. Gaja represents both tradition and bold innovation; from legendary Barbarescos to bold experiments with Chardonnay and other non-native varietals.
The Iron Chef Dinner: Guests are transported to “Kitchen Stadium” for a first-class opportunity to see and taste the talents from a line-up of Iron Chefs like Michael Symon, Masaharu Morimoto, Geoffrey Zakarian, and José Garces. A not-so-secret ingredient is shared with each team of Iron Chefs so that each guest can enjoy the fun while they showcase the improvisational wizardry that carries them through the fearsome “kitchen battles.”
Celebrating Thirty Years of Extraordinary: 1982 First-Growth Bordeaux: The legendary 1982 vintage has made a great impact not just in Bordeaux but also on the careers of wine critics, writers, and makers the world over. Attendees are invited to join as Pebble Beach Food & Wine plays tribute by honoring the 30th anniversary of these extraordinary wines with an unparalleled retrospective tasting. Taste the finest year from the finest châteaux in Bordeaux including all the First-Growths—Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux, Lafite, Latour and Haut-Brion—in addition to other standout bottlings.
Lexus Chefs’ Table Michelin Three-Star Lunch: Among the pantheon of awards and rating systems, chefs from around the world covet none more keenly than the elusive Michelin stars. With stringent standards for excellence and more than 100 years of international reviewing, Michelin awarded three stars for “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey” to only 79 restaurants in the entire world in 2012—and only ten in the United States. This is the most exclusive lunch of the weekend, as guests have the rare opportunity to dine in the kitchen as Chef Daniel Boulud and Chef Christopher Kostow showcase the talents that each won them this accolade. This exclusive epicurean experience will be complemented by the sparkling wines of Champagne Veuve Clicquot.
Hommage A La Grande Dame: Celebrating Clicquot’s Great Lady: La Grande Dame is a highly complex blend of fruit sourced from eight grand cru sites (Verzenay, Verzy, Ambonnay, Bouzy, and Ay for the Pinots Noir; Avize, Oger and Mesnil-sur-Oger for the Chardonnay) and is aged for at least six years before it reaches maturity. La Grande Dame is made only in very select years and combines the strength and richness of Pinot Noir with the elegance and finesse of Chardonnay. Taste this iconic Veuve during an unparalleled retrospective of the wines that celebrate her enduring legacy.
Lexus Grand Tasting: The two Lexus Grand Tastings take place in the 60,000 square-foot Lexus Grand Tasting tent on both Saturday and Sunday of the festival weekend. Guests are granted incomparable access to 25 world-renowned chefs each day, serving samples of their cuisine and signing their books, along with 200 premium wineries pouring more than 500 individual wines.
Celebrity Chef and Winemaker Golf Tournament: The Tournament kicks off the festivities with a breakfast of champions—bubbly and lobster rolls. Chefs such as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Ming Tsai, Masaharu Morimoto, and Tyler Florence are likely to partake and will drive, chip, and putt their way along the most famous golf course in the United States—Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Chef and Winemaker Afterhours: Special VIP Package holders have access to exclusive parties where they can mingle with the masters on Thursday and Saturday evenings.

For a full line-up of events and ticket information please visit www.pebblebeachfoodandwine.com.