New Orleans Wine & Food Experience on the river amid the elegance of the grand American Queen. Featured vintners and guest chefs will delight your senses (Aug. 24, 2004)

New Orleans Wine & Food Experience on the river amid the elegance of the grand American Queen. Featured vintners and guest chefs will delight your senses
As the holidays draw near, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company is offering a unique new experience for wine and food enthusiasts-the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience on the River. This exciting program will feature vintners and guest chefs amid the elegance of the grand American Queen on a four-night Steamboatin' cruise, all for one low price.

Delta Queen has partnered with the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience (NOWFE) to create this special program of featured vintners and guest chefs designed to educate and satisfy even the most sophisticated palate. A selection of seminars will be offered each day devoted to understanding wine, its history and components, and the relationship of wine to great food.

The seminars will explore wines made from Pinot Noir (including sparkling and Champagne), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Zinfandel.
Tim McNally, former president of NOWFE and host of the weekly radio program, The Wine Show, will host the first New Orleans Wine & Food Experience on the River.

These four-night cruises aboard the American Queen, Nov. 15-19 and Nov. 19-23 are New Orleans round trip and include a day of Steamboatin' on the river, and visits to Natchez, Miss. and Baton Rouge, La. Enjoy optional shore tours such as Frogmore Plantation-Music, Mistresses and Marriage in Natchez or the Cajun Fiddler Walking Tour in Baton Rouge.

The elegant J.M. White Dining Room, where stained-glass-topped windows rising two decks high provide a magnificent view of the river, will be the perfect setting for passengers to enjoy wonderful cuisine paired with the wines featured during the day's seminars. The opulent Grand Saloon will showcase a diverse selection of entertainment from Dixieland to Cajun to Broadway, complete with a Mardi Gras Ball and our own King and Queen and plenty of Mardi Gras beads.

"Sailings from New Orleans on the American Queen have been immensely successful because New Orleans is such a desirable city to visit and enjoy her charms," stated Bruce Nierenberg, president of Delta Queen Steamboat Company, "It is quite logical to take the best of New Orleans, which is her joy of life and her love of great food and fine wines, and bring that to our passengers aboard the grand American Queen while Steamboatin'on the Mississippi River."

Guest chefs and wine educators will be on board to answer questions and to enhance your understanding of the relationship between fine wine and wonderful cuisine.

Guest vintners and chefs aboard the Nov. 15 cruise will be:

--Carolyn Wente, President, Wente Vineyards and Wines, Vine Reserve Wines;
--Bernie Ralston, Wine Educator, Murrieta's Well, Tamas/Stephen Kent Wines.

--Chef Darin Nesbit, Executive Chef, Palace Cafe', a Dickie Brennan Restaurant;
--Chef Greg Picolo, Executive Chef, The Bistro at Maison de Ville.

Aboard the Nov. 19 cruise guest vintners and chefs will be:
--Dennis Heet, Executive Director, Heck Estates, Cellars of Lake Sonoma, Valley of the Moon, Kenwood;
--Christian Holthausen, Brand Ambassador, Remy Amerique, Charles Heidsieck Champagnes.

--Mike Morgan, Gourmet Food & Cheese Manager, Martin Wine Cellar;
--Chef Tom Wolfe, Executive Chef and Owner, Peristyle, Wolfe's of New Orleans.

Prices for this unique food and wine experience and riverboat cruise begin at $995 per person, double occupancy. Special two-for-one pricing or other discounts may be available at time of booking, based on space availability.

(Source: Delta Queen Steamboat Company, Inc.)