Like many wine enthusiasts, I like to combine traveling with my passion for wine. For many, the idea of wine-related travel invokes images of Napa Valley or Bordeaux. But for me, my thoughts turn to Central Florida in the US. To be more specific, the Walt Disney World Resort.

Already, some must be thinking that I’m nuts. Why on earth would any wine lover want to journey to the place of Mickey Mouse, “it’s a small world,” and long lines of tired, whining children?

For me, the answer is simple. For one, each fall, from roughly the beginning of October to mid-November, Walt Disney World puts on the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. This year, 2006, was the 11th time the festival has been held, and it was bigger than ever. Better, too. Let me explain why wine fanatics may want to put this destination closer to the top of the list of travel ideas. Please note that I’m not employed by The Walt Disney Company nor do I have any affiliation with it other than being a very small shareholder. What follows comes from my own unbridled enthusiasm for this annual event.

The festival takes place in and near the Epcot theme park’s World Showcase. Probably the most visible part of the festival is the 26 food and wine kiosks where you can purchase samples of national dishes paired with wines (you can also buy the wine and food separately, of course). The 2006 festival included spicy beef empanadas from Argentina, chicken sha cha skewers with peanut sauce from China, Durban spiced chicken from South Africa, truffles from France (the chocolate delights, not the other truffles) paired with Champagne, a beef kefta pocket from Morocco, vine leaves stuffed with rice from Turkey, and maple syrup glazed salmon from Canada. And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It would be literally impossible to “eat one’s way around the world” during this festival.
In addition, each day there are eight or nine free wine seminars. These involve samples of three or four wines–and not cheap stuff, either. This year, I enjoyed seminars from Provenance Vineyards, a Burgundy importer, and G.H. Mumm from Champagne, among others. It’s not unusual to be treated to wines that run $50/bottle.

For the cooks in your traveling party, there are a few cooking demonstrations each day as well.

All of this just for the price of admission to the Epcot theme park. And every day has different seminars as wine makers and distributors come in and out of the festival. The people who visited in early October experienced different seminars than I did in early November. Those who live in the Orlando area are lucky since they can attend many, many seminars. In fact, you can probably be exposed to more diverse wines in one week at the festival than you could in a week in any of the major wine regions.
If you’d like to spend a little money and get something in return, you can enjoy the Epcot Wine Schools, a series of six-hour programs. Some of this years programs included Mastering Wine 101 with Karen MacNeil (author of The Wine Bible) and Spain with Doug Frost, M.S., M.W. Past years have included a Bordeaux wine school. The $150 price included tax, gratuity, a continental breakfast, lunch, and a certificate of completion.

A little less money could get you into one of a number of vertical tastings, such as Silverado Limited Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, or Chateau Lynch-Bages from Bordeaux, among others.

For those on a budget, there are also food and wine pairings offered at various signature restaurants (a number of which have received various wine awards) that pair three wines with foods prepared by those restaurants.

My favorite event at the last four festivals has been the Party for the Senses, held on Saturday evenings. For $125 per person, you get to enjoy the work of more than 25 prominent chefs from around the world, plus healthy portions of around 70 wines. In addition to taste and smell, the Party for the Senses is a feast for the eyes and ears as well as performers from Cirque du Soleil entertain while you take a break from eating and drinking. You also receive a nice complimentary wine glass.

For me, a wine enthusiast as well as a wine educator (which is often more fun than my regular day job), the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is all but perfect. I can learn things during the free seminars and try some great wines, but I can also enjoy a festive evening during the Party for the Senses.

But even if you can’t make your travels during the festival, Walt Disney World’s first-class restaurants with great wine lists make this a good place to visit. There are more restaurants than one could possibly visit in a week, including a few outside participants like Todd English and Shula’s Steakhouse. But even the Disney-run restaurants are award-winning, from the Yachtsman Steakhouse to Jiko, a restaurant featuring African-inspired dishes and a wine list that is 100% South African. Seafood lovers will find much to enjoy as well at places like the Coral Reef or The Flying Fish. If California wine is more your style, head on over to the California Grille with its Wine Spectator award-winning wine list. (Jiko and other WDW restaurants have also been recognized by Wine Spectator for their wine lists each year.)

Disney World has definitely grown up in its 35 years as a vacation destination. As a kid, I loved to go there for the rides and stuff. Now, I enjoy going there not only for the rides, but great food and wine as well. Give the idea some thought when you’re planning your next wine travel.

Finally, I should introduce myself. While my drivers license will tell you that my name is William L. Wilson (but people should call me “Bill”), I’m better known to wine folks online as the host and producer of the Wine for Newbies Podcast. While I practice law during the day, for the last few years I’ve been teaching a wine appreciation course at Indiana University’s South Bend campus, and my passion for teaching about wine led to the podcast. As an attorney, I’ve been involved in challenging Indiana’s laws that prohibit wine sellers from shipping directly to consumers, and it was this case almost ten years ago that really, really turned me on to wine. It’s been a blast ever since then. I hope my columns (and my podcast) will inspire you to think about wine in different ways, and I hope you will adopt the podcast’s motto (borrowed from Wine Spectator writer H. Steiman): Drink what you like and keep trying new things. All the rest is commentary.