Pour lists are being compiled, restaurants and vendors are committing, layout of the room is near completion, which can mean only one thing... The third annual Winter Wine Rodeo is scheduled and will be the biggest and best gathering of food and wine yet. It is sometimes hard for us to believe that it is the third of these events to take place, and each year it seems to be more fun, with more folks from North Idaho and around the area gathering to sample more than a hundred wines, food from great local restaurants and get a little holiday shopping done too.

The Winter Wine Rodeo this year will be held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds from 3-7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. Advance tickets are $25; $30 at the door. The ticket gets you the newly designed souvenir wine glass, five 2-ounce tastes of wine, three appetizer bites from participating restaurants, and new this year entry for some great drawings for door prizes. The list of restaurants is still to be finalized but crowd favorites like Angelo's, Scratch, Seasons and others are already on the list.

Back this year too is the pre-event "Behind the Chutes." At 2 p.m. join a panel of wine professionals as they guide you through a blind comparative tasting of a Northwest wine, tasted and judged against another from California and another from France. Our own little "Bottle Shock" comparison to see just how one of our local favorites holds up against these other well-known appellations in blind judging where your own palate is the ultimate arbiter! If you choose to join us for "Behind the Chutes" space is limited to 40 participants and will likely sell out early. The ticket price including the special event and the Winter Wine Rodeo is $35.

Our great local distributors are again putting together a stellar line up of wines for all to taste, and for you to buy that night for your enjoyment throughout the holidays. From sparkling to still, sweet to dry there will be a wine for every palate and budget with the selections focused on wines that will go well with your holiday entertaining. The list of vendors too will be bigger than last year, and we are adding musical entertainment this year to keep the event festive.

Also again this year there is no reason to leave the beer lover in your group behind as the Fair Board Beer Booth will be back featuring "suds" for those who prefer that kind of "bubbly," also available from the Fair Board will be peanuts, water for the designated driver in your crowd and other snacks.

Your ticket this year too will get you entered into a great drawing for door prizes including a wine trip to Walla Walla, some great bottles of wine autographed by the winemaker and other prizes. For those of us who want more than just the five tastes of wine, the three bites of food or if you want to increase your chances for the door prizes additional tickets for all can be purchased for $2.

When we started the Wine Rodeo competition and the Winter Wine Rodeo tasting they were both designed to create access for wine consumers here in North Idaho and all around the Inland Northwest to all parts of the vibrant food and wine industry we have right in our own backyard. It is the best chance for each of us to try many wines all in one spot and decide for ourselves which are our favorites.

With our local distributors there to talk about all of these great bottles and with some winemakers and other wine professionals in attendance too, you will have great wine knowledge to tap into as you journey around the venue deciding for yourself which of the wines are the winners. We hope you can join us for one of our favorite annual events.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.