Though I can’t make the 9th annual Madison Food and Wine Show this weekend because I’ll be out of town, I thought I’d take a look back at a previous recap I wrote:

My third time to the annual Food and Wine Show at the Alliant Energy Exhibition Hall was like the previous times: enjoyable and filling.

The ticket price at $37 in advance is a bit steep, so you have to really eat and drink a lot to get your money’s worth. I must say, I definitely did this year.

The premise, if you don’t know, is that you get to try unlimited free samples of wine and bite-sized food from many, many regional vendors. Some of the stands have several dozen samples of wine! That’s why many people get weekend passes for the three-day event.

Also worth noting: you get to keep the wine glass you use for sampling, and many other freebies throughout the event are available.

Since I wasn’t driving, I went all out–a big mistake as I ended up having exactly 50 samples of wine, three beers and two margaritas. Talk about a hangover!

As usual, Sentry Metcalfe’s and Willy St. Co-op provided some great food to sample.

There’s also several cooking shows, including the entertaining chef cook-off (won this year by the Concourse Hotel cook).

Most of the wine is available for purchase as you leave. Saturday night also has had a secret top-shelf (all wines worth $40 or more) party.

I highly recommend going if you can afford it.