The judging of the wines that will be featured at the Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival usually takes place approximately six weeks before the festival. This year the Judging took place at the Sonesta Hotel on Hilton Head the weekend of February 5th and 6th. I’ve had the pleasure of reporting on the judging event in past years and, as in the past, I became witness to a potential logistics nightmare that is controlled by some very competent people (mostly volunteers) who arrange the wines to be judged in a very orderly manner. Let’s just say that after 30 years of experience, the judging committee “has it down to a science.”

February is a great month for making soup. We've been lucky to have an occasional warm day in Beaufort lately, but those cold, grey days are no fun. All three recipes this week are for hearty, tummy-warming soups. The first two recipes are my concoctions. The third recipe is an Alabama treat from my friend, Janelle Proctor. All three soups freeze beautifully. Stay warm, my friends, spring is coming!

The USA’s official wine regions are called American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Wine labels can include an AVA name if at least 85% of the wine comes from that particular area. However, the usage of AVA names is not a strict appellation system. It should not be considered as comparable to the French AOC or Italian DOCG classifications, although the systems might appear to be similar.