COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES:

Are you a foodie? I am, which may be the understatement of the year. But if you are a foodie, listen carefully to what I am about to say. Next weekend, at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort, your stars will be in perfect alignment, your ship will come in. Why? Because it is time once again for the Newport Beach Food and Wine Festival, May 23 – 25, that’s why.

For the fifth year running, BBC President and culinary impresario Henry Schielein and his Adjutants General, Director of Food and Beverage Dieter Hissin and Executive Chef Josef Lageder, have conjured up a world tour of food, wine and, yes, fine chocolates (sigh) unlike any other you will ever see, unless you live to be 115, in which case you’ll have bigger problems than which white to pair with the Chilean sea bass to worry about.

The Newport Beach Food and Wine Festival at the BBC is always a home run; this year, it promises to be a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. Why? Because this year the Festival has — I need to steady myself — a decidedly Italian note.

Following the opening “Tasting with the Masters” session at 5:30 p.m. with Master Sommeliers Ron Mumford and Ira Harmon, at 6:30 p.m. “Italy on the Bay” will take your taste buds on a wine and food jaunt through Italy, from Piemonte to Sicilia, with plenty of stops in the Tuscan countryside of course. Twenty-five wineries will strut their stuff and dazzle you with Sangiovese, Soaves, Chiantis, Pinot Grigios, Super Tuscans, Barolos, Barbaresco and Brunellos, to name just a few.

Grazing? I’ll give you grazing. You’ll have to deal with a dizzying array of antipasti of every description, with prosciutto di Parma, parmigiano reggiano and scores of Italian artisanal cheeses, and that’s before you even get to the various pastas and the frutti di mare risotto.

Finally, you’ll find the desserts, or in my case, they will find me. They always do. They whisper my name. The headliners will be cappuccino biscotti, tiramisu and cannoli. Cannoli are the quintessential Sicilian dessert, and once you’ve tried Sicilian desserts, you will never ever go back.

On Saturday, there is a spectacular five-course Italian luncheon created by two top-tier Italian chefs and presided over by a family member from the Italian winery Antinori. Encore with “Syrah’s from Around the Globe” from Australia, France and something called the California wine country. Heard of it?

At 6:30, in the main ballroom, it is the piece de resistance — “The Grand Tasting.” It’s a first-cabin showcase of wines from 60 of the finest wineries in the world, accompanied by a stunning selection from Chef Josef Lageder of meats, seafood, caviars, cheeses and unspeakably rich desserts.

Sunday? It just doesn’t stop, with a tropically exotic “Caribbean Brunch” from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. complete with a Calypso steel drum band; “Sparkling & Still Rose’ Wines” at 2:30 p.m. and, brace yourself, “Chocolates & Wines” at 4:30 p.m. Chocolatier and Chef Patissier Norman Love will dispense rapture and guilt simultaneously as he leads you through sinfully delicious pairings of fine chocolate with ports, Madeira and others.

Any questions? Call the Balboa Bay Club at (949) 630-4146 for tickets and info.

Remember, “In vino, veritas,” which is Latin for, “Balboa Bay Club, next weekend, be there.” I gotta go.

PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached at [email protected].