A toast to 20 years of wine

What better way to celebrate a big anniversary than with a bottle of fine wine? Better yet, hundreds of fine wines. That's what chef Daniel Bruce is doing to mark the 20th anniversary of the Boston Wine Festival, which he cofounded and which kicked off this week. The nation's oldest wine and food series, the Boston Harbor Hotel's fest has spawned copycats around the country.

From modest beginnings with seven wine dinners, the festival, held at the hotel on Rowes Wharf, will feature 50 events this year, ranging in price from $145 to $325. And there's an anniversary add-on: Bruce has asked each winemaker to bring a 1990 vintage - or, if the vineyard didn't exist then, its inception year vintage - which he will pair with the main course.

Nearly every invited winery has participated in the festival before; Bruce picked his favorites, from Italy, France, the United States, and South America. Now he's going through his files and will pair those wines with the original dishes he created for them - but with a tweak. "I'll reinterpret the dish with the wine's profile now, because it won't be the same youthful profile it had then," says Bruce, who is getting the vintage samples ahead of time. "It will be a great way to see not only how the wine ages but how the food I do has to change to keep current with the way the wine is tasting now." (He says he has yet to repeat a dish out of the 3,200 or so he has prepared for the festivals). Dinners are held in the hotel's Atlantic Room, overlooking the harbor. As each course is served, the winemaker or vineyard owner discusses the paired wine. Some events include a seminar and reception.

Bruce, the hotel's executive chef, is particularly excited because the older wines are nearly impossible to find. "Winemakers are reaching deep into their cellar," he says. Among the stars are Caymus, Shafer, Silver Oak, Chateau Palmer, and Chateau Beychevelle.

Despite the sour economy, some dinners are already sold out. And despite the older vintages this year, Bruce isn't raising costs. "It's important to me that the price value is as good as it can be," he says.

The award-winning chef isn't resting on his laurels. Besides overseeing the hotel's Meritage and Intrigue restaurants, he started the French Quarter Wine Festival in New Orleans two years ago and will launch the Capitol Wine Festival in Washington, D.C., next year.