PA Liquor Control Board to Join Rittenhouse Row Festival With Tastings, Outdoor Wine & Spirits Store

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board will join the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival, an annual celebration of food, fashion and culture in Philadelphia's historic Rittenhouse Square area, with al fresco wine tastings and a festival Wine & Spirits store in the center of Walnut Street on Saturday, May 9, from noon to 5 p.m.

Walnut Street will be closed to traffic from Broad to 19th Street for the festival. A tented area on the 1600 block will house the on-site Wine & Spirits store and tasting areas, where those aged 21 and over can enjoy complimentary samples of 25 Chairman's Selection wines, including five Chairman's Selections available for the first time at the festival. Each new Chairman's Selection will be poured for one hour exclusively during the afternoon.

"This beautiful, bustling neighborhood is a destination for connoisseurs of fine food and drink from across the Philadelphia area," said Patrick J. "P.J." Stapleton III, chairman of the Liquor Control Board. "This festival is a perfect place to debut some of the great new wines we'll have in PA Wine & Spirits stores this spring."

"We'll have our employees positioned to check the IDs of every wine taster and shopper, so our unique shopping and tasting areas will be run efficiently and securely while providing a fun, new experience for festival-goers," added James Short, director of marketing for the Liquor Control Board.

More than 200 Center City businesses are members of Rittenhouse Row, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the area from Broad to 22nd streets, between Market and Pine. Some 60 restaurants licensed by the Liquor Control Board are part of this group, and many will offer their own menu items to sample at the festival. Live music, fashion shows and children's activities are also part of the afternoon event.