By Lora Oehlberg

Town Crier Editorial Intern

Not every wine fan can taste a wine, tell where it was made, and what the weather was like on the day the grapes were picked. But wine fans on all levels aspire to do one thing: match the flavors of wine with food.

At the Red Cross MacArthur Park Wine Fest on Saturday, participants can taste flavors from about 70 Northern Californian wineries with a variety of foods from MacArthur Park restaurant.

Chef Jon Hall from MacArthur Park suggested experimenting with the different flavors of food and wine to explore one’s personal taste for wine.

“It’s a very personal thing; what tastes good for one person may not be the right pairing for another person. The best thing to do is to try different wines with different foods and see what kind of wines work for your particular palate,” Hall said.

MacArthur Park also hosted a pre-festival dinner on Aug. 10 to kick off the wine festival, featuring a special menu made to match the flavors of featured wines from Chalone Vineyard.

“When you choose a good wine to go with your meal, you never go, ‘My meal is ruined,’ but you can have a wine that makes you go, ‘Wow, this matched the food, took it to another level.’ You might have a better experience if it matches up,” said Hall, who tasted the wines served at the pre-festival dinner and created the menu.

Proceeds from the MacArthur Park Wine Fest benefit the Palo Alto Area Red Cross, which provides emergency services to Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Stanford and Moffett Field.

Admission, restricted to those over 21, is $50 in advance or $60 at the door and includes complimentary wine and food throughout the day. To order tickets, call 688-0438 or visit www.paarc.org.

MacArthur Park restaurant is located at 27 University Ave., Palo Alto.