New Wichita wine-tasting event returns for its second year, this time closer to home

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Decant ICT — a new wine festival put on for the first time last year by the American Institute of Wine and Food’s Wichita chapter — is returning for a 2023 installment and will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 4.

The event, which offers attendees samples of more than 100 wines and spirits, is moving closer to Wichita this year. It debuted at the Prairie Hill Vineyard in Colwich last June and drew a crowd of 276 people, said Beth Bower, the chair of the AIWF Wichita chapter. This year, it will be at the Wichita Marriott Hotel, 9100 Corporate Hills Drive, and will also feature food catered by the hotel.

People who attend this year’s event also will get a wine glass to use for sampling then keep, and the event will also have live music and a photo booth.

Tickets must be purchased by June 1. Tickets to the reserve room, which features an exclusive list of upscale wines, have already sold out.

Remaining tickets are $60 for AIWF members and $65 for nonmembers. They’re available at aiwfwichita.org/meetinginfo.php

An ice sculpture at last year’s inaugural Decant ICT wine-tasting event
An ice sculpture at last year’s inaugural Decant ICT wine-tasting event

Last year’s event raised $8,000, which organizers put toward scholarships for aspiring culinarians. Over the past 25 years, the chapter has donated nearly $300,000 in scholarships to places like Butler Community College as well as to the Kansas Food Bank and fundraisers like Zoobilee at the Sedgwick County Zoo and Death by Chocolate at Exploration Place.

The Decant ICT event is organized by AIWF members who helped found the original Midwest Winefest but splintered off once the Guadalupe Clinic took control. The local AIWF chapter celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022.