Key West Food & Wine Festival 2027: Five Continents, Five Wines, and a Week of Island Tastings

Key West does January better than almost anywhere, and from January 27 to 31, 2027, the island adds a food and wine festival to the argument. The Key West Food & Wine Festival is back for its 18th year with more than 20 events spread across the island, from Duval Street to the Historic Seaport to the Truman Waterfront. Five continents, five wines, one island. Key West in January doesn't need much more of a sales pitch than that.

The 2027 theme is the whole hook: "5 Continents, 5 Wines, 5 Stories, 5 Chefs, 5 Dishes." Five chefs each build a dish from a different corner of the world, and each dish gets matched with a wine from its own country. The festival's own examples tell you how serious the pairings get. Fire-roasted Patagonian lamb lands next to a high-altitude Argentine Malbec. A South African Cape Malay curry gets poured against a bold Stellenbosch Pinotage. The five continents in play are Europe, South Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania.

Five continents, five wines, one island. Key West in January doesn't need much more of a sales pitch than that.

Moe Train

That's catnip for a Certified Wine and Spirits Professional. A pairing built country to country, dish to glass, is a story you can taste, and Key West is the right stage for it. This is a barefoot kind of island running a grown-up wine program, and every event on the schedule is strictly 21 and over.

Five days of island cooking with a world tour poured on top of it. I'll bring the notebook. The flip-flops were already packed.

Coverage plans include:

• Chef interviews with the cooks behind the five continent dishes
• Pairing coverage glass by glass, from the welcome party through the weekend tastings
• Daily recaps on Moe Train Eats from Duval Street, the Historic Seaport, and the Truman Waterfront