Stew partisans and oenophiles collide this Saturday, February 3, when Southeast Wine Collective unleashes its first Franc & Beans cook-off—a three-hour chili competition and wine tasting devoted to rich, red, food-buddy Cabernet Franc.

“Who doesn’t love a good chili cook-off and who doesn’t love wine?” queries the event press materials. “We don’t know a single person who would raise a hand to that question, so we’ve decided to marry these two fantastic friends together.” (Truth. I have conducted a non-scientific poll of friends and coworkers in the past few days and, so far, the logic behind this statement holds up.)

For $25 ($20 in advance), attendees get to mill around the Southeast Division Street urban winery all afternoon, nibbling “generous” samples of chili from the crews at Stella Taco and Cheese Bar, and sipping pours from Oregon producers including collective member Division Wine Co. and urban winery Flat Brim Cellars. Plus, vote for the People’s Choice awards for Best Chili and Overall Favorite Wines.

Psst: two competing chilis come courtesy of chefs Althea Grey Potter of Oui!, SE Wine Collective’s house wine bar, and Park Avenue Fine Wines’s Karl Holl. PoMo just highlighted both chefs in the February issue for their success in pushing wine bar fare beyond the usual nut-and-cheese plates. Hard sell Benjamin Tepler lauded Potter’s “kooky, global, intensely seasonal plates” and Holl’s farm-focus, pasta skills, and “refined, thoughtful, and nuanced dishes.” Can’t wait to taste what these two do with this humble one-pot dish…

Participating Franc & Beans Chefs & Wineries 

• Althea Grey Potter, Oui! Wine Bar + Restaurant
• Matt Fields, Stella Taco
• Karl Holl, Spatzle & Speck +  Park Avenue Fine Wines 
• Chris Vantersloot, The Cheese Bar
• Garret Plocher, Owen Roe
• Division Wine Co.
• Flat Brim Wines
• Hazelfern Cellars
• Jackalope Wine Cellars
• PDX Wine (apparently pouring a Loire Valley Cab Franc)

Franc & Beans

2–5 p.m. Sat, Feb. 3, Southeast Wine Collective, $20 advance ($25 at the door, $15 for chili only). All ages.