With a big trip coming up, we chose to have an intentionally low-key Labor Day weekend this year. Yesterday, though, we made sure to make it to an annual event in nearby Medford which has always been fun and delicious. Medford is the home of Harry & David, the gourmet food, fruit and gift basket purveyors. In addition to orchards and production facilities here, the company maintains its Country Village Store from which we can buy locally produced foods, produce and fruit, imported and domestic cheeses and, of course, a wide range of the products that one finds in the Harry & David gift baskets. The store is also known for its broad wine selection, with emphasis on Oregon wines, but including a generous sampling of vintages from all over the world.  Every Labor Day weekend the store site is the scene of a Wine and Food Festival, with a wine competition and the chance to sample a whole range of goodies for a very reasonable entrance fee. One can knock $5 off the ticket price by simply bringing in five items for donation to a local food pantry, so one can do a little good while having fun. This year some 40 Oregon wineries (most from the Rogue River and Umpqua River valleys, but several from farther north in the Willamette Valley) poured their wines, and we also sampled soups, relishes,sauces, “small plates” and desserts at a host of tables. My favorite experience at this event, however, is the food-and-wine-pairing competition, where about a dozen local chefs and restaurateurs each create an hors d’oeuvre matched to one of the wines being offered. They are required to include at least one ingredient from the Harry & David store, and the range of tastes and styles is always interesting. The public votes on their favorite pairing, but I think that really the public is concerned less with the ideal match of food to wine and more with the best food offered. Through this event, each year we’ve been introduced to a few area restaurants we hadn’t heard of before and so find new (to us) businesses to patronize. Here’s hoping you are enjoying the last big weekend of the summer in whatever style suits you best! — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor