Special to the Record-Eagle/Pete Rodman
Bill Matthews, second from left, executive chef of the Grand Traverse Resort, talks about the different flavors in wine as Jason Wiersema, left, of Rockford, Ill., and his wife Marie join other participants in their first blind taste test during Dining in the Dark at the Taste of Traverse City event at the Aerie Restaurant and Lounge on Saturday. The Wiersemas, a host family for Kyle Brueggman of the Rockford Aviators, were in town to watch Brueggman pitch in Saturday's game against the Traverse City Beach Bums, they said, and decided to check out the event at their hotel. Marie Wiersema said she was excited about trying blind taste testing for the first time, but she was also a little apprehensive about not knowing what she was eating. "I love flavor, and mixing them, but I just hope they don't serve me something too exotic," she said. "People usually rush through their meals. (Blindfolding) gives them a chance to slow down, be curious about what's in their food," Carol Lewis, the producer of Taste of Traverse City, said.

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