Wine Tasting

September 1, 2021

A fun ride through a complex AVA

If a new AVA launches during a pandemic, and no one is there to taste, did it really happen? Such was the fate of the Laurelwood District, a nested AVA of Chehalem Mountains, awarded AVA (American Viticultural Area) status in June 2020. Due to COVID-19 regulations, opportunities to pour were limited.

On a mission to educate myself and palate on this new appellation, I attended Magic in the Mountains, a tasting celebration presented by the Chehalem Mountains Winegrowers in partnership with The Allison Inn & Spa. The first major tasting experience for the area since safety restrictions loosened, the June event hosted 24 wineries (see end of story) eager to showcase the quality and diversity of the greater Chehalem Mountains.

Chehalem Mountains is known for its diversity of soil, range of elevation — from 200 to 1,000 feet — and varying topography. From Parrett Mountain on the southern edge, running northwest across Bald Peak and Ribbon Ridge, this area was formed by uplifted sedimentary seabeds, lava flows and wind-blown silt to create the highest elevations and most diverse soils in the region. So, it’s no surprise a region with such variation would produce a nested AVA in Laurelwood District.

Laurelwood’s most prominent defining feature remains its namesake soil.  Loess (windblown freshwater silt) accumulated over the past 200,000 years makes up the top layer at depths of up to four feet, depending on elevation. Dig a little deeper — pun intended — and there’s more going on. In addition to the silt are pisolites, little concentrated bits of iron manganese that some believe add a rose petal quality to Pinot Noir. All of this sits above a 15-million-year-old base of basalt rock and clay.

With this layered soil, the age of the vines makes a difference in flavor profiles.  As vines mature, they root deeper into the volcanic soils, exposing them to more available moisture and different mineral sources. The opportunity for dry farming of older vines, later ripening and higher acidity are the results. According to the Oregon Wine Board, younger Laurelwood District vines (those rooted into the loess) produce Pinot Noir with more floral and red fruit notes, while older vines (those deeper into the basalt clay) result in a more brooding Pinot Noir with darker fruits.

How does this translate, glass to glass, in a showcase tasting? Many of the predicted flavors were present, along with a common note of white pepper, but there was quite a bit of diversity. Considering the influence of the specifics of the site, the hand of the vintner, the lineage of the vine and roots, anything less would not be so magical. Here is just a small taste.

One of the predicted markers of Laurelwood District Pinot Noir is a “rustic” tannin that to me is like fine brick dust. Hamacher Wines 2017 Pinot Noir from Paloma Vineyards delivered that tannic structure plus a white pepper note that founder/winemaker Eric Hamacher attributes to the 800-foot elevation.

Freja Cellars takes the diversity up a notch with their 2014 Estate Pinot Noir showing cedar, white pepper and sandalwood from the influence of both Oregon and Hungarian oak.

Alloro Vineyards 2018 Estate Pinot Noir presented a blend of dark and red fruits with subtle but present earthier notes. Chehalem’s 2019 Corral Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir was strawberry, cherry, baking spice and softer, silkier tannins. Potter’s Vineyard 2017 Barrel Select Pinot Noir tasted fresh with ripe red cherries, herbs and rocky minerality. Ruby Vineyard & Winery 2018 Ruby Old-Vine Estate Pinot Noir was ripe and tart with cherry and pomegranate, along with pepper and herbal notes. 

While Pinot Noir is known to be expressive of place, there were a range of other grapes and styles, including Blakeslee Vineyards’ freshly acidic Burgundian-style Chardonnay from its 2018 Estate bottling; Freja Cellars Albariño from vines planted at 850 feet; and both a sparkling rosé and Grüner Veltliner from Raptor Ridge Winery.

A stop at the Ponzi Vineyards’ table was a reminder that while the AVA recognition is new and well-deserved, some, like Luisa Ponzi, have been making wines from this area their whole lives.  The AVA designation is simply an opportunity for focus.

Ponzi reached into her bag and pulled out the tiniest, geekiest, most clever little bottle showing pisolites, loess and basalt — all the layers of the Laurelwood soils. Too school for cool, I am always intrigued by soil displays in tasting rooms. Upon opening the vial, I noticed Laurelwood had a distinctive fragrance.

She explained the Laurelwood District AVA is unique not just from the soils, but also by being farther north in the Valley, the influence of the Columbia Gorge winds, and less rainfall from the rain shadow created by the Chehalem Mountain range. Ponzi finds Laurelwood Pinot Noirs often show light florals of dried rose petal or lavender, warm spices of nutmeg and cardamom, white pepper, anise and, most commonly, a mid-palate saltiness. She proceeded to pour exactly that profile, complete with the signature dusty tannins, from her bottle of 2017 Ponzi Vineyards Laurelwood Pinot Noir.

There is much to explore in the Chehalem Mountain AVA. Wineries from the tasting with vineyards located in the new Laurelwood District are marked with an asterisk in the sidebar. Please note that other AVAs source fruit from the Laurelwood District, and many wines from the Laurelwood District AVA may not list it on their label yet. As safety precautions allow, make it a point to taste, ask questions, form your own opinions, and discover what makes the Chehalem Mountains magic.

Featured wineries

Adelsheim, *Anne Amie Vineyards, Bells Up Winery, *Blakeslee Vineyard, *Chehalem, Colene Clemens, *Dion Vineyard,  Flâneur Wines, *Freja Cellars, *Hamacher Wines, *Hawks View Winery, Hazelfern, Lachini Vineyards, Le Cadeau,  Longplay Wine, *Ponzi Vineyards, *Potters Vineyard, Rain Dance Vineyards, *Raptor Ridge Winery, *REX HILL, ROCO Winery, *Ruby Vineyard & Winery, Sidereus Vineyard & Winery, and Vidon Vineyard.

 

 

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At the Belle Meade plantation in Nashville, Tenn., you can partake in a wine tasting of Gentleman’s Red or Lady’s Cuvée. You can play a round of cornhole. And at its Coop N’ Scoop ice cream shop, you have a choice of strawberry, chocolate or their newest flavor — Krazy Kookie Dough.

But here’s a better choice: How about none of the above?

Worldwide Jewry would be justifiably outraged if someone opened an ice cream shop or held a bean bag toss on the grounds of Auschwitz. But in America’s concentration camps — its former slave plantations — tourist attractions abound. It’s beyond time to ask why.

Consider Belle Meade.

Built in 1807, it grew to encompass 5,400 acres and enslaved 136 human beings by the outset of the Civil War. That put its owners in the top 4% of slaveholders in Tennessee, according to Brigette Jones, Belle Meade’s director of equitable partnerships.

The plantation served as a stud farm for thoroughbred horses, who were bred and reared by enslaved men, women and children. The lineages of Seabiscuit and other champions can be traced back to Belle Meade. Enslaved people served as trainers, cooks, gardeners, servants — even jockeys. In her book, “Race Horse Men,” Katherine C. Mooney documents how slaveholders would routinely starve and torture their enslaved jockeys — some as young as 8 — to ensure that they lost weight before a race. A common technique was to bury the jockeys up to their neck in horse manure to sweat off their weight.

I’d visited places of historic tragedy before, but nothing prepared me for my visit earlier this summer to Belle Meade. As a high schooler, I went on March of the Living, which brings Jewish youth to Poland and Israel. On the Poland leg of the trip, our guides, accompanied by Holocaust survivors, brought us to Auschwitz, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanec and Belzec.

One of my strongest memories is seeing a Coca-Cola machine in the visitor’s center at Auschwitz. Even stranger still, the restrooms were coin-operated, and an Auschwitz survivor had to ask me for a couple coins to use it.

Weird, but none of these small modern conveniences took away from the gravity of the experience. Jewish groups have long been protective over what gets built in and even around Auschwitz and other camps.

But at Belle Meade, you can opt to spend the day touring the master’s quarters, or try the $50-per-person bourbon tasting. Ice cream and bourbon aside, they also offer the “Journey to Jubilee” tour that digs deeply and, in fact, thoughtfully into the plantation’s true history. Jones and some members of the plantation’s board are trying to dispel any preconceived notions visitors may have that enslaved people were happier before Emancipation. They also explore the oppression and violence the emancipated continued to face after the Civil War.

Jones’ research on Belle Meade shows that America’s racial oppression did not end with emanicipation, and that segregation, lynching, voter suppression and mass incarceration have continued the Civil War 154 years after it was supposed to have ended.

But telling the truth can’t and shouldn’t be optional at America’s plantations. I understand there are economic realities behind the bourbon tastings, but they shouldn’t come at the cost of effacing history.

If you want to find out more than just what color frocks the masters wore at America’s plantations, there aren’t many choices. An initiative called Tourism RESET visited four plantation museums and observed 35 tours. In all but one, reported the Guardian, observers found “furnishings, family history, architecture and gardens are mentioned more often than slavery.”

In an interview with the Forward, Brigette Jones told how most plantation museums discuss slavery. “Tours have been changing over the last couple years,” she said. “But many of them revolve around a top-down narrative, seeing the plantation through the eyes of the enslavers instead through the eyes of the enslaved. This perspective only benefits the slaveholder, and reinforces the idea that the enslaved were in a weird, loving relationship with their masters.”

The exceptions prove the rule. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home/plantation, visitors can take a tour that details some inconvenient truths about the Founding Father’s enslaved people. And in Louisiana, the Whitney Plantation is one of just two plantation museums — the other being McLeod Plantation in South Carolina — that only offers tours on its history of enslavement and exploitation.

Yes, such honest accountings can be bad for business. In 2019, a visitor left a Trip Advisor review of the Whitney Plantation.

“The tour guide was confusing and rambled on about names. Then proceeded to talk about reparations which are political and not appropriate for the tour. Give us facts and leave out your opinions.”

Who would leave Auschwitz complaining about whether Jews deserved compensation? Why should plantations take a different approach?

At Belle Meade, Jones acknowledged that the wine tasting, ice cream shop, wedding receptions and other blatantly commercial features and events made her uncomfortable. The visitors who only come without getting this information aren’t seeing the full picture of what happened at Belle Meade, she said. “All plantation museums should only focus on the history of slavery. But without ice cream shops and weddings, we can’t continue doing these tours. We want to educate people and talk about slavery, but these weddings — especiually during COVID — help us keep the lights on.”

Given the unflinching forcefulness that American Jews have applied to Holocaust education, we are in a unique position to push these plantations to pass down knowledge about the horrors of slavery from one generation to the next. A few organizations, like Facing History and Ourselves provide resources to teachers and students around issues of racism and anti-Semitism.

A 2019 study of Los Angeles Jewry
found that for 95% of Jews, including millenials and GenXers, remembering the Holocaust is “essential or important” to their Jewish identity. That’s not an accident: that’s the result of decades of education, activism and funding priorities. That’s making certain that concentration camps and other sites of Nazi atrocities don’t become memory holes or theme parks.

“When people come to Holocuast museums, they expect to cry. They don’t come looking for a happy experience. And yet when people go to plantations, they expect to find a happy-go-lucky place,” Jones said. “Yet these are places where people were held captive, beaten and tortured. There’s a mental block that people have when they visit.”

Those beautiful genteel plantations were America’s concentration camps. There’s not enough ice cream in the world to sweeten that truth. And that includes Krazy Kookie Kreme — or whatever that flavor was.

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Nicole Hegins spun in a gleeful circle at the Frederick Fairgrounds on Saturday, snapping her fingers as reggae music thrummed through the air. 

“I’m just going to enjoy the blessings of this day,” she said happily. 

Hegins and more than a thousand others flocked to Frederick on Saturday for the first-ever TrioFest, a festival celebrating Caribbean cooking and music. For Hegins, the day was extra-special — she was celebrating the recent birth of her first grandchild, a baby girl.  

She came to TrioFest for the music and the camaraderie, she said. “It’s great, because everybody, I think, really needed to get out and unwind.”

That’s what the event’s organizers, Vladimir Trench and Phil Wilson, had been hoping for. 

Both men grew up in Jamaica. Festivals featuring live music, wine and plenty of jerk and curry entrees make Trench think of his childhood on the island, he said. 

“People coming together — that’s golden,” Trench said.  

The festival’s name is a reference to the three main components Trench and Wilson wanted to highlight — wine, jerk and curry. 

TrioFest attendees had access to wine tasting and food vendors, most of which offered traditional Caribbean cuisine like jerk chicken, curries, oxtails, rice and pasta dishes. Vendors offering other products — from bath soaps to picture books — had booths set up as well, all while a lively reggae concert played from a large stage.

People hauled pop-up tents and folding chairs from miles away to set up in the grass and enjoy the event, which began at noon and lasted until 8 p.m.

Kara McMillan came to sell her handmade bath and body products. Her 17-month-old daughter, Maia, ran laughing across the field while her mom kept an eye on her from behind the table.

McMillan said she was surprised at the strength of the crowd. 

“For the first one, it’s a pretty big turnout,” she said. 

Trench hopes to make TrioFest an annual event in Frederick, he said. He’d been hard at work planning Fest of Spring — another Caribbean festival scheduled for May 2020 — when the pandemic hit. 

That’s when he and Wilson — who had the idea for TrioFest three years ago and was searching for a venue — started working together. The fairgrounds offered the wide expanse of outdoor space they’d been looking for. 

The pair had organized all-inclusive bus trips to the festival, leaving from cities as far away as Philadelphia and Richmond. But when the delta variant of the coronavirus began picking up, many people got nervous, Trench said, and the bus trips fell apart. 

Still, crowds poured into the fairgrounds all afternoon. 

While one security guard estimated 3,000 people would stop by the festival throughout the day, Trench and Williams said they hoped for a much bigger turnout next year and a bigger one the year after that. He’s particularly excited about the potential to grow appreciation for authentic Caribbean food in the region.

“Not all good ideas work the first time,” Trench said. “Look at the airplane, look at the rocket.”

Trench moved to Frederick in 2018 from Montgomery County. 

“So now, this is my home,” he said. “And I want to do something, I want to make a mark. I want to bring something to the county.” 

Travis Francis traveled from Baltimore County for the festival, toting a tent for shade and a chair to sit in while he enjoyed the food. He hadn’t visited the fairgrounds before, but shortly after arriving, he said he liked what he saw.

“I’d come back,” Francis said.

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Here is the latest roundup of restaurant news from around the Las Vegas valley:

1. Double Helix Wine & Whiskey Lounge at Town Square is inviting patrons to say cheers to National Red Wine Day with half-off half bottles on wine on Aug. 28. Offerings include prosecco, bubbles, chardonnay, Gamay, pinot noir, tempranillo and cabernet. Open 4:30 to 11:30 p.m.

2. Piezza is now open in the Blue Diamond Decatur Plaza. Guests can build custom pizza with a choice of 13 toppings. Pricing for the DIY pizza is based on the weight of the final ingredients versus toppings. They also offer calzones, strombolis and breakfast pizzas. They also have a drive-thru.

3. Head to Fashion Show Las Vegas on Aug. 31 for National Eat Outside Day. Guests are invited to take advantage of dining specials, enjoy live entertainment and soak up the sun on their outdoor plaza.

• Dunkin’ Donuts will host a live DJ from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will provide a complimentary donut with any large or extra-large beverage purchase or with any milk, juice purchase for children throughout the day.
• El Segundo Sol will welcome a Spanish guitar player at the top of the hour from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Additionally, guests can enjoy discounted beverages, chips, quesadillas and tacos from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Galpão Gaucho Brazilian Steakhouse will host a Brazilian Jazz Band as they provide delightful melodies on the half-hour. The restaurant will also offer 20% off all drinks on the patio from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• RA Sushi will also offer delicious food and beverage specials from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

4. Somm Sundays at Ada’s Wine Bar continues with special guest sommelier Will Costello on Sept. 5. Costello is the export manager at Miller Family Wine Company & Estates and estate ambassador for Bien Nacido and Colomon Hills Estate Wines. The wine specials will be paird with special dishes from Chef de Cuisine Jackson Stamper. The takeover will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. The wines can be purchased by the glass or as a flight. Take-home bottles are always 25% off. During the tasting, Costello will provide guests with the background, tasting notes and characteristics of each wine. Reservations are strongly recommended.

5. All 64 locations of PT’s Taverns will celebrate National Cheese Pizza Day on Sept. 5 with $10 16-inch classic mozzarella cheese pizzas. Available dine-in or carry-out. PT’s Taverns will also celebrate National Cheeseburger Day on Sept. 18 with $6 cheeseburgers and fries.

6. Ike’s Love & Sandwiches is celebrating International Bacon Day on Sept. 5 by offering free bacon on any sandwich. This offer is for in-store sandwich purchases only. Customers must mention the promotion at the register while ordering.

7. Three Las Vegas ice experiences, including ICEBAR at The LINQ Promenade, Minus5 Ice Experience at The Venetian Resort and Minus5 Ice Experience at Mandalay Bay, will celebrate National Beer Lovers Day with a frosty-cold beer served in their signature ice glasses, which actually ensures the beer becomes colder while guests drink it. Visitors can toast the day with a beer from their extensive selection including Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Corona, Stella, Heineken, Blue Moon, Sculpin IPA and Michelob Ultra.

8. The 48th annual Greek Food Festival is happening Sept. 10-12 at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church on El Camino Road. The annual event features traditional Greek cuisine and pastries, Greek folk dance performances, a variety of vendors, tours of the magnificent Byzantine church and a fun zone for children. There is also a raffle with cash prizes. Tickets are $100 each for the raffle and only 1,000 will be sold.

9. Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant’s next Taste & Learn event will feature the wines of La Falezze in Valpolicella, Italy. The wine tasting event with authentic Italian small plates crafted by Chef Mimmo Ferraro will happen 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 18. Cost is $90 per person.

10. Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant in Downtown Summerlin is celebrating Mexican Independence Day and National Guacamole Day with Toasted Pepita Guacamole on Sept. 16. It is prepared with tomatoes, onions and spices, topped with toasted pepita seeds, and served with tostaditas chips. The limited-edition guacamole will only be available on National Guacamole Day and Mexican Independence Day, priced at $13.95 for lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and $14.95 for dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. Additionally, happy hour will be offered inside the cantina from 2. until 7 p.m. with discounted selections including $3 off select appetizers and drink specials, in addition to $3 off house and flavored margaritas, cocktails and house wines.

11. The patio is still open at Triple George Grill in downtown Las Vegas. It features comfortable cushions and umbrellas for shade and top-notch service. Triple George Grill is known for its juicy steak cuts, mouth-watering seafood options and happy hour offerings.

12. SAHARA Las Vegas has tapped hospitality veterans Katherine “Lee” Lardner and Chef Isaiah Utter to lead the historic opening of Chickie’s & Pete’s Crab House this September. This will be the crab house and sports bar’s first location outside of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Lardner has 15+ years of leadership experience across multiple venues along the famous Las Vegas Strip. Utter’s most recent role was Executive Sous Chef for Avenue Café inside MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. An opening date has not been announced.

13. Eureka! in downtown Las Vegas has introduced new menu items and craft cocktails. The new menu items include the ahi tuna poke stack, eggplant & tahini spread, roasted beets & whipped feta, chargrilled cauliflower, double-stacked cheeseburger and a truffle mushroom cheeseburger. Their bold new cocktail is named the Headhunter King cocktail and supposedly tastes like a vacation served in a tiki glass. Other cocktails include The Floor is Lava made with mezcal and Morning, Peaches made with bourbon, peach, lemon, coffee and vanilla. Eureka’s Hoppy Hour has also added additional items.

Send restaurant news to webmaster@ktnv.com.

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Keb’ Mo’ at the Vilar Performing Arts Center

Grammy-Award winner Keb’ Mo’ takes the stage at the Vilar on Saturday.
Special to the Daily

If you’re a Keb’ Mo’ fan, you are in for a treat this weekend. This Grammy-Award winning songwriter will take the stage once again at the Vilar Performing Arts Center on Saturday night at 8 p.m.

I remember seeing this blues singer and guitarist with the bright smile during the early years of the Vilar Performing Arts Center. He had already won his first Grammy Award in 1996 and then another in 1998, both in the category of Best Contemporary Blues Album. We were so excited to see this rising star in our “backyard” at this gem of a theater in the Rockies. He sat at the front of the stage and conversed with the audience between songs. Mo’ was hitching on a star and we were along for the ride. Since then he’s played the Vilar Performing Arts Center many times and the show is always fresh and intimate.

Keb’ Mo’ is the nickname for Kevin Moore, who mastered playing the guitar by his early teens. His guitar playing skills have earned him multiple invites to Eric Clapton’s prestigious Crossroads Festival. Throughout the past few decades Keb’ Mo’ has worked with artists such as Pap John Creach, Big Joe Turner, Booker T. Jones and Keith Richards.

Keb’ Mo’s latest album, “Oklahoma” was released in 2019 and won a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. Expect to hear songs from this album and other favorites from his wide collection of songs.

Tickets are $105 and can be purchased online at vilarpac.org or by calling the box office at 970-845-8497. The Vilar Performing Arts Center recently announced proof-of-vaccination requirements for adults and mask requirements for children are in place. Learn more at vilarpac.org/covid-policy.

Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival

Learn how to forage and identify edible mushrooms and other wild foods at the Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival this weekend.
Special to the Daily

The Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival returns to Eagle this weekend with three days of events, activities and gatherings for those who have caught the foraging bug. Mushroom foraging in the Rockies is a popular way to get out and exercise in the outdoors but also serves a purpose for being out there by seeking out the best mushroom bounty one can find.

The 11th Annual Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival brings national experts in mushroom and wild food foraging, cuisine, cultivation and adventuring to Eagle. The event is so popular that locals as well as visitors flock to the event to become educated and informed about not only mushrooms but wild food. The four-course culinary dinner with wine pairing at The Assembly, Natural Wine Tasting at Color Coffee Roasters and the guided forays have already sold out, but there are still ways to participate and learn.

The public is invited to the Meet and Greet event with presenters at Color Coffee in Eagle Ranch from 4 to 7 p.m Friday.

On Saturday, come and hear presentations and take classes at the Capitol Theater, which has ample seating in their four viewing theaters. Tickets can be purchased at the door. A film called “Know Your Mushrooms,” by Ron Mann, will be shown at the Eagle Library between 3 and 4:30 p.m. As of press time, there was still room in the cooking class that takes place in the afternoon.

Even though the forays are sold out, all attendees at the classes can foray independently on Sunday morning and bring their mushroom or wild food to the identification table and discuss their finds with experts.

Speaking of experts, the list of expert speakers is impressive. From doctors and holistic health educators talking about the medicinal values of mushrooms to foodies giving you cooking tips, the breadth of knowledge at the festival will be spectacular.

The festival closes with mushroom and wild food celebrations with music by Hardscrabble at 7 Hermits Brewing from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. In addition to mushrooms and wild foods, the festival will feature beer and kombucha prepared by 7 Hermits Brewing in partnership with Bonfire Brewing and High Country Kombucha.

For more information and tickets check out eaglemushroomfest.com.

Art Battle

Over 20 artists will have three hours to complete their art projects at the Alpine Arts Center’s Art Battle this Saturday in Riverwalk in Edwards.
Alpine Arts Center

Attention artists: roll up your sleeves and get ready to compete in the Alpine Arts Center’s third annual Art Battle this Saturday. Over 20 artists will have three hours to complete a work of art in the medium of their choice.

The Art Battle will take place between 2 and 5 p.m. and the public is invited. Stop by the Alpine Arts Center in Riverwalk in Edwards to pick up your map of where over 20 artists will be located throughout Riverwalk and tokens for voting for your favorite artist.

Wander throughout Riverwalk and watch the artists in motion as they create their works of art within this timed art challenge. Stop by the many shops and restaurants in Riverwalk and then check back in with the artists to check their progress. Pick your favorite and turn in your voting token by 5:30 p.m. at Alpine Arts Center. The people’s choice winners will be announced and artists will also be awarded with various prizes.

Live music will be heard throughout the afternoon and then 80s cover band Rewind will take the stage from 6 to 8 at the Riverwalk Backyard, a concert venue between the Riverwalk at the Eagle River. A silent auction will be held throughout the day, too, and will conclude when Rewind wraps up the concert around 8 p.m. The silent auction will contain pieces created in the competition plus additional local artwork for sale.

For more information, go to alpineartscenter.org or Alpine Arts Center’s Facebook page.

SpeakUp ReachOut Community Walk

SpeakUp ReachOut hosts its annual Butterfly Memorial Ceremony and Community Walk along with a keynote speaker from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Freedom Park in Edwards.
Gary Bending / Unsplash

SpeakUp ReachOut will host its annual Memorial Butterfly Ceremony and Community Walk this Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The community walk symbolizes support within the community and the butterfly launch exemplifies hope.

SpeakUp ReachOut, established in 2009, is the suicide prevention and coalition in Eagle County. The nonprofit aims to reduce the number of suicides in Eagle County and to educate the community on suicide prevention.

The event takes place at Freedom Park in Edwards. Keynote speaker, Lena Heilmann, Ph.D., M.N.M., is this year’s American Association of Suicidology’s Loss Survivor of the Year. Dr. Heilmann will share her story of loss after her sister died by suicide in 2012. Dr. Heilmann wrote the book, “Still With Us: Voices of Sibling Suicide Loss Survivors” and will communicate how she turned to a community of survivors and how that enabled her to survive her own intense feelings of grief.

Help support SpeakUp ReachOut in increasing local awareness and establish new dialogues around mental health. For more information and to register for the event, go to speakupreachout.org.

Minturn Happenings

“The Greatest Show in Minturn!” presented by PLAY Performance Group will take place at the Little Beach Amphitheater in Minturn this Sunday.
Special to the Daily

Visit this historic railroad town for a variety of events this weekend. Minturn was developed in the late 1800s as a rail road town, with the Rio Grande railroad line that went through the area and across the state of Colorado. Today it is a quaint town with shops and restaurants surrounded by scenic hiking and biking trails.

On Saturday, head to the valley’s original market, the Minturn Market, which celebrates 23 years this summer. Vendors will be selling wares like jewelry, art, gourmet foods, clothing, produce and more. Stop by for breakfast or lunch before or after a hike or bike ride. Music can be found at the Radio Free Minturn booth. The market runs between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Sept. 4. Learn more at minturnmarket.org.

Minturn will also be hosting its community-wide rummage sale from 8 to noon on Saturday. Stop by the Minturn Market to receive a map and then travel to different yards in the neighborhood and seek out all sorts of yard sale finds. More details can be found at minturncommunityfund.org.

On Saturday night, the Blue Starlite Drive-In in Minturn will host a fundraiser for Small Champions, whose mission is to transform and empower the lives of Eagle County youth who are challenged with a variety of cognitive and physical disabilities. The Blue Starlite Drive-In will show “Apex Survival: Maiden Voyage,” on its outdoor screen. The movie is an inspiring story about shark experts and conservationists and the migratory journey of the great white sharks. The gates will open at 7 and the movie will start at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at bluestarlitedrivein.com and proceeds benefit Small Champions.

On Sunday treat the family to “The Greatest Show in Minturn!” presented by PLAY Performance Group. After performing at the Vail America Days and the Eagle ARTWalk’s First Friday events this summer, the valley’s premiere aerial acrobatics group is hosting a big circus show for the community. This is a human-powered performance that will delight the entire family with a variety of circus arts, live music and fanfare.

PLAY Performance Group evolved out of Peace Love Aerial Yoga in Minturn into a hub for aerial arts education and performance, providing some of the most creative and inspiring local productions happening in the valley. This form of acrobatic art has gained the attention of many throughout the valley and PLAY is currently training and offering weekly classes at Mountain Recreation Field House in Edwards. After seeing them perform, you may want to hop in a class.

The event takes place at Little Beach Park in Minturn. PLAY Performance Group will host two shows, the first one at 2 p.m. and the second one at 5 p.m. The cost is $15 and kids ages 4 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at PLAYcircus.brownpapertickets.com

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Fundraiser for the Napa Valley Wine Library

With Special Guests Heidi & Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena

Calistoga, Calif.- On Thursday, September 16, 2021 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM the Napa Valley Wine Library will host a fundraising benefit at Calistoga’s historic Mount View Hotel.

The outdoor event includes a three course chef-prepared dinner paired with Chateau Montelena wines. Dessert will be served as guests watch the 2008 film “Bottle Shock,” the light-hearted retelling of the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (Judgment of Paris). The wines shared at dinner are from the competition’s white wine winery winner, Chateau Montelena, chosen by the evening’s special guests, Heidi and Bo Barrett.

Tickets for the three course wine paired Dinner and a Movie are $90.00 per person, inclusive of tax and gratuity. Please call the Mount View Hotel at 707.942.6877 to reserve your seat at the dinner table and a vintage theatre seat under the stars for “Bottle Shock.” Call soon, as seating is limited.

This evening is hosted by the Mount View Hotel. All proceeds benefit the Napa Valley Wine Library Association.

The Mount View Hotel & Spa is located at 1457 Lincoln Drive in Calistoga.

Map & Directions

About the Napa Valley Wine Library

Founded in 1961 by food and wine luminaries MFK Fisher, wine marketing pioneer Francis Gould of Charles Krug, letterpress master James E. Beard, and Professor Maynard Amerine of UC Davis, the Napa Valley Wine Library supports the collection, conservation and research of both historic and contemporary wine and vine information throughout the world and especially Napa Valley. The collection is housed in the Wine Library Wing of Saint Helena Public Library and is open to all members of the wine community-growers, vintners, educators, enthusiasts, graphic designers, journalists-anyone with curiosity for the art, science and stories of wine as an integral part of our culture, society, and daily life.

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The much anticipated Four Seasons Napa Valley has just started accepting reservations, and it will no doubt quickly become one of the region’s best luxury hotels.

Basics of the new Four Seasons Napa Valley

The Four Seasons Napa Valley Resort & Residences is now accepting reservations for stays as of November 1, 2021. The Four Seasons will be located at 400 Silverado Trail in Calistoga, in the base of Mount Saint Helena. The hotel is surrounded by hundreds of acres of vineyards, and will be Napa Valley’s first resort set within a working winery.

Four Seasons Napa Valley pool rendering

The resort will feature just 85 guest rooms and suites, ranging from the entry level 480 square foot resort room, to the 3,400 square foot free-standing villa. As far as the Four Seasons’ amenities go, guests can expect:

• Spa Talisa, a stone-clad spa sanctuary with signature outdoor treatments featuring local mud
• Several dining options, including TRUSS (a signature farm-to-table restaurant), Campo Poolside (a California-Mexican poolside open-air restaurant), and a wine tasting room, with consulting from winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown
• Two outdoor swimming pools — one for adults and one for families
• A fitness center
• A kids program

Four Seasons Napa Valley spa rendering

Four Seasons Napa Valley rates & how to book

As you might expect, the Four Seasons Napa Valley isn’t cheap, which kind of reflects the overall state of the United States leisure hotel industry, especially in the luxury sector:

• Napa Valley is only 90 minutes from San Francisco, so it’s very close to one of the largest concentrations of wealth in the country
• Many Americans who would usually vacation abroad are instead choosing to travel domestically, given constantly changing travel restrictions, as well as concerns about having to test in order to return to the United States (what happens if you test positive, etc.)
• As a result, hotel rates in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc., have been setting new records

With that in mind, rates at the Four Seasons Napa Valley seem to start at around $1,800 per night. Personally I wouldn’t expect rates to get much cheaper anytime soon, given that it’s quite a boutique hotel, and that people are very much going to be willing to pay these prices. This pricing is in line with what Auberge du Soleil charges, which is otherwise regarded as one of Napa Valley’s best hotels.

If you’re going to book the Four Seasons Napa Valley (or any Four Seasons), you absolutely should book through a travel advisor who is affiliated with Four Seasons Preferred Partner. With this program, eligible travel advisors can add value to your stay without it costing you extra. They can add perks like complimentary breakfast (including via in-room dining), a hotel credit, an upgrade subject to availability, and more.

Best of all, Four Seasons Preferred Partner can generally be combined with any rates you’ll find directly on Four Seasons’ website. For what it’s worth, the upgrades through this program are also prioritized over upgrades through other programs, so you’ll want to use Preferred Partner over a program like Virtuoso or Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. Ford is always happy to help with Preferred Partner bookings, and can be reached at [email protected]

Four Seasons Napa Valley guest room rendering

This property looks really great

While pricey, the Four Seasons Napa Valley looks like a gorgeous property, and I imagine it will do very well:

• Staying in an active winery is really cool, and something you don’t often get to experience
• Four Seasons is known for its consistent and exceptional service, and that should be reflected at this property
• Napa Valley is a luxury destination, but ultimately doesn’t have that many luxury hotels, especially when you consider the increase in demand for domestic travel

If the Four Seasons is out of your price range (as it is for a vast majority of us), consider the Alila Napa Valley, which can be booked with World of Hyatt points. This is a phenomenal property as well, and a great use of points. For what it’s worth, paid rates at that hotel aren’t much cheaper either — they start at well over $1,000 most nights, and often even much more than that.

Bottom line

The Four Seasons Napa Valley has finally started accepting reservations, and will open as of November 2021. The property looks spectacular — it will feature just 85 rooms, and will be the only resort located within an active winery.

If you’re going to book a stay at the Four Seasons Napa Valley, I’d recommend maximizing value by going through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner agent.

To Four Seasons fans, what do you make of the new Napa Valley property?

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As many schools are now back in session, fittingly, this week is all about tasty education. Events range from “Wine 101” and “Pitmaster University” to an informative Italian wine tasting class and a sushi-making class. There are also two festivals on the docket — one celebrating whiskey and an inaugural multi-day festival wine and food festival hosted by the Dallas Symphony. Let the learning begin and the whiskey flow.

Saturday, August 28

Pitmaster University Series at Oak’d BBQ
Learn the basics of barbecuing at this three-hour class led by Oak’d BBQ pitmaster Michael Lane. Participants will master selecting and trimming meat; controlling temps and timing; and perfecting rubs, seasoning, and marinades. The class comes with a “survival kit” with gear and swag, along with lunch and beer. Class is $225 per person and will run from 8-11 am.

Wine 101 at Neighborhood Cellar
The Bishop Arts wine bar and bottle shop has relaunched its Wine 101 classes. Next up on the schedule is a class all about natural wine. Participants will try four types along with snacks from Fount Board & Table. Class is $35 per person and will run from 12-1 pm.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Wine & Food Festival
The inaugural series of events will feature wine from around the world, champagnes, craft brews, local spirits, and tastes from celebrated Dallas restaurants. The biggest event of all is the Symphony of Flavors Grand Tasting, to be held at the Meyerson on Saturday from 12-3 pm. Participating restaurants include Malai Kitchen, Haywire Uptown, and Krio. Tickets are $98 per person. There’s also the Bubbles & Bites Champagne Brunch Tasting at the Meyerson at 11 am Sunday ($95 per person). Also plan for two educational Sunday afternoon seminars — one on Riedel wine glasses (Sunday at 1:30 pm, $125, includes a set of four glasses) and one on Chardonnay (4 pm, $89).

Dallas Summer Whiskey Tasting Festival
Taste whiskey from nearly a dozen different distilleries at Bottled Blonde in Deep Ellum. Tickets range from $50 per person for 15 tasting tickets to $75 for 20 tasting tickets, a bar bites buffet, and early entry. The event runs from 4-6 pm with entry available as early as 2:30 pm for premium ticketholders. Participating distilleries include Blackland Distillery, Three Chord Bourbon, and Traverse City Co.

Sip & Savor Wine Tasting at Eataly
The Italian culinary wonderland at NorthPark will host an educational wine tasting covering the Fruili-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Learn about different grape varietals and indulge in Italian small bites. Note that class registration closes two days before the event by noon. Class is $55 per person and begins at 6 pm.

Sunday, August 29

Ichi Ni San Sushi Class
Learn how to make sushi rolls and fold potstickers at this hands-on class hosted by the experts at Ichi Ni San and Second Floor at The Exchange Hall. A sake sampling will help wash everything down. The class is $100 per person and will run from 6-8 pm.

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California-based Uncorked Wine Festivals is bringing one of its popular wine-tasting extravaganzas to Wisconsin for the first time. 

“Uncorked: Milwaukee Wine Festival” is scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Mitchell Park Domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd., Milwaukee. 

“This is sort of the wine-lover’s equivalent to the craft beer festival,” said Michelle Silberstein, who founded Uncorked Wine Festivals in 2015. “There’s really nothing else like it that tours around and brings together such a wide range of wineries.”

When attendees arrive, they’ll be given a logo wine tumbler for their tastings. 

There will be 40 tables with two or three wine options at each from “across the globe,” Silberstein said. Attendees can expect “a little bit” of “every varietal and style.”

Guests can go to “any or all” of the tables, chat with representatives from the wineries or supplier companies about the wines they’re offering, and try “a bunch of fun, different wines,” Silberstein said. 

“It was designed to be an event I would want to go to, first and foremost,” she said. 

Silberstein said her friends range from, “Maybe I’ll order a glass of house wine on happy hour,” to having wine club memberships at Napa and Sonoma wineries. 

“I wanted to create something that was an experience for all levels of wine aficionados or appreciators,” she said. “But also that has something for people to do in addition to just walking around and drinking.”

The event will span all three of the Mitchell Park Domes (floral show, desert and tropical) and its annex. And there will be food trucks on-site with eats available for purchase. 

Dress attire is requested, but not required, Silberstein said. She also recommended wearing comfortable shoes. 

General admission is $55, which includes access to the event, all wine tastings from 8 to 11 p.m., and the tumblr. VIP is $70, which includes access to the event, all wine tastings from 7 to 11 p.m. with special pours during that extra hour, and the tumblr. Tickets are available online at bit.ly/uncorkedmketickets. 

Uncorked Wine Festivals’ events have made it to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami and Tampa, among others.

Silberstein grew up in a Florida household where wine was a part of the “dinner table culture.” She really got into it herself after college when she moved to California since there’s “so much great wine country” there. 

During her company’s inaugural year, she put on 10 fests — and has been upping that number since. Next year, she plans to do 18. 

“We’re growing and growing, which I’m very thankful for,” Silberstein said. 

For more information, visit the company’s Facebook page at facebook.com/uncorkedwinefestivals or the Uncorked: Milwaukee Wine Festival’s event page at bit.ly/uncorkedmke. 

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.

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Over two glasses of albariño at Wellington’s Noble Rot, Jo Cribb talks to Kelly Dennett about enrolling in wine school, buying 4 hectares of grapes in Martinborough, and her new Instagram page, WineSauvy, which demystifies and recommends affordable wine.

Sunday Star-Times: Thank you for choosing the wine

Jo Cribb: What a pretty colour

It is a lovely colour, sort of gold.

So you can kind of smell the sauvy undertones, but it’ll have a bit more floral in it, like a jasmine. You’re probably getting the peach as well.

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I’m getting a buttery smell.

Totally, totally. She’s quite tasty, eh? She takes you to some cafe at a beach in Spain.

Have you always been a wine drinker?

At university it was beer and cider. I grew up in the South Island, so probably not wine. [Jo’s partner] and I were always really interested in wine and at one stage we had a really good cellar, and then we went overseas and drank it all in two nights.

Ross Giblin/Stuff

Jo Cribb has been studying wine, which led to her buying a winery.

How much?

It was heaps. We didn’t do it by ourselves, we just decided not to put it into storage. Then I can remember travelling a lot and being exposed to vin de pays, the French wine in plastic 2-litre containers, and knowing it tasted different.Now I think we’ve got to the stage where we drink a lot less, but are being more adventurous.

Then you launched your wine studies.

I enrolled in a New Zealand School of Wine and Spirits level one, one-day course at Noble Rot, and that was interesting, so I did level two, which was a bit more demanding, but it taught me that, I might know 10 grape varieties, but there’s something like 10,000 in the world.

Then I did level three, which is getting into professional level. I had to sit wine tasting exams. I use the analogy of mindfulness. I’ll sit and smell it for a very long time, because that’s where the taste comes from. You only have to take a sip, and it’s a whole world adventure.

I’m reminded during lockdown that we don’t go out to dinner simply because we don’t want to cook, it’s going out to be with your friends and family, and it made me think about going out for a glass of wine completely differently.

The more I think we understand and appreciate this, I think we end up drinking much less, but appreciating it much more. I don’t even say necessarily much more expensive just…

Smarter choices?

Smarter choices. So I’ve just started my diploma, which is two years, part-time, which is incredibly intense. You become totally knowledgeable to an nth degree about wine. People ask me, ‘what are you going to do with it?’ And I say, I don’t know – and it’s quite nice not to.

Ross Giblin/Stuff

The best kind of wine? The one you’re drinking, says Jo Cribb.

Is wine pretentious? Can anyone get into wine and become knowledgeable about it?

Totally. I was talking to a friend who works in the wine industry, and she watched how someone would come in and be approached: ‘That’s just a woman, we’ll send her to the sauv section and get her a cheap one’. You know? I’ve had that happen to me. In a restaurant, they’ll hand the wine list to my husband and it’s like, well, I’m halfway through my diploma, I think I can navigate that.

What do you drink now?

I can’t pick a favourite child any more. My favourite one is the one that’s in my glass that I’m enjoying. There’s time when you need to drink bubbles and there’s time when you need to drink a really, in-your-face, paint-stripper shiraz. I think [the question is], what is the best wine for the occasion?

BROOK SABIN

Wake up among the vines, and the day just gets better from there.

Ever met a bottle of wine you didn’t like?

Yep. We did a whole session on spumante, which is really, really sweet Italian bubble, and it felt like the equivalent of drinking toilet freshener. But, if we were on an incredibly hot day in a piazza in Italy, I guarantee it’s the best thing on the planet, right?

There’s no style that you defer to?

It would be very sacrilegious of me to say [but] I would probably avoid a Marlborough sauv.

Tell me about the buying of the vineyard.

I think it was only the wine lessons to give us the confidence. We started running the numbers, and we’ve bought 4 hectares of sauv grapes, and we’ve got a build site. So it’s a business, but eventually we’ll live there. My husband said, we might as well buy something productive. But, what a learning curve.

I bet. Whose idea was it?

We were over there for a long weekend, and we walked down the main street of Greytown, and they had so many real estate agents, we didn’t even think we could buy plots that big, or in our range, but they are, we could, we did, just like that.

How long before seeing all of these real estate agents and taking possession?

Four months.

Oh, that’s quick! And so they’re growing now?

They’re 15 years old. There’s nothing at the moment, we’ve basically bought a paddock full of twigs, 9000 twigs. It’s a leap of faith. Over the last few weeks I’ve been researching and purchasing a frost-fan.

To keep them safe in winter?

Yes, they flower around September, which is also spring frost. If they get frosted [the bugs] fall off. What a steep learning curve. I think I needed to have done the study to understand grapes, to understand what to buy, how it all fits in. So we knew what we were looking for, so we could look at the vines and see they were OK. So I’m farming grapes now. Then it goes to a producer. I don’t think we’ll ever make wine of our own, I think they’re better off with somebody else, but we know where they’ll end up, so that’s exciting.

Are they fermented on-site?

They go somewhere else. We harvest and ship very quickly, because they’re sauv grapes, they need to move quickly. They’re mechanically harvested, there’s no skipping around with baskets.

Ross Giblin/Stuff

Jo Cribb and her partner bought 4 hectares of grapes.

Do you visit them?

We do, we have a picnic, and talk to them. My dad likes a good Aussie red, so we took him out there to talk to the grapes as well. He’s really excited and asking lots of questions, so it’s kind of like the family is growing grapes.

What are the basic things someone needs to know to choose a wine?

Great question. I think they need to know what they like, where the wine will be drunk – within reason. Are we drinking bubbles or a rich red? What are you going to be doing with it? Some wines you can’t drink alone – like this albariño – you have to have food with it. Will my friends like it? It’s like a jigsaw.

You don’t need to know about tannins, and acidity?

You don’t need to know about that. [For example] you came in today and said I’m after a crisp, fresh, refreshing wine. Google will tell you sauvignon, maybe a German riesling. Then you can go, OK I’ve got $20, I’m drinking with friends and they like this… it starts to narrow. I just encourage people to try. I think with a wee bit of effort, we can get a huge amount of return for our wine choices.

There’s so much. Santorini, right? In Greece, because it’s a volcanic island, they train their vines into little nests and grow their vines in there. And then once you taste their wines, you can taste, I don’t know, the salty, volcanic… you can taste where they come from.

We can go travelling with our wine.

Because we’re not allowed to travel. In the weekend, we might go to Italy.

*Jo Cribb is sampling 300 wines under $30 and documenting her winery journey – search @WineSauvy on Instagram. Kelly Dennett is making every effort to break out of her sauvignon bubble.

Supplied

Jess Bell, Esk Valley wine marketing specialist.

How to pair wine with takeaways

Cut through the oily flavours of a takeaway with a bit of acidity. Stand up to that eye fillet with a hearty merlot malbec blend, or match your salty seafood with something fresh that reminds you of the ocean. A degustation dinner or a restaurant-quality meal is not a prerequisite if you’re wanting to up the synergy of your dinner and wine pairings. In fact, a self-cooked meal isn’t a prerequisite.

Villa Maria wine marketing specialist Jess Bell’s personal ethos is, if you like a wine and you like a food, even if they’re not technically the perfect pairing, you’re going to enjoy them. “A great pairing isn’t the pinnacle,” Bell says. “If you go into the science of wine pairing, you can get into so many rules, but a lot of them contradict themselves. When I’m talking about when and food pairing in particular, for me it’s more about weight and balance.”

Bell says for greasy or fatty foods, look to wines with acidity or sweetness, like a pinot gris, riesling, or a zesty, citrusy sauv blanc (Esk Valley pinot gris, 2021, or Esk Valley artisanal albariño 2021). A meal with lots of different ingredients or toppings, like pizza, can work well with an all-rounder, like a Rose (Esk Valley Estate rosé 2021). Takeaways with a hearty red meat component, like a cheeseburger or steak, could do well with a weighty red blend (Esk Valley Estate merlot cabernet sauvignon malbec 2019).

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