sonoma wine

Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Bring Endless Summer To Sonoma

This weekend brings wine and food fans to Sonoma for the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend running September 3-5, 2010. The centerpiece of the weekend is the famous Sonoma Valley Wine Auction on September 5 at Cline Cellars which features a variety of tempting auction lots. Some of this year's lots include the Francis Ford Coppola Live Lot which offers trips to Italy and Belize, a Coppola film library and signed wine bottles; the St. Francis Vineyard and Winery - Sex and the City package which offers a private dinner with an unnamed "Sex and the City" star at St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, a stay in San Francisco and five cases and four magnums of St. Francis wine; chef camp with tutorials from top Sonoma chefs; as well as plenty of wine lots including "Magnum Force" a collection of prized magnums from Sonoma County vintners.

This year's auction has a California beach party theme with the tagline "Endless Sonoma." In the spirit of the theme the growers and vintners will introduce the lots wearing surfer-style costumes. Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco and winner of "Top Chef Masters" will team up with Kendall-Jackson executive chef Justin Wangler to present the first course of the auction's meal (an oxtail, fingerling potato and truffle 'cappuccino,') and other regional chefs will prepare the rest of the menu. The menu will include Sonoma-sourced specialties like curried Gravenstein apple miniature grilled cheese sandwiches; eggplant caponata; steak Florentine; pomegranate and herb grill lamb loin; artisan cheeses, breads and more.

A partnership between Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Foundation and Sonoma County Vintners, Sonoma Wine Country Weekend is the area's largest wine and food fundraiser, having jointly donated more than $10 million to local charities that support students, children, farm workers and people in need. Friday winemakers lunches are $85 a person, Friday specialty dinners are $175 and Friday winemaker dinners are $160. On Saturday, the Taste of Sonoma event is $150, the Grand Reserve tasting is $195, the Honorary Chair Dinner: St. Francis Winery is $175 and the Saturday winemaker dinners are $160 each. Tickets for the Sunday auction are $500, half of that is tax deductible.

[via PressDemocrat.com]

Tags: sonoma wine, sonoma wine auction, sonoma wine country weekend, wine auction, wine auctions

Ray's Station, Wine For Men

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Wine marketers are getting more and more savvy about positioning wines for various target groups. We've seen wines aimed at women, the carb-conscious and the latest trend seems to be wine for manly men. Back in January, we covered the Jarhead Red Marine wine and just yesterday, we mentioned a new wine with the man-friendly name of Used Automobile Parts. Now the Associated Press has the story on Ray's Station, a Sonoma County winemaker has created a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon that are hoping to appeal to men. The wines have simple packaging with a non-girly galloping stallion. Their ad campaign features the winery's namesake John G. Ray in Marlboro-Man-like settings saying "John G. Ray did not serve pinot noir," a dig at the pinot-loving Miles in the movie Sideways. At $15 a bottle, the wines aren't for the wine-savvy crowd but for the barbecuing dad who wants to have a nice tasting wine without having to learn about terroir and varietals.

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Tags: cabernet sauvignon, california wine, merlot, ray's station, Ray'sStation, sonoma wine, wine, wine advertising, wine marketing