~William Sokolin Bell
What goes with great wine?
Great music of course!
One of the items on my wish list was to attend the ‘Nashville in Napa’ charity event. While researching the Napa/Sonoma area and the different things going on, I came across the site and, because I love music, thought it would be an awesome thing to do. Luckily, our timing was perfect. This once a year charity event to promote childrens music education was happening the second night we there.
I showed it to GW who thought it might be fun and we put it on the wish list. I knew P loved music also (you should see his music and video collection!) so he and his wife, T, agreed to go. A and D had already made plans to be back in San Francisco that night to attend an art showing of the artist, Storm Thorgerson, who was responsible for all of Pink Floyd’s album cover art so they headed back to the city to the art gallery.
First of all, Debi Calli, the General Manager of the Baldacci Vineyards was a hoot to talk to. She was so funny and informative and the night ended up being everything she promised. Songwriters, winemakers and chefs joined together for a night of music, wine, and food to support the arts.
We arrived at the vineyards where everything but the entertainment was held under the stars. Waiters serving heavy hor dourves wound their way through the crowd serving things like these delicious veggie shooters. A piece of mozzarella cheese and a cherry tomato in some kind of liquid that was quite tasty. I honestly couldn’t decide if the liquid contained any alcohol or not, but didn’t really care. Would love that recipe, though. Different tables of wine were set up for tasting and we made the rounds. I am discovering that I favor the sweet white wine.
Soon, it was time for the show and we entered a cave that is carved out of the hillside. Cool air and soft lighting set the ambiance as we were treated to an hour of music from songwriters like Don Sampson (Waitin on a Woman, Achey Breaky Heart to name just a few), Joe “Moose’ Brown (Five O’clock Somewhere) and Tony Lane (I Need You, Letters from Home).
After the performance, we went back outside and had a meal of roast pig, lobster, and tons of trimmings and, of course, more wine. There was some kind of a salad/slaw that was awesome. It was a ‘stand up’ meal, which means tall bar type tables were scattered around which ended up being a lot of fun so we stood and ate and drank and mingled and got to meet some really neat people including one guy and his fiance. He was an editor (or was it publisher?) of a wine magazine and being from the area, was able to share some stories and make a few suggestions while we were there.
After the meal, we went back into the cave for the second hour of performance, this time by three different singer/songwriters. This time we were treated to music by Jon Randall (Wiskey Lullaby, Up on the Ridge) his wife Jessi Alexander (The Climb) and Brett Jones.
It was one of those magical nights where all in the world is well. Good food, good wine, good friends.
To be continued…
~Sandy
