Frankly, I'm still recovering from all the spellbinding wine, food, and frolic that this month's CHEERS! St. Helena served up. And no, not from too much wine, I'm a professional. I was traveling. Read on for a full wrap-up of the good, bad, ugly, and evil (hint the latter 3 aren't really applicable).Lots of happening things to report. First, CHEERS! was full of frolic just as it was last year, but bigger! Or, as I will now reference the events from this day forward, CHEERS! Full Throttle! Am I dangerously close to sounding over-the-top? Great, I’m doing my job. Random bits of goodness that was uncorked. Gaggles of informal street music performing up and down Main St., in addition to the 3 headlining bands. Thank you CHEERS! for helping the town to rise to this acoustic occasion. We quite literally rocked from blues, to classical, and classics. Well done! Miner (who I lavished on about at the end of last year) poured what I like to call their "pink lady" wine, otherwise known as the Mendocino Rosado. The perfect "lady's lunching/bridal shower wine." Light, fruity, frilly. You feel fancy drinking it. I can't thank you enough Schramsberg, you can "blanc de blancs" me anytime you please. Don't just sit there! Play your seat, won't you? - Chris Vorland, took me up on the offer as he banged bongos and his wood crated seat (is this really a drum disguised as a milk crate?) while strumming a guitar, as he sat tucked in a corner of the always posh Martin Gallery. Between the music, swank decor, and the Orin Swift Prisoners wine that was flowing freely I was hard pressed to find a reason to escape that spot. But more adventures awaited. Varozza Vineyard's Petite Syrah, I hesitate to even get myself started on this wine, as I may never stop yammering on about it. Brevity is the new pink, so here I go: sturdy, zippy, cherry-berry delightful. This wine sings like a Sinatra song. Quintessa's 06 Faust Cab. Rich, robust, rockin. Speaking of rocking (an unexpected new theme for my posting) as I wind down my rantings for the moment. The Odd Fellows' after party bash showed us that St. Helena is not a sleepy wine town after all. When we put our minds to it we can host a shindig when we want to. I'm not sure how they got CRV (CA Rasta Vibes) to play all night long, but thank god they did, they rocked like only a big city band could. Rumor has it that the Odd Fellows might make this post-party thing a stable of the First Friday scene. So CHEERS! to all that showed up, slurped, poured, and opened up shop for one of the highlights of the season. Missed this months rendition? Get yourself together, you have one month to prepare for the next First Friday CHEERS! social. Until then keep your wacky ways about you.
LA artist Jason Lockyer is at it again. This time his work hits the road, so you don't have to. No longer are you relegated into a gallery to see his work you can view it from the comfort of your own car or sidewalk as he whizzes right on by. You too can wallpaper your car with some of his arty delights. That is if any of them are left after his latest exhibit, spawned from it's Germany-based rendition. Read more about it here.
Cari's Corner
Not that anybody seems to notice but I’m back to my slim, post-bud break fighting weight of a svelte 20.5 pounds. I’m tempted to drop down to 20 but that would require a major overhaul to my wine-swilling repertoire and I’m not ready to commit to such a change.
Columnist, novelist, food, wine, event critic, marketing and promotions. When someone recently told me to "get a life" I decided to get a "wineward" life instead. When I slurp wine, I feel fine, enough said. I intend to slurp and scribe as much as humanly possible. My background came of age slinging ads (interactive and traditional ad agencies) from the glamorous (Sony, ABC/Disney, WB), the cuddly (Purina), foodie (Kraft), techie (HP, Intel, AT&T, Apple), & publishing (Conde Nast, Time Inc., Hearst), film festival production, and the list goes on and on.
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