Well, sort of. There are no mosh pits, and no musical acts.
But as far as stars go – the stars of wine, and of wine making – they’ll be present and pouring.
Karen Williams and David Stevens, co-owners of Acme Fine Wines, St. Helena, CA., welcome guests into their A-one (note the door handles) wine shop.
The Big News: David Stevens and Karen Williams are throwing a party next month for some of the best winemakers in America.
Even Bigger News: You’re invited.
David and Karen are the couple who co-own Acme Fine Wines, in St. Helena, (for the record, they are NOT a couple outside of work -- each is happily married to someone else). They have decided to host a Saturday event, April 25, to celebrate great Napa Valley winemaking.
Change that to read: “…. to host a Saturday event, April 25, to celebrate some of the greatest wines you may ever taste.”
This is the stuff you sip, swirl and swallow. Trust me, not much that will be tasted that Saturday is going to be spat.
The official announcement, inviting guests to the Acme “atelier,” a studio, of sorts, for artists working in the wine medium.
Twelve area winemakers will be present, each pouring no fewer than three cuvees, or labels. One winemaker, Celia Welch Masyczek, will pour nine wines for which she is consulting, or fulltime, winemaker.
The rock star winemakers pouring at the “atelier” include, in alphabetical order: Heidi Barrett, Russell Bevan, Andy Erickson, Sarah Gott, Mark Herold, Mike Hirby, Celia Welch Masyczek, Craig MacLean, Philippe Melka, Robbie Meyer, Dave Phinney, and Pam Starr.
Russel Bevan, winemaker of Bevan Cellars, Grey Stack, Showket, Sanglier and Westerhold Family wines.
In advance of the event, napaman.com asked to meet several of the participating winemakers. Russell Bevan broke silence and shared with us a World First: he unveiled that he has produced the world’s first RF (Radio Frequency) tagged bottles of wine.
Russell has hidden a nano-sized Radio Frequency (RF) chip beneath each label of his 2006 Syrah and Cabernet labels. “Mine is the first wine in the world to place an RF chip on the bottle,” says the winemaker. “RF will lead to the reduction of counterfeiting of cult wines and help winemakers speak directly to their consumers.”
Many consumer products are already tagged with RF chips – to reduce distribution and shelf replacement costs in large format stores. Walmart was a pioneer in the field.
Bevan says that, in the Middle East, “90 percent of the cell phones can read an RF tag. It’s eventually coming to North American phones.”
Until our cell phones join this tech-advanced club, wine lovers will be able to tap into their phone a text message number followed by the individual radio chip code that is printed on the back label of every bottle of Bevan Cellars. In an instant, they will receive text message notification that the particular bottle is real, not counterfeit. As well, they will receive a series of follow-up text messages giving the winemaker’s tasting notes about the wine.
Pam Starr, winemaker for Crocker & Starr, Bridesmaid, Garric and Adastra, will pour all of her wines at the Acme atelier.
Pam Starr, who will pour four stunning wines at the wine atelier, says she is enthusiastic about meeting – one on one -- many of the Acme clients, who have been supportive of her efforts. She suggested that it’s as much of a chance for the winemakers to meet their fans as it is for the fans to meet the wine makers. A Vinous Love-In -- without the rain, or LSD, of Woodstock!
“We’re holding the event to showcase the many fine wines, which Acme Fine Wines offers,” explains co-owner David Stevens.
“We originally thought we might hold a massive blind tasting of these wines for the wine blogging community,” says Karen, his business partner. “But the more we worked in this direction, the more we realized that the event would turn into a full-bore, scoring experience – which is not what we want. We don’t want people going away from the event with a head full of scores. We want them to learn from the exposure to these great wines what Acme represents.”
In total, more than 50 wines will be poured at the atelier event, held at Acme Fine Wines, 1080 Fulton Lane, St. Helena. Guests will have three hours from 1 pm to 4 pm, to conduct their tasting, and to meet the rock star winemakers.
Tickets, $175 each, are available from Erin Sullivan at Acme Fine Wines. Call 707-963-0440, or email her at [email protected]. But hurry; tickets, like these magnificent wines, will disappear quickly and be hard to get.
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