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June 4th is the date of the second annual Single Vineyard Night in Russian River Valley.  This year, this Millennial-centric event will be held at Thomas George Estates, one of my personal favorite wineries on Westside Road in Healdsburg.

Oh, did I mention this is a CAVE PARTY????!?!?

This is the only event of its kind where attendees can taste the BEST of the BEST that Russian River Valley has to offer – single vineyard-designate wines. Attendees will get a rare chance to actually talk to the Farmers & Winemakers that have worked so hard to create these wines. As per the “Single” theme (note, this is NOT a singles party) single bites of food will be passed on trays so that there is something new coming their way as the tasting progresses.

Single bites from local Sonoma County food producers and restaurants include: Jack and Tony’s, Devine Pizza, Affronti Restaurant, Kozlowski Farms, Viola Pastry Boutique, Clover Stornetta, Spoonbar!, and Jackson’s Bar & Oven.

After the tasting and single bites, guest move to auction and DJ dancing, where a team of Russian River Valley grape growers will barbecue up some food (including veggie options), and later single bites of desserts are passed.

There will also be a chance for people to get together with their group of friends to bid on Adventure Auction Lots hosted by “Next Generation” Farmers and Winemakers!

$45 per person (presale)
$55 at the door
$80 for V.I.P. Reception – early entry for intimate tasting with growers & winemakers of the Russian River Valley. Includes a special premier of the 2009 Thomas George Estates Sparkling Pinot Noir Brut Rose and special gift.

Buy tickets online at RRVW.org!

The latest thing to attract Millennial Wine Drinkers…  Wait…. Maybe try the Next Generation of Winemakers in Russian River Valley’s Single Vineyard Night instead!

As you know, the Russian River Valley Winegrowers Millennial Council is throwing THE party of the year in Sonoma County. Single Night is an evening featuring Single Vineyard Origin wines — some of the most sought after small-lot bottlings in the world of wine — “Group Bid” Adventure Auction Lots, DJ music and dancing.

All nine of the Adventure Auction Lots are sponsored by a Russian River Valley Winegrower member and the money for each lot will go to raise funds for educational programs and future events. There are many reasons why Single Night will be epic, but these Adventure Lots is one part of the night that we are most excited about.

We guarantee, these Adventure Lots will be the most fun you will ever have at an auction.  Check out this video to find out a bit more:

We all think our Adventure Lots Videos are the best, so we are asking you, our awesome Facebook Fans, to vote for your favorite one! Please visit our video tab on the Next Generation Wine Facebook Page and click LIKE on your favorite Adventure Lot video.

The video with the most ‘likes’ will win.

*Though you do have to be a fan to ‘like’ a video!

To make this even more fun, we will be giving away one round-trip ticket for a future trip from Horizon/Alaska Air AND a ticket to Single Night to one random Facebook fan who participates!

Winners will be announced next week, so make sure to vote right away!!

Thanks! +Sonoma County Wine Blogger

Some restrictions from Horizon/Alaska Air:

• Travel Valid thru – January 28, 2011
• Blackout dates – Nov. 23,24, 27-29, Dec 22-24, 26-27, 2010 & Jan 1-4, 2011
• Fare Type – Unrestricted Coach Class
• Route Authorized – Roundtrip on Horizon Air/Alaska Airlines in the Continental US, Alaska and Canada (excludes Hawaii and Mexico)
• Other restrictions may apply

In Sonoma County.

Yes, I have been back from my first trip for Project Y-ine for a week now, but this past week has been filled with meetings, Congresswoman Woolsey fun and showing Ashley Routson (aka @TheBeerWench aka my@ProjectYine partner in crime) around wine country.   We visited Russian River Brewing Company, Michel-Schlumberger, Bella Winery, St. Supery, Kaz Vineyards and of course, the Dry Creek General Store & Bar… And this is only a few of them.

Tomorrow I will be throwing myself into the food and wine culture at the  TASTE of Sonoma event.  This large Sonoma-centric event will be at the MacMurray Ranch property on Westside Road in Healdsburg.  Over 150 Sonoma wineries will be there, along with over 60 local chefs, so I am not sure which I am more excited about — The wine or the food!  It will be my first time at this 30th annual event and I am sure I will have lots to write about next week!

Labor Day weekend is always an eventful time in Wine Country, for some it is the last weekend of Summer and for others it is the last weekend of freedom before the long hours of Crush take over lives.  A Labor Day BBQ at Mounts Family Vineyards, Bird Day at Michel-Schlumberger is on Saturday and Steve Pile will be singing on both Saturday and Sunday at Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves…  All in my favorite appellation- Dry Creek Valley.

Speaking of Dry Creek Valley, the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley are hosting an event dedicated to the appellation’s flagship varietal, zinfandel, on the following weekend called ZinTopia.

On September 19th, the SoulShine Blues Band will be playing and guests can enjoy wines from Dry Creek Valley wineries and eat local food from local chefs.   And, if you purchase a ticket and enter the word ZIN then you will receive 30% off the purchase price of $75.   Did I mention there will be a grape stomp?

September and October are my two favorite months here in Sonoma County, each year I celebrate my birthday, stomp on the fallen leaves, eat so much candy I cannot walk on Halloween and laugh at the Australian interns that take over the Healdsburg bars during Crush.  It is truly an amazing place to live or visit….

It really has been far too long since I have written anything here, and that is actually one of the things I tell clients NOT to do. It is worse to have an abandoned blog then to have no blog at all….

People expect me to entertain them once a week, you know, other than on Twitter, Facebook and in person. I need to live up to my statement of being funny by accident and sarcastic on purpose by letting you know what is going on in my world.

So, as some of you may know, I have a huge “gig” in the works that I have been very secretive about over the past few months, well, the website is taking longer to go live then originally thought (note to all brands out there – websites usually take at least a month longer than the original launch date) so I will not be talking about it yet.

What has been going on in my world though has been a lot of writing to prepare for my new project, a lot of consulting jobs and a few speaking gigs, including being on an upcoming panel at the The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) in Napa on July 17th.  Of course I will be talking about wine and social media.

I also have gotten a tattoo for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau’s upcoming Sonoma Wine and Food Tattoo contest. The video is pretty hilarious, but thankfully I think they were gentle on me and didn’t post some of the really bad faces I made.  Though, I made the mistake of posting them myself (and posting them here again).

Sonoma County Ink