I’m so bummed that I won’t be here for the first annual H. of F. Vintners dinner… bet that they’ll really be pouring the good stuff! But after making a gluttonous little piggy of myself at the Carmel’s Masters of Food & Wine Event, ( I really lucked out when I spotted a hidden bottle of ’72 D.P. which paired beautifully with Top Chef Marisa Churchill’s ambrosial mango/pistachio panna cotta, I signed myself up for a few days of clean spa living in Ojai, Ca. (report to follow). But if you would like to attend, and let me know how it goes, here’s the ticket info:
The Culinary Institute of America’s Vintners Hall of Fame Induction Dinner
Spiced Up by Inductees’ Descendants, Documentary Filming, and Rare Auction Lots
St. Helena, CA – Dr. Tim Ryan, president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), will deliver induction awards to the descendants of several honorees at the Vintners Hall of Fame First Annual Induction Dinner on March 9, 2007, at the CIA’s Greystone campus.
The Icon award to Harold Olmo, legendary UC Davis viticulturist, will be accepted by Jeanne-Marie Olmo, Dr. Olmo’s daughter. Robin Lail, great-granddaughter of Captain Gustave Niebaum, will accept the Founder award for Inglenook, now Rubicon Estate. The Founder award to Buena Vista founder Agoston Haraszthy will be accepted by his great-great-grandson, Vallejo Haraszthy; and the Founder award to André Tchelistcheff will be accepted by his wife, Dorothy Tchelistcheff. André Tchelistcheff’s nephew, Mark Tchelistcheff, will film the proceedings as part of a documentary on the famous Beaulieu Vineyards winemaker.
Fritz Hatton, auctioneer of the annual Auction Napa Valley and owner of Arietta Winery, will be the emcee for the evening and will perform the honors for the four unique auction lots such as:
The Robert Mondavi Winery Lot features a reception and dinner for 12, personally hosted by Margrit and Robert Mondavi at the winery; a 6-litre bottle from a stellar vintage in each of Robert’s four decades at the winery: 1974, 1985, 1995 and 2001; and two full-conference passes to Robert Mondavi Winery’s Taste3 conference May 6-8, 2007 in Napa. (Please invite me if you win this lot!)
The annual Vintners Hall of Fame induction dinner will endow new scholarship programs for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the CIA at Greystone. Tickets for the ceremony and gala dinner are $500. For reservations and more information, contact [email protected] or call 707-255-7667.
By Vagablond’s Token Redhead.