NOVEMBER 5, 2009 ISSUE
Savory Bottles Everywhere
Peabody’s Charity Wine Expo Features More Than 200 Wines to Taste and Buy
Jeff Collins, co-owner of Peabody’s Wine and Beer Merchants, holds a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne that will be available for testing at Peabody’s 31st Anniversary Charity Wine Tasting Expo on Saturday, November 14. Photo by Jason Gilmer
For whatever kind of mood you’re in, there will be plenty of bottles of white or red at the Peabody’s 31st Anniversary Charity Wine Tasting Expo to sample.
The event takes place on Saturday, November 14, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in The Powers Grand Hall and Alumni Hall at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center in Boone. Cost for the event is $45 per person, with proceeds going to the Watauga Education Foundation.
Tickets can be purchased in person at Peabody’s, located at 1104 Highway 105 Bypass in Boone, or by credit card over the phone, in which case, the tickets will be available at the will call box on the day of the event. To purchase tickets or for more information, call 828-264-9476.
The original idea for the expo came about as the store was getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
“We were having a lot of tastings, so we decided to have one great big tasting,” Peabody’s co-owner Jeff Collins said. “Instead of having two or three distributors, we’d have them all.”
“It’s really a locals event,” Collins said. “We didn’t set it up to give back to the locals, but that’s how it’s worked out. It’s a really nice party for them. There’s really nothing else going on in November.”
During their first planning sessions for the event, Collins said he wasn’t sure what would happen. As the event got underway, however, he knew it had staying power.
“The mix of the crowd, the number of good restaurants that come, the sheer volume of the wine, there’s always great music, makes it a good event,” Collins said. “It’s once a year and people always look forward to it.”
The expo packs hundreds of wine connoisseurs and those with curious taste buds to the party.
Along with a large assortment of wine, there will also be local restaurants sharing their best foods.
Collins said that the event has sold out in the past and between 500 and 600 people attend the expo.
The types of wine that will be there run the gamut of everyday wines to collectible bottles. Everyone will get a commemorative etched wine glass and a tasting book, which will make it easier for wine tasters to find the wines they want to try.
Having the event in November, in between the end of foliage season and the beginning of ski season, is why Collins has been able to include a large number of top-notch local restaurants.
“It’s great exposure for the restaurants,” Collins said. “They get to show off, too.”
This year’s list includes Best Cellar, Bistro Rocco, Restaurant G at Gideon Ridge, Café Portofino, Casa Rustica, Char, Crave, Canyon’s, The Gamekeeper, The Table at Crestwood, The Bistro, Gadabouts Catering, Vidalia’s and Stick Boy Bakery.
The size of the venue allows only 13 or 14 restaurants to be included in the expo.
“There’s a lot of great restaurants in town and we’d like to have everyone there, but there’s just not enough space,” Collins said.
While the event may be based around food and drink, there’s also a musical element. Each year a jazz band is at the event to play and for the second straight year Asheville’s One Leg Up will perform.
The Broyhill Inn and Conference Center will offer $89 room rates in conjunction with the event, Collins said.
For more information, call 828-264-9476. To reserve a room at the Broyhill, call 828-262-2204.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
