Taste of the Vine report

It was a pleasure to participate this Saturday,the 31st, at QAD, in Summerland, dedicated to Samsun Clinic diabetes research institute. Such a fabulous location with spectacular view for a fabulous cause. We hope their goal was met for this day as the struggle continue.

Here is the report from Edhat : http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=36440

Taste of the Vine Report
updated: Aug 01, 2010, 10:30 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I attended Taste of the Vine and Auction, a benefit for the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, last night at QAD. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The campus of QAD overlooking our gorgeous coastline is a truly wonderful venue, and just perfect for an event of this size. The fog had burned off just enough to make everyone comfortable in their summer attire.

This event is in its 9th year and its obvious that they really have the formula down. The restaurants on hand had plenty of food, and there were just the right amount of wineries so we could sample a few things and not be drinking too much. This is not a party event, but a true tasting and sampling one.

I was impressed with the wineries on hand including quite a few of my local favorites - Au Bon Climat, Babcock, Beckmen, Brander, Bridlewood, Byron, Jaffurs, Lions Peak, Qupe and Silver among them. Highlights from the food category included the simply divine Chocolats du Calibressan (the chocolate chocolate truffle with ginger was amazing, and so was the mint truffle), Santa Barbara Catering Company's pulled pork sandwich (great cole slaw), steak bites from Outback (actually preferred those over the pork chops from Ruth Chris) and pumpkin ravioli with sage butter from Via Maestra 42.

There were a wide variety of silent auction items to browse through and the live auction emceed by Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri was a lot of fun. Thanks for the the opportunity to earn these tickets, Edhat, and congratulations to Sansum Diabetes Research Institute on the wonderful work they do. All of those involved in this event deserve kudos for a job well done.