“I am super happy to announce that for the 2nd year we are sold out, again!” gushed Tina St. Aubin, Director of Valparaiso Events about the Valpo Wine Festival.
With only the previous year’s festival under its belt, Valparaiso seems to have already found its stride in the tradition of wine sharing and pairing.
“It wasn’t long after tickets went on sale that they were gone. It’s a great feeling because we want people to be happy, we want to deliver a great event, and we’ll work hard for it!” explained St. Aubin.
With over 150 different wines to taste, visitors to the sold out festival had plenty to sample and swish while socializing under the warm sunshine of the afternoon.
Starting at 3pm, VIP ticket holders were treated to tasty hors d'oeuvres, courtesy of Good to Go by Lucrezia, and the flavorful wines of Italy. Angela Moore and Shawn Stevens of Valparaiso said, “We tried the Pinot Noir and it tasted more like Italy than anything else that we’ve tasted so far. We recently took a trip to Italy in April, so it was interesting to be here and try these wines at the festival. They’re fabulous – the whole event is just a great experience.”
From white tent to white tent, community members perused the tables of deep reds and crisp whites, rinsing their complimentary wine glasses on the way. St. Iakovos Greek Orthodox Church, which will soon be participating in their own Greek Fest come October, served delicious Greek desserts, shish kabobs, and gyros. Local partners such as 1st Source Bank, Celebrity Cruises and NITCO were also on hand, offering their own complimentary gifts, contests, and discounted promotions.
Participating distributors poured wine into glasses and knowledge into ears – advising those who wished to know more about where the wines came from, their tones, and their tastes. Attentive listeners scribbled notes into their wine festival pamphlets, circling favorites and crossing out the “too sweets” and “too dries”.
Atop the stage of the Porter Health Amphitheater, jazz-fusion band Freek Johnson plucked and drummed their airy jazz melodies, adding to the light-hearted ambiance of the afternoon.
By the time the festival was winding down, faces of satisfaction had begun to gather at the Triangle Liquors/Trail Inn Tent, ready to order their bottles and boxes.
When asked about her thoughts on the community’s response to the festival, St. Aubin replied, “We’re really just trying to grow the event. It has appealed to the community, but we also want it to appeal to visitors. We want people to come for the event, but also stay in Valparaiso, wake up in Valpo, have breakfast and explore all of the other wonderful things that our community has to offer.”
*Valparaiso Events, or VCFE (Valparaiso Community Festivals and Events) is a not for profit organization that works to create and promote many of Valparaiso’s festivals and events. They are dedicated to sustaining the vitality of downtown Valparaiso and have so through various on-going projects and annual festivities, including: The Central Park Plaza Market, Eat Up, Wine Down, Summer Jam, Popcorn Fest, Valpo Brewfest, and others.
Distributors and Wine Partners at the Wine Festival, included: Calumet Breweries, Carroll Wine and Spirits, Cooper’s Hawk, Crossroad Vintners, Glazer Distributing, Graybull Wines, Indana Wholesale Wines and Spirits, Monarch Beverage, Republic National Distributing Co., Shady Creek Winery, Southern Wine and Spirits, Trail Inn Liquors, Triangle Liquors, World of Wines, 1st Source Bank, M & S Collision Centers, NITCO, Celebrity Cruises, St. Mary Medical Center, Cadillac, Earles Architects and Associates, Town & Country, Strack & Van Til.