Every year, on the first Saturday in March, Seven Feathers Casino Resort is home to The Greatest of the Grape. This is not your average wine festival. If you haven't attended, here are 8 reasons to hustle up and nab your ticket's to this year's event:
1. It's Oregon's longest running fine wine event.
If you haven't been to one of the first 45 of these, and you fancy yourself an Oregonian and/or Oregon wine fan, you best make it to the 46th. (That's this year.)
2. The Umpqua Valley is so hot right now.
Maybe you saw THIS in the San Francisco Chronicle? The Umpqua Valley is a historic wine growing region, producing amazing wines that are much different from it's neighbor to the north, the Willamette Valley. So, if you are mostly familiar with Willamette Valley wines, your palate deserves a trip to the land of the Umpqua.
3. There is food. Lots of it. And it's all awesome.
Every winery teams up with a restaurant from the region and together they create a wine and food pairing. The perfect bite and sip, whether savory or sweet, awaits you at every station (and there are 20+ stations). Plus there is a central bread, cheese and fruit spread of which dreams are made.
4. You have the power.
Guests to The Greatest of the Grape cast votes for Best Wine and Best Wine & Food Pairing and the winners are announced at the end of the evening, along with the results from the professional judges' contest. This year there will even be a handy-dandy app for smartphone users to cast their votes (just like on NBC's The Voice).
5. Party with the people who made your wine.
Many of the people pouring at The Greatest of the Grape are winemakers and family members. And if someone else happens to be manning the station, that's probably because the winemakers and family are out enjoying the event! Long story short, whether on one side of the table or the other, you are partying with the people behind the wine you're drinking.
6. They got shuttles. Booyah.
Concerned about how you'll transport yourself come March 5? Check out these OPTIONS.
7. Feathers Casino Resort.
See what I did there? So at the end of the night, when you're fat and happy on good wine, live music (yeah there's that too) and excellent food, step out of the ballroom and onto the Casino floor for some good ol' fashioned wholesome gambling. (Hey, maybe you'll win back the price of the tickets!)
8. Oh yeah, it's totes affordable.
General admission is $75 and VIP tickets are $100 offering an extra hour (6pm entry) to VIP guests. Think about this: at that rate, you get 4+ hours (5+ for VIP) of phenomenal wine, food and entertainment. I challenge you to find another event that gets you as much bang for such small bucks. For tickets, click HERE.
With that, I'll leave you with this insightful quote from John Michael Higgins in the 2006 film, The Breakup, "Come come on the kick drum, come!"
See ya out there,
Tyler