People pouring at Pinot Paradise – Part 3

Dianne was a good sport to model the hands-free wine glass holder custom-made for the Los Gatos Wine Walk coming up April 30. We needed photos for the ticket ordering page, so folks could buy a hands-free wine glass holder and raffle ticket while purchasing tickets. What better time and place than the veranda of Pinot Paradise Villa Ragusa to capture the holder in action?

Here’s the third and final installment of the People of Pinot Paradise. It features two winemakers, a wine drinker, a wild pourer and the real stars of the show represented by a lineup of magnums from each of the wineries, all auctioned off at day’s end.

Silent auctions are right up Dianne’s alley, so we had multiple bids dispersed among the dozens of items. At the end of the day, we suffered our disappointments lightly because we walked away with two fun winnings. Most tangible was the double magnum of Downhill Winery Pinot Noir. This will be served at an auspicious occasion yet to be determined, made more auspicious by the arrival of this gargantuan bottle of wine, whose fate is to be consumed in its entirety the day it’s opened. That’s going to be a good day for a lot of people.

Katy Lovell, resplendant in red and the owner of Poetic Cellars Winery, is one of the few females plying this trade in the mountains. She is also a fountain of knowledge about the art and science of extracting the best of what a grape has to offer.

And I have to concede that knowing Frank Ashton, the winemaker, makes the purchase more special somehow. It’s this same feeling that makes this event special – it’s the people that pour at Pinot Paradise.

Here’s the final special shoutout to the clients shown below:

• Poetic Cellars Winery
• Burrell School Vineyards and Winery
• Silver Mountain Vineyards

Magnums of Pinot awaiting new owners as the silent auction winds down.

The opportunity to meet this colorful Burrell School pourer never presented itself, but his taste in jackets made sense in view of owner Dave Moulton’s predilection for high-visibility garb at this event.

Jerold O'Brien, owner and winemaker of Silver Mountain Vineyards, never seems to tire of pouring his wine and talking to folks about his passion for the trade.

Tagged as: Burrell School Vineyard and Winery, Dave Moulton, Los Gatos Spring Wine Walk, Pinot noir, pinot paradise, Poetic Cellars Winery, santa cruz mountains wineries, Silver Montain Vineyard and Winery, wine country