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Wine & Food Fest: Sunday Fair
The Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival’s Sunday Fair is the event’s rough equivalent of the Auditorium Shores concerts during South By Southwest — an offering to the masses who play host to a weekend-long gathering, folks who aren’t willing to pony up $100 or more for the tonier events (a mere $45 will get you in the door). You don’t have to dress fancy, you’ll probably get dirty but you’ll have a fine time.
And so it was Sunday at the Vineyards at the Salt Lick near Driftwood. After an intermittently stormy couple of days there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and organizers trucked in hay to take the edge off the mud in the rural locale. The only thing that wasn’t perfect early in the day was a persistent wind.
But Salt Lick brisket and sausage on the way in made things tolerable, as did Cafe Josie’s Jamaican jerk chicken with a killer sauce. But Whole Foods’ duck in mole may have been the best thing fair-goers could have sampled. Louis M. Martini, the California family winery that had been a formidable presence all weekend, offered an “approachable” 06 Cabernet from Sonoma and a bolder and much more assertive ‘05 from Napa.
Locally, Wimberley Valley Winery had a nice, airy Merlot, a tad too light for my taste but perfectly fine for an early afternoon pour. And Mandola’s Estate Winery had a 2007 Sangiovese that suggested berries, oak and Hill Country air. And they’ve only been growing grapes out there since 2005?
All that and a hefe weizen (wheat beer for you people who only drink wine) poured by Live Oak’s Chip McElroy made for a fine close to a near-flawless 2009 festival. Cheers!
(American-Statesman photos by Patrick Beach)
Comments
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By Ken Crone
April 22, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this
Patrick,
I like your writing. I catch you every now and then in the Statesman but I’m glad I know you write more blogs here. All the articles I’ve read from you I’ve enjoyed. Keep up the good work and always, always, always support the local brews, micro brews and IPA’s
By Lisa O'Neill
April 23, 2009 7:07 AM | Link to this
Hi Patrick, Want you to know about week-long Cinco de Mayo cocktails at Eddie V’s and Roaring Fork: Eddie V’s and its sister establishment, Roaring Fork, the latter with a new Northwest Austin location opening April 20, will pay tribute to our neighbors to the south for the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Bartenders have created special colorful cocktails, the Elderberry Martini and Madras Crush, in celebration of the Mexican holiday. Both restaurants will extend the merriment by offering their Cinco de Mayo drinks Sunday, May 3 through Saturday, May 9. The specialty cocktails are priced at $12. The Roaring Fork, 10850 Stonelake Blvd., 512-342-2700
The Roaring Fork, 701 Congress, 512-583-0000 Eddie V’s, 301 East 5th Street, 512-472-1860 Eddie V’s, 9400 B Arboretum Blvd., 512-342-2642 Thanks!