The First Toast of Taos

Toast of Taos is HERE!

Finally the day arrived--August 6, 2006. We had researched and acquired event licenses for the winemakers. We had ordered glasses, windsocks, wristbands, posters, brochures, ornaments, tshirts, golf balls, umbrellas, and countless other items. We had scheduled and trained over 100 volunteers. Hundreds of bottles of wine had arrived for the competition. The judges were here and setting up the competition. The golf tournament goodie bags were stuffed. We were ready.

The next few days were a magical blur of events. The judges awarded an incredible 133 medals to entered wines. Being a natural skeptic, I questioned the high number, and the response was "These wines deserved these medals. We were all surprised at the great quality of the wines we tasted."


The Art D'Vine gallery tour was a smash hit. Hundreds wandered the streets with their wine glasses, stopping at this gallery to admire art and munch delicacies, stopping at that gallery to try some wine and buy a bottle, stopping at the other gallery to talk to an artist giving a demonstration there. Everyone was giggling and wore a big smile as the windsocks marking participating galleries fluttered in the cool evening breeze.

The wine dinners were magical. Each restaurant shaped the menu around the wines--5 different wines from 5 vineyards. The pairings were mouth-watering and fascinating. As my mother commented at the end of the superb multi-course dinner at Stakeout Restaurant, "Now, that's the way to eat!"

Our golf tournament--although sparsely attended--was a big hit with players. Maybe the response has something to do with the champagne, golf balls, and trophies that went to the winning players! The auction was great fun. We bid on gorgeous jewelry, delicious wine, exciting paintings and sculpture.

In the end, we were exhausted but happy. I had learned so much about wine, about Taos, about winemakers, about art galleries, about sponsorship, about organization, about marketing. All lessons I hoped to remember in 2007.

And now here we are again, about to embark on the next adventure--2007 Toast of Taos. Take a look at our website www.toastoftaos.com to learn more about our next incredible event.

The Voyage Continues in Texas and Colorado

June and July 2006:

We had scheduled our Toast of Taos events (art gallery tour, wine tasting, Southwest Wine Competition, wine dinners, auction, etc.), acquired our venues, and recruited galleries and restaurants. I had visited some New Mexico wineries and been surprised and pleased by what I found: terrific people, delicious wines, fascinating stories. I could have stopped there, but my vision of this event was beginning to take shape. I wanted this to be a truly regional event--including Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Colorado in addition to New Mexico--so I traveled on: to Colorado and then to Texas.

In Colorado I focused on the the Grand Junction area and visited over a dozen wineries. I met so many great people: Parker Carlson at Carlson winery, Doug Phillips at Plum Creek, Barbara Maurer at Graystone, Jeff and Carol Carr at Garfield Estates, and Julie Balistreri at Balistreri Winery in Denver. The pride and joy of these people shone in their eyes, and their wines were wonderful. Even the names and labels were terrific: Carlson's Fat Cat Muscat, the beautiful watercolor paintings on the Plum Creek labels, the elegant tall bottles of Balistreri hand sealed in wax.

In Texas I put thousands of miles on my car as I traveled to Lubbock, where I visited Caprock, Pheasant Ridge, and Llano Estacado; to the Fredericksburg area, where I was captivated by Sistercreek and Fall Creek; and to Messina Hof and Pleasant Creek in the College Station area. What a wonderland of wine!

By the time I returned from my last trip a little over a month before Toast of Taos, I had begun to form a greater vision of Toast of Taos. I realized that, like me, few people knew what exciting things were happening in southwestern wineries. And maybe Toast of Taos could help fans of wine discover this unknown world. I began to see a day when wine lovers from all over America--and maybe the world--would see Toast of Taos as THE event to attend to find out what was going on in southwest wine. And I began to get excited.

Next.... putting on the first Toast of Taos. Go to www.toastoftaos.com to find out about the upcoming SECOND Toast of Taos.

Artists and Southwestern Wine

I interrupt the story of the creation of Toast of Taos to tell you about a great event last weekend. We had a reception at the historic Taos Inn for the artists who entered our Toast of Taos poster competition. This was our first poster competition, and we were delighted with the results.

The poster competition accepted art of any media; the only limitations were that it had to feature the Southwest and wine. Over a dozen fantastic pieces were submitted: wonderful oil and watercolor paintings, pen and ink drawings, decorated bottles, photos, all kinds of great works. The artists who submitted entries included Lee Heartwell, Leigh Gusterson, Ed Sandoval, Rich Nichols, Stephen Kilborn, Valerie Graves, Mark Kemper, Patty Sheehan, Mike Gravel, Adam Schallau, Shirley Belz, Martin Goldman, Ouray Meyers, Michael Regnier, Lloyd Rivera, and David Sullins.

Our judges had a very difficut time selecting a winner, so instead they picked three. In first place was the oil painting Two for Taos Time by Leigh Gusterson. Second place went to Stephen Kilborn for his vivid cubistic piece. Mark Kemper took third place for his pen and ink drawing En Vino Veritas, a hilarious Dia de los Muertos piece. The artists at the reception met their public, signed their work, and helped drink several bottles of wonderful southwestern wine.

If you like the winning images, visit www.toastoftaos.com. The images are posted there, and you can purchase the evocative winning poster featuring Leigh's painting, a tote bag with Stephen's wonderful image, and a print of Mark's terrific pen and ink.

Next.... back to the adventure of creating Toast of Taos.