Thornton Winery proves to be Southern California’s premiere live Jazz venue
By: Wine Chix contributor Carmen Micheli
Brut Rose & Smooth Jazz
Thornton Winery’s 24th annual Café Champagne Jazz Concert Series opened April 29, 2012, with an inspiring ambiance of top notch performers, award winning wines, and 5-star cuisine. The winery’s outdoor, acoustically intricate Mediterranean inspired courtyard provided the stage for some great live Jazz, premium wines and, of course, some dinner and dancing. The warm, early summer breezes mixed with the hypnotic tunes of Mindi Abair, Jeff Golub, and David Pack creating the perfect setting to enjoy a beautiful Southern California wine country day.
Mindi Abair delivered a flawless and very energetic performance while proudly wearing her father’s jeans, “taken in just a couple of inches”. I was immediately awed at the amount of passion and soul that radiates from this small woman when she blows on that Sax! Hearing her music is one thing, but seeing her live is really quite another. In addition to playing songs from her 2010 album “In Hi-Fi Stereo”, Mindi also did a bit of freestyle and made her way through the crowd to jam on the dance floor with ecstatic fans.
David Vergari and Steve Thornton welcome Mindi Abair
Joining Mindi on stage was the handsomely talented guitarist/vocalist David Pack, who Abair introduced as having the “voice of an angel”. His serenade brought the crowd to its feet several times, and filled the dance floor with a stellar cover of “Let the Good Times Roll”. Contemporary Jazz Guitarist Jeff Golub also joined Mindi completing the stellar trio. Golub stole my heart when he first introduced his adorable guide dog; a black Lab named Luke, took his place on stage with his guitar and coolly started playing the blues. “Everyone gets the Blues” he said tipping his hat. “…..and every good Blues Artist has a hat and a story”. And he surely had both for one of my favorite songs with Abair “Sidetracked” as I dined on a 5 -star Gourmet Supper package by Café Champagne’s award winning Executive Chef Steve Pickell.
Dessert & 2010 Zin
Being a frequent visitor to both the winery and Café Champagne in the past I knew to expect excellence in both the wine and food and I was not disappointed. The 2010 Viognier was fragrant with lush peaches and cream. It paired just as perfectly with the red pepper hummus and baguette, as with the Marinated Artichoke and Asparagus salad adorned with petite greens and shaved parmesan. A perfectly Roasted Chicken Breast on a bed of Toasted Polenta, Hearty Wild Mushrooms, Bright Garden Peas, and a beautiful Rosemary Thyme Jus was the main course. It was complimented nicely by a 2010 Mourvedre that was so bright and balanced with notes of vanilla and earth that I was indulged. Heavenly, could only describe the fresh Strawberry MarscarponeTart with Muscat Canelli Mousseline and Crisp Almond Brittle. Thornton’s 2010 Huis Zinfandel was an ideal companion with this delightful summer dessert. The Zinfandel was crisp and light with a pleasant greeting of sweet black cherries and raspberries to entice and satisfy the palate. I had the privilege of speaking with Thornton Winemaker David Vergari who enlightened me on his preference of using stainless steel along with oak barrels to coax the beautiful attributes out of this lovely Zinfandel.
The evening ended with some refreshing iced coffee and a very upbeat encore jam session resulting in Abair, Gould, and Pack receiving a strong standing ovation from the crowd. Sound like your kind of fun? The 2012 Jazz Concert Series at Thornton Winery runs from April 29-October 21 with artists like The Sax Pack, Chris Botti, George Benson, and Boney James to name just a few. Tickets are available at http://cf.thorntonwine.com/tickets.php . Make it a wine country date night!
