First Sip of Slope wine fest this Saturday
Kim Stinette, who will be serving tastes of wine for Gingko Forest Winery at the Sip of the Slope wine festival this Saturday, pours a sip of an award-winning wine for a pair of western Washington visitors on a wine tour of Grant County.
ROYAL CITY – All is set for the first Sip of the Slope wine festival this Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Royal City Community Center, which is located at the Royal Golf Course.
Sip of the Slope is sponsored, organized and staged by Royal City's SHOC (Strengthening the Heart of the Community) organization. The purposes are to promote the Grant County wine industry and raise funds for community projects.
"It is especially nice that SHOC is celebrating our agricultural community,” former Royal schools librarian Sharon Chesterman said. “Having an event of this kind will showcase our new community center and the beauty of the local golf course."
Sip of the Slope will go from 4-8 p.m. indoors and outdoors. Eight wineries and six food vendors will be on hand. There will also be live music provided by Slag Callahan and Ben Charron.
“SHOC has had amazing support from the City of Royal City,” SHOC's Linda Murphy said. “They have completed paving projects out at the community center so that people can enjoy outdoor seating.”
All wine tastes and food offerings will be covered by the $25 ticket. Tickets will be available at the door.
The eight wineries will be Jones of Washington from Quincy, Gard Vintners of Royal City, Fox Roxy of Royal City, White Heron Cellars of Trinidad, Beaumont Cellars of Quincy, Frenchman Hills Winery of Royal City, Gingko Forest Winery of Mattawa and Camas Cove Cellars of Moses Lake.
“Several of the wines made from grapes grown in this area have won awards,” said retired Royal School District educator Jim Hill. “The wines are viewed as being some of the best produced in the world.”
All of the wineries, except Camas Cove Cellars, are expected to pour award-winning wines. Camas Cove is a brand new project of 72-year-young Dennis and 68-year-young Nancy Parr.
The winery came on line this spring, and the Parrs are excited about Sip of the Slope and the couple's future.
“Retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be,” Nancy said.
Gingko will pour two of its award winners. One is 2008 Gingko Red, a double gold medal winner at Seattle Wine Awards. The other will be 2009 Wildwood Blend, which won gold at Seattle and the North Central Washington Wine Competition.
Gingko will also pour its three-year aged Raspberry Sensation. It is a raspberry flavored port style sweet wine.
Gard Vintners will be pouring its 2010 Freyja, its 2011 Rosé, and its 2009 Cab, 92-point wine, as judged by Wine Spectator.