Once again almost a dozen merchants along Town Center Drive and the Patios of the Westfield Valencia Mall played host, with the help of dozens of volunteers, donated wine and purveyors of fine food, to The Wine Affair: Sip, Stroll & Savor the Sounds.
Guests had four hours to complete their loop tour and be happily entertained by not only the wine, food and music, but also merchants that had opened their doors introducing shoppers, possibly for the first time, to what they offered. And the good of all this effort was that a portion of what was spent on each ticket benefited not only the health issues of women in the Santa Clarita Valley, but also women worldwide. (Read more about the Soroptimist International of Greater Santa Clarita, the venues and sponsors, below my story in photos.)
Of note for me was finding Russ Briley serving two of his outstanding Pinot Noirs, seeing owner Guy Lelarge of Valencia Wine Company taking care of a very large and growing crowd, Ventura’s Maganvino Cellars had a generous line-up of wine that most agreed was a favorite, re-discovering Agua Dulce winery, seeing Shelley Hann dressed, and decorated, as Mother Nature, catching up with Circle of Hope founder Colleen Shaffer, watching my firefighter hubby chat it up with the Fireman’s Brew reps, and seeing Al Robles, the owner of Cheer@All Corked Up, volunteering.
The bands were a blast, and very entertaining even for the shoppers at the mall that hadn’t come for the wine. While in the shops I dug trying to talk my husband Eddie into dance lessons at Havin’ a Ball, taking advantage of the new membership being offered at The Ivy (especially after Eddie got his free chair massage with Toni Brady) and being handed a Yankee Candle and discount card as we “strolled” in the Patios. The food, all of it, was outstanding. From my first taste of…was it fried…tofu from Life Thai Fusion, to the pot stickers at Vines, the delicate herbs used in Persia Restaurant’s dishes, some very excellent creamy and dark chocolate by Truffles-n-Toffee, Maria’s Italian Deli serving the same marinated olives, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and charcuterie I’ve ordered for wine tastings and several of their signature hot dishes too.
If you were able to come and support the event, great, if not, take a look at what you missed:
Guess you didn’t make it to Salt Creek???
I did Tamra! I just forgot to snap a photo! Both Greg Amsler and Jennifer Chadwick were on hand greet guests (and pour us huge wine tastes!) by the nice big outdoor fireplace. If you have a pic of the event – I’d be happy to edit my story and add it in friend!