Black Ridge Vineyards, perched in the hills above downtown Los Gatos, opened their exclusive tasting area to TYPs and the exciting, young talent from Opera San Jose. Although a bit cool, the views were spectacular and the wine, food and opera – even better!
The Santa Cruz Mountains, above Lexington Reservoir
The view from BRV
Upon arrival guests were greeted by a Passport and a surprise treat – a glass of BRV’s 2007 Viogner! At 6:30, Jack Wimberly (Chair of TYP) started the evening off thanking Cosmopolitan Catering, Black Ridge Vineyards, Opera San Jose and the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce for making the event happen. Virginia Perry, head of marketing and development for OSJ introduced 3 of the 6 guest-performers to kick off the Passport tour.
OSJ continued to intersperse TYP’s wine tasting with opera-favorites from Italian to French, including favorites used in TV commercials and movies. It was a great opportunity to peek inside one of San Jose’s classical arts groups. As the evening progressed along, each guest received a stamp on their Passport after trying a taste of all 4 BRV wines (Pinot Noir, Merlot, San Andreas, and Cabernet Sauvignon), enjoying bites such as Kobe beef filet tartar with white truffle oil on a brown-butter crostini and squab two-ways with chantrelle mushroom risotto & a bing cherry reduction. Two words, the first being “Holy”, best-describe the food and wine!
At the end of the evening, prizes were raffled off including: a bottle of BRV Merlot, a bottle of San Andreas (BRV’s great red-blend), and complimentary wine-tasting for up to 8. Winners of these prizes were Dan Winter from Burr Pilger Mayer, Teresa Stewart from Boething Treeland and Nicholas Adams from Rotaract.
Guests who purchased wine or joined the BRV Wine Club were entered to win the Grand Prize, dinner for 2 at Morton’s, The Steak House downtown San Jose (worth $120) and 2 tickets to Opera San Jose’s opening performance of La Cenerentola (worth $160). The winner of the Grand Prize was Jonathan Gonzales of Poco Solar, pictured here with Suzanne von Briesen from Adobe Systems.
Grand Prize winners Jonathan Gonzalez & Suzanne von Briesen
Many enjoyed the event, calling it the “best TYP event yet”. As the group formalizes and moves into Fall, more unique programs are schedules, like the Tank Crawl & Sharks game (which sold out in a few days) and upcoming community outreach project. Stay tuned for details!
