V. SATTUI WINERY OFFERS 15th ANNUAL “FESTA ITALIANA”

Roasted wild boar is paraded through the feast

St. Helena, Napa Valley, Summer 2009---Where can you go see a roasted wild boar paraded ceremoniously before digging in? And be the first to taste a small-production Russian River Zinfandel before you hit the dance floor? And feel as if you’ve been transported to a traditional summer festival in a small town in Tuscany?

V. Sattui Winery is the place; the occasion is its 15th Annual Festa Italiana on July 25, from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. This lively party began as a thank-you event for the winery’s customers, and has morphed into a late-summer celebration of all things Sattui.

It’s an evening of feasting in the winery’s Oak Grove along with music by Italica, a group of Bay Area Italian musicians. The menu will include antipasti, roasted wild boar, grilled tri-tip, fresh salmon, pastas, salads, tiramisu and Knickerbockers’ ‘famous’ double chocolate biscotti. Attire is ‘casual Italian.’ Tickets are $75 per person for the public and $65 per person for members of Sattui’s Cellar Club. Tickets are available only in advance; RSVPs and questions to info@vsattui.com or 707/963-7774.

There are many unusual aspects to the event:

Angelo Ibleto from Angelo’s Smokehouse in Petaluma is roasting a wild boar, which he will triumphantly and dramatically parade through the diners before serving it with a flourish. He is also making sausages and grilling the tri-tip for the occasion. He is a popular returning guest chef who has prepared boar and accoutrements for many of the past Festa Italianas at Sattui.

The 2007 Gilsson Vineyard Zinfandel will be premiered at this year’s Festa. This is the first time Winemaker Brooks Painter has made this wine, from this vineyard in the Russian River appellation. The head-pruned vines were planted in the early 1960s in clay-loam soils. The wine is a fruit-forward Zin, with abundant berry and spice aromas, an aromatic wild berry character, medium tannins and a sweet, jammy finish. The wine has already been awarded three gold medals (at the Orange County Fair, California State Fair and Amenti del Vino Competition).

Guests may take guided tours of the winery’s estate vineyard next door, Vittorio’s Vineyard (now farmed organically).

Guests receive an extra 5% off normal case discounts.

For Reservations, call 707/963-7774, or click HERE!

Click HERE to join VinVillage!