Terrific Idea for Wineries

I just got this email from Brooks Wines and thought I would pass it along. Good marketing! Dear Friends! We are eager to get to know you better!  We are making Brooks available across as many communication channels as possible and we want to hear from you! We want photos, the stories of your Brooks moments, your reviews of our wines and your visit to our winery! And you can win!  We will not only be making regular special offers to you via social media, we will be selecting multiple winners every month to receive a $50 Brooks Gift Certificate!  So don't just hitch up with us.....POST!  And here is how: FInally a Mobile App for Brooks! Go to www.tastebrooks.com and add this app to your mobile device.  It is our new Mobile Tasting Room! See what is being offered in the tasting room, connect with us through social media, see events, specials, buy wines and view photos of our winery!  Tag any instagram photo with #brookswinery and it will show up on the site! Pick Your Favorite and Hitch Up! Follow us, like us, check in, tweet us, tag us #brookswinery, post a photo, write a review: Facebook:  Brooks Wines Twitter: @brookswinery Instagram: brookswinery Foursquare: Brooks Winery Yelp:  Brooks Winery Email: info@brookswinery.com

Call to Artists

The Gallery at the Watershed’s Annual *Regional Micro-Miniature Show
Call to Artists in painting, printmaking and photography
Show Dates:  December 17, 2013 - January 11, 2014
Formal Show Opening/Reception:  Wednesday, September 18, 6:30 pm - 8 pm  
Image:  no larger than 6" x 6"
Framed size:  no larger than 12" x 12"
Entry for three pieces is $30; please add $5 for each piece beyond 3. 
NOTE:  jpgs may be submitted NO LATER than November 11 online (see entry form.) 
NOTE:  Artwork may be presented in-person on Monday, November 18, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
or sent to gallery with return shipping included by the 18^th of November.
Juror Robert Canaga, artist and curator for The Gallery at the Watershed, will notify artists promptly upon review of the work.
Unaccepted work may be picked up on November 21, between 11 am and 5 pm at the Gallery.
Unsold work may be picked up on Sunday, January 19, 2014, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or  will be shipped back to artist on Jan.20^th’
ALL WORK MUST BE FOR SALE.   Standard TGATWS contract split applies; 50/50.
All excepted work must have 1/2" d-rings properly positioned at top corners and ready for wire hanging.  We will not accept work without those d-rings!

*Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Northern California

Gallery Information:
The Gallery at the Watershed
321 Mill St., Suite 6
Eugene, OR 97401 
Phone during business hours only:  w:541-844-1669, c:541-729-0551
Email for this show:  rcanaga@gmail.com

ENTRY INFORMATION:entry form at The Gallery at the Watershed

Please submit your jpgs to rcanaga@gmail.com (note deadline above.)
Please submit your payment by check in advance to address above, or by credit card during business hours by phone (make sure you do not leave this in a message but that you talk to one of us!  Payment subject to same deadlines; work will not be accepted without it.)   
Please make sure that whatever way you enter you give us the following information:
Your name, land address, email, phone.
Titles of each piece, including materials used, size, and retail price.

Eugene Symphony Goes National

Listen to YOUR Eugene Symphony on NATIONAL RADIO! Tune into KWAX 91.1 FM at approximately 8:40 a.m. on Friday, September 13!

Composer Tomas Svoboda and Eugene Symphony Principal Clarinetist Michael Anderson Performance Today, a nationally-syndicated classical music program, will broadcast the Eugene Symphony’s April 18 world premiere of Tomas Svoboda’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra on Friday, September 13, at approximately 8:40 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (in the second and final hour of the show). The critically-acclaimed performance is the Symphony’s first national radio broadcast in nearly 20 years and will air locally on KWAX 91.1 FM, which carries the American Public Media program. The Svoboda piece was the Symphony’s first commission in over a decade, and grew out of the Symphony’s Long Range Plan (adopted in 2007 and refined in 2010), which calls for the creation of the new works for the orchestra to perform.

Don't miss it: YOUR Eugene Symphony on NATIONAL RADIO! Tune in to KWAX 91.1FM at 8:40 a.m. Friday, September 13

Rap, Muses, Robin Hood, and an Old Geezer King Named Lear

 We recently had a great time in Ashland Oregon seeing four plays in three days.  The Shakespeare Festival has become one of our must see events over the last 15 years.
We saw King Lear first and thought it the best both of us had seen. The staging was perfect as were the costumes. Set in current times and with a few audio gags placed well, it give us lots of "types" to deal with and brings us to a deeper understanding of the play. I have had many people over the years tell me they had avoided Lear because it is so depressing. This one is indeed depressing but when the audience stands and cheers at the end it may be worth seeing.
Next we saw "The Tenth Muse", a fascinating tale of Spanish Catholics during the 18th-century convent in colonial Mexico, young nuns and servants find plays written by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a nun and famous intellectual who died 20 years earlier after falling out of favor with the church.They act out the plays and play cat and mouse with the Mother Superior. A chilling tale of suppression and human nature worth seeing!

We stayed at The Winchester Inn where we also had dinner the first night. Alchemy is the on site eatery and is one of the finest in Ashland. Read the recent Oregon Wine Press 
and learn more about why we eat so much in Ashland. A new shirt was on the list of things to get while down there. There is one of the best men's stores around on Main Street, Nimbus.

Though they have much more than cloths, they are the go to place for the "nice".
After a visit to Illahe Gallery and Studio where we saw a piece worth owning by the owner,Susan Springer. 
We have a 24 hour rule when purchasing art so we called her the next day and made arrangements to pick it up. While waiting for the play we went by one of our favorite watering holes, Liquid Assets.

Linda tasted an array of French wines and I stuck to my Oregon guns and did a Dion '09 Pinot Noir (nice brick red with blach cherry and papper on the nose with a spicy, exiting taste and a long smooth finish) , a '07 Claret from Trium  (a light clean taste with an ever changing profile, great for food pairings)
a Slagle Creek '09 Merlot (this one was a surprise! Peppery, currents, olives and spice on the nose and a rich taste  with smooth mouthfeel and sweetish finish! Still available from the winery so GET SOME!)
we saw them in the window the night before on our way to sip at 
We then saw Robin Hood...I shall leave judgement of that one to the gods.
Sunday morning we stopped by Manzanita on Main and bought two concrete sheep, yes, I said concrete sheep. Linda likes sheep and we just could not resist.
 After parking and having a wonderful brunch at Larks, we walked up the trail an Lithia Park and enjoyed the cool woods. We also discovered a new spice shop, The Spice and Tea Exchange, and I got to taste Ghost Pepper salt! Nearly killed me! But we ended up loading our bag with a great collection of spices and salts.

On the way back down from our walk we stopped at a Sunday market along the creek and bought two handmade brooms from Cheri Hammons.
Then it was off to our final show, The Unfortunates .
This is one of the most compelling and powerful plays I have seen this year. The music, acting, concept, staging, and script all come together for a memorable 90 minutes you shan't soon forget. 
 Then we stopped by and picked up our artwork.

 We made great time on the way home and got in before dark, brought in our prizes, had a glass of Fleur de Roy Rose of Pinot Noir '11 and relaxed.

AN EVENING OF MUSIC FOR FRENH HORN AND PIANO

MARSHANNE LANDING

IS PROUD TO PRESENT

AN EVENING OF MUSIC FOR FRENH HORN AND PIANO

FEATURING

NATHALIE FORTIN-PIANO

SCOTT KING-FRENCH HORN

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 7:00 PM

Please join us for an exciting performance of diverse selections of 20^th Century repertoire for Horn and Piano.  The evening will include works both charming and dramatic from composers that include Alex Wilder, Leonard Bernstein, Frances Poulenc and Paul Hindemith.

Scott has performed with many orchestras including the Knoxville Symphony, Florida Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, and the Oregon Bach Festival. He also performs as a regular member of the Newport Symphony, Eugene Symphony and Eugene Opera.

Nathalie is a native of Montreal. Since she moved to Eugene in 2002, she has worked for Lane Community College, Eugene Opera, the Oregon Bach Festival, Eugene Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, the University of Oregon Community Music Institute, and recently joined Cascadia Concert Opera.

Due to limited seating, advanced reservations are required.  Admission $30 includes abundant appetizers.   541-459-7998

MarshAnne Landing, 175 Hogan Rd, Oakland OR 97462- just 3 miles off I-5 Exit 142

My Introduction to German Wines

Do you have a favorite wine? In each category of wines is there at least one the you remember forever, one that has a special meaning attached to it, or just one you always have on hand and open for guests.
A few of mine are '07 Oregon Pinot Noir (stupidly under rated), '76 Rieslings from Germany, '78 Cabs from Southern Oregon
 (Valley View Vineyards to be more precise) and Early Muscats from Silvan Ridge and Noble Estate.
These bottles all hold fond memories. 
My first real wine tasting was done in my small town of Worms while I was living in Germany.
I lived in an apartment in a new building that was built right next to the Liebfrauenmlich vineyard.
They had been growing Riesling grapes in the part of the vineyard outside our place for many years. We were on the 7th floor and our balcony gave us a great view of the vines and of the Rhine river.It was also the place where most of our theater/music friends enjoyed popping corks and watching them sail in to the vineyards.
One Saturday morning while Tina (ex) was out of town I heard a knock at the door. I had not heard the elevator so I assumed it was our floor mate. I opened the door to fine a very old man with a bag on his shoulder. It was a box made of leather with four bins filled  with a wine bottle each. There was a small pouch on the side and a wood and leather trap for holding to Riesling glasses. I had never seen anything like it and still haven't.  In his hands he held a chamois and when he opened it I saw a LOT of corks. He looked up at me and said "Herr Canaga, we can not do this". It was a bag of all the corks we had been shooting in to the vineyard. As I apologized I invited him in and showed him to a seat on the balcony. He handed me the bag of corks and sat down. He then took the two wine glasses from his bag, pulled out a bottle of Riesling, opened it and poured. He sniffed it, smiled and handed it to me. The first sip put me in a new state of mind. It was at once slightly sweet yet effervescent and seemed to evaporate in my mouth, filling it with flavors I had never tasted!

He smiled and took a sip of his glass, leaned back in his chair and smiled. He had brought a 1959 Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese for us to enjoy. I had no idea what I was drinking but I kept the bottle for many years. 
WE made a habit of sitting on the balcony once or twice a month and sipping great wines as he told me all about what was going on in the vineyards, appologizing for the shotgun blasts and air cannons that kept the birds at bay, and I even got to help with harvest in '76.
He introduced me  to reds from the Alsace and Moselle regions as well as some Dornfelders and Trollingers.
All the time I spent in Europe after that was spent exploring wines. Not a bad place to cut your teeth.