LAKE COUNTY >> Lake County Wine Studio (LCWS) is hosting a wine tasting event featuring wines from R Vineyards with owners David and Monica Rosenthal, and artist reception with a collection of watercolor paintings by Sharon Fenton on Sept. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. and Sept. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.
The $12.50, $10 per person for Studio club members, wine sampler and appetizers will showcase the new release 2014 Viognier with goat cheese and pears with strawberry gastrique and toasted red walnuts on endive, 2012 Cabernet Franc with a salad of lentils, cucumbers, red onion and grapefruit supremes with an orange and honey vinaigrette, 2012 Reba Red Syrah with a Turkish turkey meatball with herbed cream sauce, and the 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel with Armenian lemon amoushe dusted with pistachios and a drop of local honey. Appetizer pairings for these wines have been created by Fresh & Bangin’ Eatery in Lucerne.
R Vineyards presents the release of their 2014 Lake County Viognier at this reception event. This is the third vintage released of this exotic and aromatic varietal, R Vineyards’ signature white wine.
“This wine is our personal ‘go to’ wine,” said Monica Rosenthal. “It pairs well with almost everything we serve at our table.”
The 2013 Lake County Old Vine Zinfandel is a Gold medal-winning wine and the distinct, fruit forward style 2012 Cabernet Franc has been honored with a Double Gold medal at the recent 2015 Lake County Wine Awards Competition held at Langtry Estate & Vineyards earlier this summer.
The Gold medal-winning R Vineyards 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel is made from grapes planted in 1937 on the Rosenthal family’s Hoodoo Creek Ranch property in Middletown. The production is limited: only 72 cases produced.
“This is the first time I have made wine from these old vine grapes in about 15 years,” stated David Rosenthal, who is also the winemaker in addition to owner. “The grapes usually go to a Napa Valley winemaker who has earned 90+ ratings for the finished wine. Since my wife, Monica, and I started releasing wines under the R Vineyards label in the fall of 2013, I have been looking forward to bottling and releasing this wine made from the old vine head-trained Zinfandel grapes.”
Owners David and Monica Rosenthal have been involved in the wine industry for more than 30 years. Between the two of them, their experience includes winegrape growing, wine tasting, marketing and winemaking.
R Vineyards is located in South Lake County in Middletown. The grapes are sustainably farmed and grown in the soils of the Mayacamas Mountains on the north slope of Mount St. Helena. R Vineyards is not currently open for public tasting; however the wines are available at the LCWS.
The artist for June is Sharon Fenton. Introduced to art by a paint-by-numbers kit at the age of 12, Fenton was “hooked” and painted her first original piece using the leftover paints from that kit. A California girl and former Cardinal, she graduated from Clear Lake High School in Lakeport and moved to the Ukiah area in 1970. Her formal art studies commenced at Mendocino College in their watercolor class and since then she has not put her brushes down.
Refusing to box herself into any particular style, Fenton stated, “Every subject is my favorite. I believe there is no limit to the exciting combination of techniques and colors. I experience each painting as an adventure, and sometimes an unintentional stroke or touch becomes the painting.”
A member of the Lake County Arts Council, Mendocino County Art Association and Ukiah Valley Artists Co-op, Fenton’s works have won numerous awards at the Lake County, Mendocino County and Redwood Empire Fairs.
LCWS is a gallery for display of arts and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County. Artist’s shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.
The gallery is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake and is open Monday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m., and Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. The Fenton art show will be on display for the full month of September.
For more information call LCWS at 275-8030 or 293-8752.
