Come
late October Sonoma County will not only welcome a new crop of world
class wines, but the award winning photography of some of Action Sports
best lensmen. “ Mavericks – Everest of the Seas” comes alive again just
in time to set the stage for another epic Big Wave Season.
Mix two of Northern
California’s finest institutions – big wave surfing and the wine
country – and you have what promises to be an amazing weekend at the
Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room in Healdsburg October 23 – 25.
Relive heroic battles between man and wave as seen through the eyes
of the cutting-edge photojournalists who risk life and limb to document
the wave's intense man-against-the-sea drama and obsessive lifestyle of
Maverick's elite riders.
Oded Shakked, a longtime surfer who founded Longboard Vineyards,
will be unveiling his latest release, The Peter Mel/Mavericks Cabernet
Sauvignon. This signature wine will be blended by not only Shakked but
guest vintner, Peter Mel.
Mel,
one of the most respected names in Big Wave Surfing is known as perhaps
the most skillful surfer ever to ride Mavericks. The famed spot off the
Half Moon Bay. In October of 1998 he was whipped into to what is now
considered the biggest wave ever ridden… Mel along with the featured
photographers, surfboard shapers and wine makers will be on hand for
the Friday night reception. The reception will begin at 5pm and run
until roughly 9pm.
Longboard Vineyard has always had a soft
spot for surfers. It’s a place where you can hangout at a
redwood-surfboard bar, or sample one of its award winning wines while
kicking back on a comfortable sofa watching surf movies. For this
harvest weekend event Shakked has enlisted “Mavericks: Everest of the
Seas,” the heralded collection of Mavericks surf photography from Frank
Quirarte, Doug Acton, Seth Migdail and Ed Grant.
“Everest of the Seas” first made its
debut recently at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay,
drawing large crowds and an enthusiastic response. It just finished a
one-month highly successful run at San Francisco’s world class Museum
and Gallery, SFMOMA.
“Everyone who sees the exhibit is just blown away,” said Grant, the
curator of the Coastal Arts League Gallery. “Both surfers and
non-surfers can’t help but get caught up in the energy and stoke that
surrounds Maverick’s, the surfers and photographers who put it on the
line every time they go out there.”
The event also represents a high point in the career of Oded
Shakked, who was born in Israel and grew up near a beach just north of
Tel Aviv. Immersed in surfing from the start, he made several trips
around Europe’s Atlantic coast while discovering, to his delight, that
“it was easier, cheaper and safer to drink good red wine than bottled
water.” His twin loves of surfing and wine brought him to California,
where he studied winemaking at UC Davis and became enamored with the
people, climate and rich soil of Sonoma County. He founded Longboard
Vineyards with the motto “Wine, waves and soul,” making it a highly
unique fixture in wine country.
The October 23-25 weekend will also feature the sale of surfboards
and memorabilia, along with Acton’s acclaimed book, “Inside
Maverick’s.” Admission is free.
Opening reception sponsored by Maverick Events and Longboard Vineyards
Peter Mel, Mavericks photo - Doug Acton/insidemavericks.com
Leave the wine to the winos and the waves to the rhinos… so friggin gay. The Peter Mel Wine… what the fuck?
Longboard Vineyards wines are amazing