It’s Spring (well, almost, but close enough), which means time for VeritageMiami.
We chose the name “Veritage” (a word we made up) because it has a lot of similarities with words like Variety (as in grape varieties) and Verasion (the wine geek-speak for the time when unripe, green grapes change color and start the final leg of the ripening process). We wanted a word that captured the essence of wine and, of course, its essential source, grapes. This annual wine and food festival benefitting United Way Miami comes around each year in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the season when grape vines end their winter sleep and, like hibernating animals, emerge from their dormancy and begin building a new life.
Wine starts small with an event called bud break – as you can see in the photo, the vine looks all but dead, but this wonderful green bit of life is emerging. Hard to believe that an entire cluster of wine grapes will grow from this bud, but it’s just a few months away. By the time VeritageMiami rolls around in May, this bud will have sprouted shoots that then grow leaves that collect the vineyard sun and, before long, start to flower. This happens in April and May in the Northern hemisphere, and if the weather cooperates (no frost, no heavy rain, no hail, no heavy wine… a lot can happen!), each flower will eventually become a grape. I love that our festival celebrating wine and philanthropy occurs at the same time as the grapevine is having its growth spurt.
Right now, the VeritageMiami team is working hard to bring together exciting wineries, chefs and auction lots for our three events coming up in May. I hope you’ll put all three on your calendar: a wonderful walk around tasting of sparkling and still wines on May 17 at the beautiful and historic hanger at Coconut Grove Marina. Our friends at Republic National Distributing Corporation (everyone calls them RNDC) are helping us line up great wines and we’ve invited some top local restaurants to join us as well, so don’t miss this (you’ll find ticket information here.)
The tasting is on a Wednesday night, a bit of liquid encouragement to get over the midweek hump and get you ready for our signature event, the Interactive Dinner on Friday, May 19, and then on Sunday, our fabulous Bubbly Brunch with chef Amaris Jones. I’ll have much more on these two events in blog posts over the next few weeks. I’ll also include some tips on how to make the most of a walk around tasting (including the key strategy of staying hydrated while walking!), we’ll explore some amazing auction lots already lined up and much more. Join me here on the Veritage Blog every week. Cheers!