Stuart Spoto will soon be leaving on a jet plane, and with plenty of wine on his mind. Spoto, who runs the boutique Spoto Wines from his Arden Oaks home, will be among the vintners pouring at "A Taste of Oakville – Live at Carnegie Hall" on Nov. 14.
The event is a rare East Coast version of Taste of Oakville, one of the wine world's most hyped trade tastings and held each spring in Napa. It showcases wineries that are members of the Oakville Winegrowers trade association, which represents some of Napa's heaviest hitters in cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends. Among them: Screaming Eagle, BOND, Harlan Estate, Opus One and other bottles that'll set you back hundreds of dollars.
Spoto, who formerly ran a local graphics design business, became a member of Oakville Winegrowers in 2011 and participated in his first Taste of Oakville that year. He sources some of his grapes from Napa's Oakville appellation, near the legendary Martha's Vineyard and plots farmed by Harlan Estate and Opus One. In this part of Napa, the real estate for elite vineyards costs upwards of $450,000 per acre. No wonder Spoto's 2009 Oakville Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon sports a $110 sticker price.
Some of the marquee members of Oakville Winegrowers won't be attending the Carnegie Hall event, including Screaming Eagle (which usually just brings a paltry eight bottles to Taste of Oakville) and Harlan Estate. Still, Spoto is looking forward to meeting potential new customers and showing off his latest wines. Unlike the Napa version, this Carnegie Hall event will feature tastings for both the trade and consumers.
"It's a great opportunity to share our delicious Oakville cabernet and Bordeaux-style wines to the east coast and New York market," said Spoto. "In New York, people are very fond of French and Italian wines, and this will be a good introduction for people to Oakville wines."
By the way, if you're interested in tasting these wines – and recently got paid or have some extra cash on hand – Enotria restaurant (1431 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento) is hosting a Spoto wines dinner on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. The price is $125 a head, and includes a tasting menu prepared by Enotria executive chef Pajo Bruich. For more information or to book a reservation: (916) 922-6792, www.enotria.com.
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