Even before the music started, the moment was filled with romance, flair and a touch of magic.

The barrel room at Madroña Vineyards was lit by scores of candles and the small, warm lights on musicians' stands. They gave off a rich, soft glow, with shadows flickering in and out, and made the stacks of wine barrels around us feel textured and stately.

Five men, all with shiny brass instruments, sat in front of a half-circle of 50 people. The glimmer of the candles and the shine from their own lights reflected off the instruments in a silky gold.

Then, this group from the Sacramento Philharmonic brass started playing.

The sounds were powerful, sweet, piercing and poignant. You could feel the deep, gentle, soulful notes in the back of your chest, as the five men – two playing trumpets, one each on the French horn, trombone and tuba – blended their music, then wandered down individual paths, then came back together in dynamic, compelling harmony.

This was part of Madroña and the Philharmonic's pairing last weekend for what they call the Sierra Sound Bites Series. It was, like any enduring moment in life, so much more than it might have seemed, and so much more than the sum of its parts.

This was also as far from the stuffy, staid image of a philharmonic orchestra or classical music you could get, but it was close to a perfect, vibrant fusion of the enriching pieces of life.

It wasn't just the music, the dreamy setting, the great food and wine, the joy of the people there. It was all of those things. It was thinking about all of those things, and it was the revelation – as momentary as it always seems to be – that life can get good when you pay attention.

This evening, and this series, was born of a combination of both noble and fun-loving impulses. Paul and Maggie Bush, owners of Madroña Vineyards, adore classical music, and have streaks in them about embracing their community, supporting local efforts, and sharing and spreading what good fortune they have.

Marc Feldman, executive director of the Philharmonic, has many of those same streaks. And he wants to make his orchestra relevant to the region, to engage what might be called the street-level culture of Sacramento, and to "bring music back to where people are," he said.

They first tried this sort of thing last winter.

"We had trio of a harp, flute and viola," Paul Bush said before the event. "There are 13 works written for that particular trio, and we heard a lot of them.

"We didn't even think about the acoustics in there, but with all the wood and the high ceilings, it sounded so good people's jaws were dropping."

Now Madroña and small groups from the Philharmonic do three Sound Bites a year, which include a food-and-wine pairing and a mingle for an hour, then an hour of music.

The Philharmonic also does three of these a year in a City Sound Bite Series at Mulvaney's Building & Loan in midtown, also with food and wine. (See box.)

"This is a great marriage of what our region is about," Feldman told the audience seated in the barrel room. "It's a blending of Sacramento's culture."

By "culture," he means the essence of Sacramento life, not the often snobbish notion that classical music or good wine or food is only for the rarefied few, Feldman told me a couple days later.

His approach is decidedly anti-snob, with everything blending: art, music, food, the pace of life, the look of the sky, the feel on the streets.

"It's a quality of life thing," Feldman said. "And that's an idea that's fairly new to America.

"I've been lucky enough to live in places around the world where the culture of an area is total. It has everything to do with the sunlight that grows the food and that you can see in the region's painters. It's the tone of life, that's reflected in restaurants and in the music."

The phrase Feldman and the Bushes used was "holistic," not in the kitschy, street-fair way, but with the simple idea that everything connects. And that's what Feldman is pushing for the Philharmonic.

"We're not trying to 'bestow the community with our wisdom,' " he said. "We want to be a part of the region, to engage people.

"There is a real Sacramento culture, because of the outdoor quality of life, because of the Sierra and the Bay Area. The culture is in the wineries, is in the restaurants, in the stores and on the streets. I'd really like the Philharmonic to be part of that."

So those five musicians brought their art to Madroña Vineyards, and played songs ranging from classical to Scott Joplin ragtime to hits from "West Side Story." Paul Bush, an artist himself in the field of pairing wines with food, poured some of his Black Label wines – special, low-production reserves – to match bites from Placerville's terrific Hey Day Cafe.

"This," Bush said just before the music started, "is why you get into the wine business. Most of the time we're working crazy hours, but this is a time when we get to feel the romance."

That's what's so strong in this region's culture, that mix of all those compelling things like music, wine, romance and more.

That's why special moments can be anywhere and happen any time. They don't need great wine or food or a symphony orchestra. It could be simply listening to the car radio and pulling into your driveway. Though, I can tell you, Madroña wines, Hey Day Cafe food and the Sacramento Philharmonic sure don't hurt.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Thursdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK) and 8:50 a.m. on Armstrong & Getty, Talk 650 KSTE.