CONTEST-Zinfandel Grand Tasting Event April 18th 2010

Griffin Eats OC has teamed up with the great folks over at Great Taste Magazine to run a contest. We will be giving away one pair of tickets to the upcoming Zinfandel Grand Tasting at The Palm Garden at The Island Hotel in Newport Beach. The event will take place on Sunday April 18th from 4-7PM. Tickets are also available for purchase by clicking here. Pre-sale tickets are available for $49 ($39 for ZAP members) and you can also buy tickets at the door for $60.

To win, put the answer to the following trivia question in an email and send it to me at griffineatsoc@gmail.com A winner will be randomly chosen from all the correct entries. The deadline to submit an entry is 11:59 PM on 4/7/2010.

TRIVIA QUESTION: WHO DISTRIBUTES THE OFFICIAL ZAP GLASS?
Hint: The answer can be found on the ZAP Website.

ZINFANDEL ADVOCATES & PRODUCERS ON THE ROAD
Orange County April 18 and 19, Denver, & Hawaii to follow.

Rough & Ready, California, winter 2010--Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) is traveling to Newport Beach April 18 and 19 as part of its annual road show. A group of approximately 40 wineries who specialize in Zinfandel will be staging tastings to meet the public and the trade. Tickets for the events are now on sale, through www.zinfandel.org (link above) or by calling 530/274-4900. Members of the trade (restaurateurs, retailers, wholesalers) can also register for their event tickets online: more details at www.zinfandel.org.

ZAP and The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes of California - Orange County are partnering to create a culinary competition featuring the top chefs of tomorrow who will be preparing tasty samples for all attendees on Sunday to share. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Art Institute program—check at www.zinfandel.org for more details.

Taste spectacular Zinfandel wines from approximately 40 premier ZAP member wineries, mingle with top winemakers and principals in an intimate setting, learn about the remarkable richness and versatility of Zinfandel and discover why Zinfandel is "America's Heritage Grape!"

April 18: public tasting takes place 4-7:00 p.m. at The Palm Garden at The Island Hotel, 660 Newport Center Drive (Newport Beach 92660, www.theislandhotel.com). Tickets are $49 for the public and $39 for ZAP members; some tickets may be available at the door.

April 19: trade tasting takes place 2-5:00 p.m. also at The Palm Garden at The Island Hotel. Trade tickets and registration is available on the web. www.zinfandel.org.

Participating wineries include:
585 Wine Partners
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Ancient Peaks
Artezin Wines
Barefoot Cellars
Cakebread Cellars
Carol Shelton Wines
Cline Cellars
Dancing Bull
D-Cubed Cellars
Dogwood Cellars
Edmeades Winery
Four Vines Winery
Gamba Vineyards and Winery
J. Rickards Winery & Vineyards
Kenwood Vineyards/Heck Estates
Leonhardt Vineyards
McNab Ridge Winery
Meeker Vineyard
Michael-David Winery
Murphy-Goode - Artisans & Estates
Opolo Vineyards
Peachy Canyon Winery
Pech Merle Winery
Pedroncelli Winery
Pezzi King Vineyards
Rancho Zabaco Winery
Ravenswood
Renwood Winery
Rockwall Wine Company, Inc.
Rosenblum Cellars
Seghesio Family Vineyards
Selby Winery
Sextant Wines
Starry Night Winery
Tres Sabores
Valley of the Moon Winery/Heck Estates

ZAP is traveling to Denver on April 15 and to Hawaii May 21-24. Details about the events will be updated regularly at www.zinfandel.org.

Last year ZAP traveled to Michigan, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland and Dallas. “Tasters will be exposed to a rainbow of Zinfandels, from various growing regions,” explains ZAP‟s Executive Director, Rebecca Robinson. “Attendees will meet winemakers and winery owners who are eager to introduce their Zinfandels to these enthusiastic consumers,” she adds.

In other ZAP news, The 19th Annual Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Festival welcomed almost 8,000 people at four events in San Francisco January 28-30, headlining Chef Beverly Gannon, one of the founders of „HAWAI`I regional cuisine‟ and the proprietor of Maui‟s world famous Hali`imaile General Store and author of several cookbooks. 211 Zinfandel wineries poured current releases for an appreciative audience, making this the largest all-Zinfandel event in the world. The 20th Annual Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Festival will take place January 27-29, 2011 in San Francisco.
Recipes and video interviews with Chef Gannon can be found at www.zinfandel.org.

Visit www.zinfandel.org, www.zinworld.org to join in the enormous online world of Zinfandel lore and socializing or join that conversation at Twitter (http://twitter.com/ZinfandelOrg), Facebook or MySpace. The Association of Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) is a non-profit, educational 501(c)(3) organization. ZAP is dedicated to advancing public knowledge of and appreciation for American Zinfandel and its unique place in our culture and history. Winegrowers, winemakers and
wine enthusiasts combine to form the membership. The common focus is the preservation and recognition of Zinfandel as America‟s heritage wine. ZAP‟s membership includes approximately 250 winery-members, over 4,000 advocate-members and more than 100 associate members.