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Kirsten Wakal
Naramata Hayseeds
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Tailgate Musicians
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Kirsten Wakal
TailGate Crowd
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Kirsten Wakal
Wine Pouring
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Kirsten Wakal
Elephant Island
This year’s annual Naramata Tailgate Party was held at the Red Rooster Winery. Two dozen Naramata wineries and six restaurants got together on September 12 to create a night to remember. Lots of room, great event goers, games of chance, and wonderful food and wine made it one of the best Tailgate parties I’ve been to.
The art on the grounds was entertaining and added a certain je ne sais quoi to the event. Frank the Baggage Handler, the controversial statue of a naked man, was there, accompanied by Caroline, a well-endowed mermaid, just floating mid field.
This year’s theme was 'pure country', acknowledging the hard working farmers who founded this area. Andy’s Animal Acres brought a pig, and the cutest goat in the world, Delilah, to add a little more farm to the atmosphere. Folks dressed up as farmers and ranchers and wandered the grounds tasting everything from tuna to lamb, and cod to hot dogs loaded with chilli.
All the wineries there had fantastic wines. I can say that because I’ve yet to find a wine I didn’t at least like, let alone love, from a Naramata winery. At the end of it all, feeling a little like it was time for dessert, we wandered over to Elephant Island and there, like a shiny beacon of light, was Framboise, a raspberry and chocolate dessert wine.
The musical entertainment was whimsical and wonderful. Megan Gerbrandt is a multi-tasking one-woman band, a punk-folk artist who plays the funkiest instruments and has a sound that was refreshing, entertaining and darn right mesmerizing.
Tina Baird and her crew are to be applauded for the great job they did. The event was a little different from ones before in that guests were given coloured tokens to use at the food vendors. This assured that everyone got at least one nibbly from each vendor. If they wanted to trade, it wasn’t hard to find someone who preferred one dish over the other.
There’s something wonderful about sitting on the grass with a friend watching the sunset over the Okanagan hills. It’s even better when it’s a warm September evening while drinking local wine and munching on local food. I think I’ll just have to go again next year!
