Lights! Camera! Party!

On April 23, the Napa Valley Film Festival (a non-profit organization), in partnership with the new City Winery (formerly the Napa Opera House), presented Sensing Red: An Evening of Film and Frivolity, to raise funds to benefit the NVFF Education Programs that reach over 3,000 Napa Valley students and the community at large year-round (a mission of the Festival.)

The evening was so much fun and interesting, starting with an exclusive backstage tour and pre-reception for NVFF Patron Circle Members; a champagne tower by Domaine Chandon; craft red cocktails by mixologist Scott Beattie; nibbles by Chef Daryl Murimoto from Estate Events at Meadowood; and a sumptious 3-course steak dinner by City Winery Chef Joseph Panarello, paired with wines from Napa Valley's top vintners (the best, of course, being Vineyard {511} 2010 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.)

The highlight of the evening and the motivation for the event's name, Sensing Red, was the screening of the award-winning documentary Red Obsession, directed by David Roach and Warwick Ross, about the Chinese obsession with Bordeaux wines. The screening was followed by a lively panel discussion, moderated by Karen MacNeil, author and Chairman of the Wine Department at the Culinary Institute of America. Expert panel participants were Michael Silacci, Winemaker, Opus One; Brian Reimer, Executive Chef, Maison Boulud; John Conover, GM, Plumpjack Winery, Partner CADE winery; and Jay Behmke, Managing Director of Yao Family Wines, all of whom had a different perspective on the Chinese and Bordeaux wine industries.

The evening was topped off by gifts of Kollar chocolates. Yummy.