Neighborhood Wine Walk Event - Fun for a Great Cause!

This weekend I hosted a tasting table at our annual neighborhood Wine Walk event.  It is a great event that raises money through ticket sales and sponsorships to fund the Constable Program in our neighborhood.

There are 13 table hosts, of which I was one.  Only 200 tickets are sold to the event, and it sells out very quickly each year.

Susan's Sources booklets

Some of the hosts have area businesses, such as contractors or restaurants, and others are neighbor groups or homeowners who want to participate and host.  It is a great way to market your business in a casual and fun setting.  I had prepared some little booklets called "Susan's Sources" which included info about my business, but also trusted and high quality vendors that do a lot of work in my area:  my favorite plumber, electrician, wallpaper person, painter, upholsterer, contractor and realtor.  The attendees loved being able to take these with them for future use.








A neighbor's home hosts the event each year and they have a stunningly beautiful backyard. Located on over an acre of land in central Houston, this home's backyard is lush and also features meandering flagstone pathways whereupon our host tables are located throughout the yard.  They have a gazebo, a magnificent koi pond with a walkable bridge across it, great plantings and also a covered patio area.

Attendees enter the back yard, are given a wine glass for tasting and a list of the table hosts, locations and wines to be sampled at each, and away they go!  You just follow the pathways and go from table to table to sample and snack.  It is so much fun and the weather was terrific this year.

Attendees selecting their wine charms and checking out the "Susan's Sources" booklets
Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Marisa D. Hoffman

Each table host provides a case of wine and some snacks for the attendees.   A neighbor friend hooked me up with some great red wine from Uruguay.  Specifically, the wine I served was Pueblo del Sol 2010 Tannat from Uruguay.  The tannat grape originated in France, but was transported to Uruguay where it has been very successful and popular.  This bottle of wine retails for about $10...so it is a good bargain and was very popular with the attendees.  My friend served the Rose' wine and also the Tannat Reserve from the same winery and they were also huge hits with everyone (thanks, Tina!).

This was my second year to host a table and my table location was in a more central area of the event, which was really great.  I think we had more people visit our table this year and it was almost non-stop pouring and chatting with old friends and meeting new ones also.

Keith was attending the University of Houston football game, so my friend Shannon helped me serve for the event and we had fun catching up before and after the event.

I read up about the wine I was serving, and learned that meats and flavorful foods bring out the flavor of this wine.  I served Ina Garten's Chipotle-Rosemary roasted nuts in little glitter cardstock cones and they were a big hit!  We really had to ration them so that we had enough to last all afternoon!  Click here for the recipe:  nut recipe here

These would make a great holiday gift in small decorative bags!  Featuring cashews, almonds, pecans and walnuts, they are a little spicy and a little sweet.  Be prepared - it makes a lot of nuts!

I made a burlap tablecloth and had some glitter pumpkins for decoration also.  Last year I gave away wine charms and did the same this year...but this year's charms were of multiple themes. There were some funny Halloween ones and some vibrant bird and butterfly ones.  It was easy to find a ton of downloads to select from on Etsy. Just by typing in "download 1.5 Halloween" a lot of choices came up and it was fun to see what was available.

The charms were a huge hit!  The third type of charm that I made were for street names in my neighborhood.  I found some editable downloads on Etsy that allowed me to type in street names in the center of each charm.  It was a great conversation starter and they were all snapped up very quickly.  Here is a photo that the event photographer took of them.  She did a great job - thank you to Marisa Hoffman!

Street name wine charms - photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Marisa D. Hoffman

 

The cheese straws were popular too and very easy to make.  These were also from the Barefoot Contessa,
Ina Garten.

Featuring puff pastry, an egg wash that is sprinkled with parmesan, gruyere, pepper and thyme, this is a simple appetizer that can be served at room temperature.  I cut the straws into thirds and placed them in little tin buckets.

Click here for the cheese straw recipe.


All in all, it was a great event and so much fun to see new neighbors and hopefully to connect with some future SK Designs clients!

Hope you enjoyed the Wine Walk blog post as much I enjoyed hosting the event.

Hope to see you soon -

Susan