Vintage & Vine Wine Festival to Feature Famous Chef

Guests enjoy the 2011 Vintage & Vine wine-tasting and gourmet food festival at Strawbery Banke Museum. (courtesy photo)

Rare wines, local chefs, locally fished & farmed food

PORTSMOUTH –

Strawbery Banke Museum, in partnership with the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets, is planning its annual Vintage & Vine wine festival presenting fine wines and gourmet foods in historic style across the historic houses and heritage landscapes of the Museum's scenic Portsmouth waterfront site. The festival will be held on Saturday, September 8. Special guest this year is famous television chef Mary Ann Esposito.

Featuring fine wines from around the world and imaginative cuisine prepared by top Seacoast chefs, Vintage & Vine offers an international tasting tour of Strawbery Banke's historic houses and gardens on its ten-acre waterfront Portsmouth site, from 4 to 7 p.m. “Grow. Green. Global” is the theme for the wine tasting and sale, with the educational, environmental and heirloom aspects of the living history museum highlighted as visitors grow their understanding of 300 plus years of life in the waterfront neighborhood known as Puddle Dock.

“Vintage & Vine 2012 offers guests the opportunity to become a part of the story of Puddle Dock,” said Lawrence J. Yerdon, president and CEO of Strawbery Banke Museum. “Guests sample a selection of hundreds of fine wines and gourmet items created by the Seacoast's finest chefs, while exploring the vintage homes and heirloom gardens of Portsmouth's past. Perhaps best of all, thanks to the efforts of the Museum's trustees and community volunteers in producing this event, Vintage & Vine supports the museum's mission of being a sustainable place to gather and to learn.”

The proceeds from the fundraising event support the nonprofit Museum's preservation and educational efforts including the History Within Reach program, which brings more than 10,000 schoolchildren to the museum each year.

The Vintage & Vine Grand Tasting takes place across the museum's grounds, with thirty top local chefs paired with wine brokers strategically located among 15 vintage houses and gardens. Wine experts introduce guests to vintage wines paired with special hors d'oeuvres in the VIP Tent in the Goodwin Garden during the VIP Reserve Tasting, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

“The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is proud to participate in Strawbery Banke Museum's Vintage & Vine 2012,” said New Hampshire Liquor Commission chairman Joseph Mollica. “It is a great partnership between the Commission and our licensees that benefits an important site in our great state.”

Five Star Chefs from the region's best restaurants take center stage at grilling stations on the main lawn, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The main tent features an artisanal cheese station, an auction of wines by the bottle, a silent auction and live music by local band Rhythm Method. A festive bonfire completes the scene.

New this year, and underscoring the global element of the festival, an Italian Wine Dinner hosted by Mary Ann Esposito, creator and host of the nationally televised PBS series, “Ciao Italia,” follows the Grand Tasting from 7:30 -9:30 p.m. Catered by the White Apron and sponsored by Banfi Wines in the Goodwin Garden, the finale showcases Italian fare based on Esposito's new book, “Ciao Italia Family Classics.” Wines from Castello Banfi, selected to complement each course, will be presented by Italian wine enthusiast, Guy Esposito, MD, who has shared his enthusiasm for Italian regional wines with groups ranging from classes at Boston University to travelers in Italy.

The focus on sustainability is emphasized throughout the walk-around wine tasting. “Vintage & Vine 2012 features just-gathered, seasonal items from local farmers and fishermen, prepared by inspired Seacoast chefs,” said John Forti, Strawbery Banke's curator of historic landscapes. “We are also committed to making Vintage & Vine a 'zero waste event' by using compostable products and recycling all of the wine bottles from the event.”

All of the wines at Vintage & Vine can be ordered at the event. Guests receive a fifteen percent discount when purchasing any six or more bottles. Payment is made when the order is picked up at any New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet store. This year, the museum will again offer Riedel Ouverture Magnum tasting glasses at $10 per glass. Introduced in 1989, Riedel's Magnum level series is for customers who appreciate good, reasonably-priced wine. Ouverture Magnum is a non-varietal specific lead-free glass known to increase the drinking pleasure of wine, beer and spirits. The glasses are machine blown in Bavaria, Germany.

Tickets are now on sale at www.strawberybanke.org. Ticket prices: Grand Tasting Admission $40; VIP Reserve Admission plus Grand Tasting $75; and Italian Wine Dinner with Mary Ann Esposito & The White Apron $125. Designated driver tickets and Museum member discounts available. For more information, go to www.strawberybanke.org or call 603-433-1100.

Local Organizations Partner for Isles of Shoals Cleanup

Students with a pile of debris removed from Appledore Island (courtesy photo)

PORTSMOUTH –

After a successful cleanup at Appledore Island in June, in which 557 pounds of marine debris were removed in five hours, Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation and New Hampshire Sea Grant have set their sights on three more islands – Star Island, home to the Star Island Family Retreat and Conference Center, and White and Seavey Islands, home to the Isles’ iconic lighthouse and the Tern Restoration Project.

Recent survey trips to the three islands revealed litter lying in coves and lodged in rocks, and piles of lobster traps and buoys. Blue Ocean Society, New Hampshire Sea Grant and Lee Schatvet, captain of the fishing vessel Yesterday’s Storm, will be working with Star Island and guests of the Life on a Star conference to clean Star Island on Monday afternoon, followed by a cleanup on White Island on Tuesday morning, working with Sue Reynolds, founder of the Lighthouse Kids. The groups are also partnering with New Hampshire Fish and Game and NH Marine Patrol on removal of abandoned fishing gear on the islands.

“Our hope is to survey and remove litter and derelict fishing gear on the Isles of Shoals this year with the goal of protecting wildlife and the people that visit the Isles,” said Jen Kennedy, Blue Ocean Society’s executive director.  “Next year, we hope to return and re-survey the areas to see how quickly marine debris is accumulating on these islands, and where ‘hot spots’ might be.”

Marine debris can be hazardous to wildlife through ingestion or entanglement, and can cause problems for boaters, fishermen and beachgoers.  The Isles of Shoals, which are home to a variety of seabirds, including a large population of nesting great black-backed gulls and herring gulls, plus common, roseate and Arctic terns, are located within popular fishing grounds and are situated just inshore of Jeffrey’s Ledge, an important whale feeding ground.

While green initiatives like solar and wind power, water conservation, and composting are common practices at Appledore, Star and White Islands, the shoreline is victim to litter carelessly dumped from boaters and beachgoers, and fishing gear that is washed ashore by storms.

“Removing derelict fishing gear and other land based and ocean based debris is really important on these islands because debris can and has remained here for years.  Accumulation of litter and fishing gear over time is a real hazard to the species that reside on and around the islands” said Dr. Gabriela Bradt, fisheries specialist from New Hampshire Sea Grant.”

Sue Reynolds, founder of the Lighthouse Kids, added “Lighthouse Kids works in partnership with the State of New Hampshire, owners of White Island.  The island is a national historic treasure.  For the past ten years restoration has been ongoing, after years of abandonment.  Ben Wilson, Bureau of Historic Resources, Department of Resources and Economic Development and Lighthouse Kids Stewards on White Island have been working to clean up the island.  It is a huge undertaking, slow and tedious, so the help of Blue Ocean Society is truly appreciated.”

The project is conducted with funding from the Fishing for Energy Partnership and NOAA that was granted to the Marine Debris to Energy Project, a partnership between Blue Ocean Society, NH Sea Grant, UNH Cooperative Extension and Dr. Jenna Jambeck at the University of Georgia. The goal of the project is to monitor and remove marine debris from the coastline and local waters from southern Maine to northern Massachusetts. With the help of local fishermen and volunteers, more than 115 tons of marine debris have been removed from the ocean since 2008. 

The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation is a Portsmouth-based non-profit organization that is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a non-profit organization this year.  Its mission is to protect marine mammals in the Gulf of Maine through education, research and conservation.

For more information on the project, visit nhmarinedebris.org or blueoceansociety.org or call 603-431-0260.

Auction at Stratham Fair Benefits Local Youth

 

STRATHAM –

The 2012 4-H Benefit Auction at the Stratham Fair was a tremendous success, with an increase in auction donations and bidders this year. The profit of $6,600 was the result of generous donations from local businesses and craftspeople, an energized team of 4-H volunteers, and the local community who gathered at the 4-H Exhibit Building to bid at the auction.

The Rockingham County 4-H Foundation sends a great thank you to the local businesses, craftspeople, and citizens who supported the auction with their generous donations, and the auction buyers, auctioneer, and volunteers who made the fundraiser a success for all Rockingham County 4-H youth.

Proceeds from the auction help send local youth to county, state, and national leadership and citizenship development events, support 4-H Youth Development programs, 4-H afterschool programs, and provide continuing education scholarships and recognition for 4-H youth and volunteer leaders.

The 4-H Youth Development program of UNH Cooperative Extension strives to create supportive program environments where youth have a sense of belonging and a desire to grow in knowledge and skill. In Rockingham County, more than 1,000 4-H members and 200 adult volunteers and student interns are involved in 4-H through local clubs, afterschool programs, state, and national events. For more information, contact the Rockingham County 4-H office at 603-679-5616 or visit the web site at www.bit.ly/RockCty4H.