Virginia Dare Winery Archives - Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

Lost Colony Weekend-Vintners Dinner and Grand Tasting Make It Special

The Lost Colony Weekend kicked off with the spectacular Vintner's Dinner on Friday night. — The Lost Colony Weekend kicked off with the spectacular Vintner’s Dinner on Friday night.

A Spectacular Beginning to an Important Weekend

This is a big weekend for The Lost Colony.

Now that the shows are wrapped up for the summer, the longest running outdoor drama in North America can move on to some other things, and one of the most important of those things is raising the money needed to keep Waterside Theater open, the staff employed and the actors paid.

This weekend is the largest fundraiser the organization does all year, and there are two events with something for everyone.

Today, Saturday, it’s the Grand Tasting with over 100 wines to sample, local microbreweries on hand and some great finger food from area restaurants. Anchored by the Sound Stage Theater—which used to be the dressing rooms and costume shop for the production—the setting for the event is beautiful. Bordering Roanoke Sound the exquisite views of the sound make a great time even better.

We were there last year and had a great time.

This year, though, we had a chance to go to the Vintner Dinner featuring the wines of Virginia Dare Winery paired with some amazing dishes.

At one time Virginia Dare Winery, created in the 19th century in North Carolina, produced more wines than anyone else in the United States. Prohibition and changing tastes though doomed the label, but, as the story goes, a young Francis Ford Coppola fell in love with the jingle he heard as a young child and the beautiful young girl on the label.

After making his fortune in movies, Coppola turned to wines and with his Coppola Winery well established, he created the Virginia Dare Winery and as tribute to the first English child born in the New World, has helped The Lost Colony with the wine dinners.

Held in downtown Manteo this year, the kitchen and menu was organized by Sam McCann of Blue Point Restaurant in Duck.

Sam brought in two outstanding chefs from Durham to help with the evening— Phil Bey of Saint James Seafood and Josh DeCarolis of Mother & Sons.

The wines, coupled with the food made for a very, very special evening. What really seemed to help was having Rick Toyota, director of hospitality for Coppola Wines on hand to tell the story behind the various wines.

All the wines were themed around the tales of the Lost Colony, including a chardonnay, the 1587, that had not even been officially released yet. The wine was excellent.

There is no way to pick out one dish, or even wine that stood out over others—they were all that good.

And as a fundraiser and a way to help a great organization—well, it all went to a good cause.

Fall is festival time on the Outer Banks. Don’t miss out. Book with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates today.

Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Festival on Tap for This Weekend

Tasting wine at last year's Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Festival. — Tasting wine at last year’s Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Festival.

Great Wine, Great Food and a Great Time

The 2nd Annual Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Festival is here. Last year was great time with over 100 wines available to try and some local microbrews on tap. All of it in one of it at The Lost Colony on the north end of Roanoke Island.

It would be hard to imagine a more beautiful setting to sip some wine and some fantastic hors d’oeuvre from some of the finest Outer Banks chefs to go with it.

The weekend is actually two events wrapped up into one weekend.

Friday night is the Vintner’s Dinner. This year at 108 Budleigh in Manteo, The Lost Colony is bringing in two chef’s from Durham—Josh DeCarolis of Mother & Sons Trattoria and Phil Bey who will be working with Sam McCann of Blue Point in Duck.

it should be a very interesting evening. Francis Ford Coppola’s Virginia Dare Winery will be on hand to pair their wines with each course.

Saturday is when the fun really gets going with wines from around the world and a couple of local breweries on hand. Elevating the whole experience, there will be tasty treats from some of the best Outer Banks restaurants—Argyle’s, Basnight’s Lone Cedar Café, BlueWater Grill & Raw Bar, Café Lachine…and that’s just a partial list.

There will be a silent auction as well and live music. A real treat—look for Joe Mapp to perform. One of the finest guitarists around, Joe very rarely performs in front of large audiences, so be sure to check him out.

There will also be a number of seminars on wine offered: Uncovering the Mystery of Sparkling Wine; Wines and Hard Cider from the Russian River Valley; and Taking the Mystery out of the Craft Beer Aisle.

For more information or to purchase tickets, check out Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Festival online.

There’s lots to do on the Outer Banks this fall. Be sure to book your fall getaway with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Weekend a Big Hit

Tasting wines at the Lost Colony Wine and Culinary Festival.

Sometimes everything seems to come together to create an ideal event or happening. That seemed to be the case today, Saturday, for what we hope is the first of many Lost Colony Wine and Culinary Festivals.

Great Condition for Lost Colony Festival

The weather—perfect, bright sunshine with temperatures in the low 70s and a nice breeze off Croatan Sound.

The setting—sublime. Waterside Theater where performances of The Lost Colony are presented sits right on the Sound. Locals and visitors alike are often aware of the theater, but not many have had an opportunity to see how beautiful the backstage area is.

The wine—excellent with a remarkable range of styles on hand. The event was actually sponsored in part by Virginia Dare Winery, a part of the Francis Ford Coppola family of wines.

Coppola Winery sent out a representative from California to tell the story of their wines—and their wines are very good. Hard to pick out a favorite, but the White Doe would be an ideal summer sipper. Definitely on the dry side, it was crisp, citrusy flavor with a floral finish. At least that’s how one taster described it.

The Coppola wines were not the only ones on hand. They were just one of many, with wine from North Carolina, the West Coast and the rest of the world being offered.

There were also local beers available from Weeping Radish, the Outer Banks Brewing Station and Lost Colony Beer.

And…no one was going home hungry with eight local restaurants handing out samples. Again, tough to name a favorite, but the pulled pork sandwich from Black Pelican was awfully good.

According to Lost Colony management, Coppola Winery has committed to another year supporting the Wine and Culinary Weekend, so we can expect at least one more year of great food, wonderful local beer and excellent wine.

A Special Fundraiser for The Lost Colony

Anias Dare, Sir Walter Raleigh and Chief Manteo making an appearance at Pamlico Jack's. — Anias Dare, Sir Walter Raleigh and Chief Manteo making an appearance at Pamlico Jack’s.

What a great evening at Pamlico Jack’s in Nags Head. Billed as a Night of Friends, Food & Fine Wine Benefitting The Lost Colony, it was all of that a little bit more.

The food was absolutely outstanding. Hard to pick out a favorite, but the bbq bacon wrapped pineapple squares was universally given excellent reviews as an appetizer. Main course—impossible to choose . . . a three way tie among the roasted mahi in shrimp in puff pastry, pork loin medallions or braised red cabbage and the grilled Angus shoulder tenderloin.

The wines came for Francis Coppola Winery and what made it really special is the new winery and label Coppola is introducing—Virginia Dare Wines. With a label hearkening back to the original labels from the North Carolina Winery of the early 20th Century, it almost seemed like a blast from the past, although the NC Virginia Dare wines were sweet muscadine wines.

The Virginia Dare Winery, located in Geyersville, is turning out some very nice classic California wines. The chardonnay in particular really stood out.

What really set this evening apart, though was the appearance of Eleanor Dare, her husband Anias Dare, Sir Walter Raleigh and Chief Manteo as guests of honor. Their appearance though was overshadowed by the arrival of Queen Elizabeth—in the person of Barbara Hird.

After some rather pithy yet humorous remarks from the Queen, the feast began—and a wonderful evening it was.

Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates. is a proud sponsor of The Lost Colony.

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Tag: Virginia Dare Winery