For The Lost Colony Third Time Is Truly the Charm

Wine, food, some beer, wonderful music, perfect weather and a great time at The Lost Colony Grand Tasting.
Wine, food, some beer, wonderful music, perfect weather and a great time at The Lost Colony Grand Tasting.

For the The Lost Colony Grand Tasting third time’s the charm evidently, although we have to admit the first two times were awfully nice.

But the Saturday wine tasting at the the SoundStage Theater certainly seemed like the best yet.

Maybe it was the weather, with that gently breeze blowing off Croatan Sound; or the bright sunshine. Maybe it the music—some jazz in the beer garden and the vocals and acoustic guitar of Jessica Hudson & Thorne Wiggs inside. Or the food which was sublime.

And then there was the wine. Over 100 different wines from around the world to sample. Probably somewhere in the 550 folks that were on hand tried to get to all 100+ wines, which would be unfortunate because the object is to try the wines and find the best.

The technique is to sip a bit and maybe pour out some of the wine. And be sure to try some of the food offered by the finest Outer Banks restaurants. It all comes with the price of a ticket, so why not.

The Grand Tasting is part of The Lost Colony’s Wine and Culinary Festival, a weekend long celebration of wine, food and the Outer Banks. Friday night there was a wine dinner with five Outer Banks chef’s using their imaginations to create a multi course dinner paired with wines. Sunday it’s brunch at Basnight’s Lone Cedar Cafe.

But the signature event for the weekend is the Grand Tasting and The Lost Colony management has made some great decisions to insure its success. Perhaps most importantly they limit ticket sales to 500—or 550 if the weather is going to allow people to get outside. The insures little or no line at the tasting tables and quick service for food.

It really does make for a better event.

October seems to be event month with Rock & Roast in Corolla, the Duck Jazz Festival Columbus Day Weekend, the Outer Banks Seafood Festival the following weekend and even more events throughout the month. It’s a great time to stay with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

Lost Colony Wine & Culinary Weekend a Big Hit

Tasting wines at the Lost Colony Wine and Culinary Festival.
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.