When blues singer/guitarist and songwriter Susan Tedeschi takes the stage at the Rodney Strong Winery in Healdsburg, CA  on Saturday, August 22, around 6 PM, you’ll be hearing deeply soulful, raw emotion laced with tender vulnerability in a voice that can go anywhere, do anything and leave you blissfully in tatters.

Backed by the slinky  slide guitar riffs of husband Derek Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, Tedeschi screams like Joplin and purrs like Bonnie Raitt. Hers is a rare breed of swamp rock that brings out the gator in all of us.

Meanwhile, Rodney Strong’s wines are a fine way to quench your thirst on the Concert Green along with a picnic dinner at a winery that leads all others in adopting solar power to conserve electricity. Strong has installed over 4000 solar panels, reduced fossil fuel consumption by 50 percent and  saved enough electricity to be awarded a $2.1 million rebate from PG&E.

If clouds should hover, there’s no question that Tedeschi has enough vocal power to light up the joint all on her own. Her warm-up act, JJ Grey & Mofro, thrives on Southern funk.

Doors 4 p.m. – Showtime 5 p.m.
Tickets: VIP $70 – GA $45
Rodney Strong Vineyards is located at 11455 Old Redwood Highway, off Highway 101 just south of the town of Healdsburg in Sonoma County. Visit Rodney Strong for more information.

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Slow down and take time to smell the rosés.

That’s our highly recommended approach to the eco-sensual pairing of artisanal food and terroir-expressive wines at this Sunday’s Golden Glass Wine Event at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Pavilion.

It’s also the prevailing philosophy of sponsor Slow Food USA, an organization dedicated to advocating the importance of sustainable farming practices that respect traditional knowledge and taste.

Complementing more than 100 no-pesticide wines from around the globe will be exclusive sampling from some of the Bay Area’s top restaurants and artisanal producers, including: A16, Absinthe, Aquarelle, Heaven’s Dog, La Poggio Trattoria, SF Baking Institute, Slow Club, Stella Cadente and Trattoria Corso.

Whew! And you thought this coming Sunday was for popping the top off a Bud Light for dad as he basted ribs on the BBQ in celebration of Father’s Day. How “Ëœbout a radical departure? Treat him to a brave new world of pure, delicious food and fruity no-nonsense wines fast by the San Francisco Bay.

The best news about the Slow Food Movement – as on display in this event – is that it combines high-minded principles with unsurpassed gourmet pleasures.

A few bites and sips later, your dad just might be more than happy to trade in his brewski and back rib for a Bordeaux and brioche.

When: Sunday, June 21, 2009
General admission: 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Entrance fee: Advance purchase: $60 (Slow Food members: $55); at the door $70; Food only and under 21: $20 (all entry tickets include 5 food tasting tickets. Additional food tickets can be purchased in groups of 5 for $20).

Where: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
The Festival Pavilion

Images: Joe Budd Photography

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What better way to celebrate Earth Day this coming weekend than to imbibe one of nature’s greatest creations – delicious premium wine – at one of West Sonoma’s most spectacularly scenic wineries?

Joy Sterling of family-owned Iron Horse, located at the southern end of Russian River Valley, hosts an all-green annual party that features a live solar-powered reggae band and a "Green Market" highlighting a bamboo bike and the Tesla $100,000 electric roadster.

To whet your appetite for green cuisine, Chef Christopher Greenwood is assembling a sumptuous array of "world street food" – local produce transformed into the enticing fresh flavors found in pushcarts around the planet. Jerk chicken grilled over grapevines, rice noodle soup with lemongrass mint and chilies and smoked black cod rolls share starring roles among the fare.

While you eat, drink, and calculate your carbon imprint, keynote speaker Gil Grosvenor, Chairman of National Geographic, offers wise advise on ways to solve some of our most devastating environmental issues. And if you go away as the winner of a raffle for one year of free energy, valued at up to $4000, you’ll be able to solve at least one of those environmental problems – rising costs – closer to home.

In keeping with the spirit of the event, Sterling is urging guests to buy advance tickets in groups and to carpool – or to bike up the long and winding road to the glorious hilltop winery past an undulating sea of bright green vineyards and local Gravenstein apples in bloom.

All proceeds from these jovial and entirely worthy festivities go to four environmental non-profits. If you’re going to be in the area and would like to attend this event, ticket prices are $50 General Admission and can be purchased online at Iron Horse Vineyards.

"Earth Day in Green Valley"
Sunday April 20, 2008, 1 to 4pm
Iron Horse Vineyards
Sebastopol, CA

Host Joy Sterling

Editor’s note: Images courtesy Joy Sterling/Iron Horse Vineyards. Special thanks to guest poster Stephen Yafa of Segue Cellars.

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