Greatest Spectacle returns Saturday

By ERIN SHULTZ
Life & Style editor

May 15, 2008 11:38 pm

— Lisa Rayl thinks some soggy weather might make Saturday’s Greatest Spectacle in Tasting a little bit greater.
“This was styled after the Aspen Food and Wine Classic,” said Rayl, who co-owns Soupley’s with her husband, Kyle. “When Kyle and I attended, it was raining, and we had a wonderful time. It was cozy and nice.”
A few sprinkles might be all the more reason to duck into one of the Spectacle’s three massive tents and enjoy a glass of wine and food at the largest annual fundraiser for Bona Vista Programs.
Located on the grounds of Bona Vista, 1220 E. Laguna St., the event is often dubbed the unofficial start to the summer festival season. This year features food from 28 local restaurants, 65 microbrews to taste, a silent auction, live music and numerous wines.
“It’s an opportunity for the Kokomo community to come out and enjoy themselves at a community event with friends and family, and help raise money for a local not-for-profit,” said Brianne Boles, Bona Vista’s vice president of PR and development.
Last year the event raised more than $35,000 for Bona Vista, the rehabilitation organization for adults and children that serves 1,000 people throughout north central Indiana each day.
“Any time you can get individuals to come out and support your organization — to not only have a fun evening out, but also to raise awareness and funds — is a success to me,” said Boles.
What started 14 years ago as a small wine tasting gathering on the city’s south side has ballooned into a fundraiser that has raised more than $353,000 for the organization over the years.
New possibilities and old favorites make up the event’s wine list this year. Standards like French Lick Winery will return once again, while Oliver and Brown County and St. James wineries make their first appearances.
Kokomo native Erik Miller, who unveiled his Kokomo Cabernet Sauvignon in 2006, returns this year with a Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec and Sonoma Chardonnay.
Spectacle is also going a little more green this time around, as it will feature several organic wines, including Natura’s Cabernet Sauvignon Organic, Our Daily Red’s Red Blend Organic, and Snoqualmie’s “Naked” Chardonnay Organic. Rayl says these are a little more pure, and some are even sulfite-free, which makes them perfect choices for asthma sufferers.
“We have a brand new wine, that we’ll be the first to try in the state, called Sky Dog,” she added, calling it a “perfect summer porch wine” and noting Sky Dog’s light, fruit flavors. “I think it’s going to be a new hit wine.”
Spectacle also features a wide assortment of craft and domestic beers and malt beverages. New beers set to be featured include Blue Moon’s Pale Moon, Duvel Belgian Ale and Landshark Lager, as well as Smirnoff Lite and Smirnoff Strawberry.
For designated drivers and those who don’t drink alcohol, Young’s Culligan, Coca-Cola and Big Ben Coffee Co. will provide coffee and other nonalcoholic drinks.
With a record-setting 28 restaurants participating this year, Rayl said the event will feature food from local restaurateurs from across the spectrum. While tight-lipped on the menu, she said she thought patrons would be pleasantly surprised by the variety of the items to tempt the taste buds.
New restaurants participating include Paco’s Lounge, Meal Thyme Solutions, The Cake Lady, Salvo’s Ristorante Italiano, Don Pancho and the Crystal Tea Room.
The silent auction is also back this year, and with more than 120 auction lots, Boles can rattle off as many auction items as you’ve got time to hear.
Grills, a riding lawnmower, a scooter, BOTOX injections, gift certificates, furniture, jewelry, Colts tickets — you name it, and it’s probably on the auction block, she said.
The Smooth Operators, a Docs That Rock band, will also make its first appearance at the Spectacle this year. The local collective features several core members of the group — most of whom are members of the medical community — and an assortment of guest musicians who lend the band a hand for a song or two.
Dr. Jeff Wilson, the band’s drummer, said he was known as “The Doc of Rock” long before the inception of the local Docs That Rock fundraiser. Wilson has been playing percussion with various groups, among them the Time Travelers, for more than a decade. But for some of the Smooth Operators, performing live has been a whole new ball game.
“Most people who know me know I’ve been playing drums forever,” Wilson said. “But a lot of the other guys haven’t played out before, so it’s a neat experience to get to see them do that.”
The Smooth Operators’ repertoire runs the gamut, Wilson said, from country to blues to hits of the ’70s and ’80s and back again.
Saturday’s show will also feature a special guest performer, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight, who is set to perform song tunes from The Rolling Stones.
The event runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $35 at the door or $30 in advance, at any Soupley’s or Bona Vista location.
For more information, call (765) 457-8273 or visit www.soupleys.com/spectacle.
Erin Shultz may be reached at (765) 454-8587 or via e-mail at erin.shultz@kokomotribune.com.

If you go:
• EVENT: The 14th annual Greatest Spectacle in Tasting
• WHEN: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday
• WHERE: Bona Vista Programs, 1220 E. Laguna St.
• TICKETS: $35 at the door or $30 in advance at any Soupley’s or Bona Vista location
• WHAT ELSE: Event is held rain or shine. Must be 21 to enter.
• INFORMATION: (765) 457-8273 or www.soupleys.com/spectacle

How to taste wine:
Not a wine lover? You can still look like one, if you remember the five S’s. Try these five basic steps:
• See the wine and appreciate its beauty. Holding a white napkin to the glass, check out the color. Especially with white wines, it can tell you a lot about the age and the kind of grape used.
• Swirl the wine. Holding the base of the glass against a table, move the glass quickly in small circles. This will incorporate air in the wine and release its full aromas.
• Smell the wine. This is one of the most important, and often overlooked, parts of wine tasting. Spend a good deal of time smelling the wine and identifying familiar scents. Can you detect scents like cinnamon? Strawberries? Butter? Oak?
• Sip the wine. Take in a healthy sip — about one-third of a mouthful. You’ve got taste buds all over the place in your mouth, each responding to different flavors. Let the wine “coat” your taste buds by rolling it around to all parts of the mouth.
• Savor the flavors. Many experts say the last step is to spit out the wine in order to keep a clear head while tasting. Take a good 30 seconds after tasting before talking with fellow tasters about what you think. Hearing other people’s opinions can spoil your interpretation.

Restaurant list:
Applebee’s
Barefoot Baking Co.
Big Ben Coffee Co.
Blondie’s Cookies
Buffalo Wild Wings
Come And Get It
Crystal Tea Room
Culver’s
Don Pancho
GFS Marketplace
Golden Corral
Gordo’s Taco Shop
Grindstone Charley’s
Hacienda
Martino’s Italian Villa
Meal Thyme Solutions
Paco’s Lounge
Pastry Diva
Qdoba Mexican Grill
Rozzi’s Catering
Salvo’s Ristorante Italiano
Serendipity
Sondy’s Sycamore Grille
Subway
Texas Roadhouse
The Cake Lady
The Windmill Grill
Young’s Culligan

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