Oh no, not more musical madness?
Yepp…
Just thought I should mention that after the opera and a late lunch, the next stop was the annual “Crush Club Spring Party” at Tinhorn Creek Winery. This is one of my most favourite wineries, in part because they were the first to take the risk of shipping wine to PEI. Have been a member of the “Crush Club” for about ten years now and what started out as a small coterie of thirsty but appreciative wine drinkers, now numbers over 3,500 people. Not all were able to come to the party. but those that did were well treated.

There were four different newly released wines to try, although the Rose and the Cab Franc were so good I tried them twice and never got to the others!! And there were four stations of Paella foods. (Sidebar: I had no idea what a paella was, but that didn’t matter — every station was exceptional — the next time I see that there is such a food moment, the purveyor better be good because the bar has been set pretty high for me.)

But how is this all tied in to the musical madness? Well, there was entertainment. A flamenco group had been brought in from the coast and they were superb. Even though the weather was getting windier and there were moments of rain (it was all held in an outdoor theatre venue the winery has), no one was leaving. The guitarist was amazing and although I know no Spanish other than Ole and a few Terminator expressions that I still can’t spell, the singer was very good too.

The music resonated throughout the venue and those like me sitting under canopies did not have to worry if there were the occasional raindrops. Moreover, the dancing was so frenetic yet so beautiful that it simply added to the enjoyment of the wine and the food. Initially it was the Rose that got things underway, and the two glasses were accompanied first by some recorded k.d.lang and then a series of live, in-your-face flamenco dances. By the time the Cab Franc was in the glass, the dancers were dominating the stage and the audience was spellbound — sometimes, five (including one male), sometimes four (again often with the male as a key part), sometimes three women only. Then a solo female dancer came forth and really put on a performance. It was spell-binding.

It was also a moment of supreme irony — here I was, enjoying wine and food in an overweight body and there the dancers were, moving and stomping all the while in clothes that perhaps were elongated size 2… Good thing the music was so good and the wine so refreshing — otherwise I might have become jealous. How can people be so slim and svelte?

But all in all, as is being discovered every day — music does stimulate both sides of the brain simultaneously and when it is accompanied by incredibly talented dancers there is no question that I felt I was getting smarter. Perhaps the wine assisted to a small degree. The point is that so much more intelligent was I by the end of the party I purchased another 6 bottle of this newly released Rose. Want some? You’ll have to come to Penticton — I’m not shipping it anywhere!!

g.w.