The Knoxville Museum of Art hosts its 6th annual L’Amour du Vin wine auction & dinner Saturday, March 7, 2009 .
The extraordinary event begins with a wine tasting and silent auction at 6pm followed at 7:45pm by dinner and live auction. The five-course dinner will be prepared by guest chef Eric Ziebold of CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. and the chefs of Blackberry Farm, a Relais & Chateaux property in Walland, Tennessee. The guest vintner is Matt Dees, winemaker of Jonata, and each dinner course will be paired with Jonata wines. This remarkable Santa Ynez Valley estate is under the same ownership as Napa Valley’s Screaming Eagle, and is now producing some of the most remarkable wines to emerge from California. Jonata wines are only available in the state of Tennessee at Blackberry Farm, and for one night only at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
L’Amour du Vin , one of the premier food and wine events in the region, is organized by the KMA Guild. Tickets are $300 per person with all proceeds supporting the exhibition and education programs at the KMA.
Sponsors for the event include Lexus of Knoxville, Blackberry Farm, Bistro By The Tracks, Mercy Health Partners, Regions Bank, and many others.
Top auction items include a week’s vacation for four at Relais du Chateau d’Arche hotel in Sauterne, France, near Bordeaux; a seven-night stay for two at the luxury lodge Mosaic Farm in South Africa; a week’s vacation in a luxury six-bedroom home on the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; a 14-bottle vertical Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet; a Blackberry Farm three-day food and wine event for two, additional trips, culinary experiences, plus the finest wine from around the world, including large format bottles.