Despite a 2020 cancellation and a 2021 hybrid event, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League‘s 2022 Savor the Symphony had a crowd from near and far at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas on Thursday, April 21. And just perhaps the delays only made the wine and music more delicious. Here’s a report from the field:
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra League was excited to host its annual Savor the Symphony on Thursday, April 21, at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 Restriction and in 2021, it was held as a hybrid event with live and virtual components.
The event was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Sidley. Angela Fontana and Penny Reid were the event chairs and Venise Stuart is the DSOL President.
The elegant night began at 6:30 with a cocktail reception and silent auction for the guests to have the opportunity to bid on individual bottles of wine and other items, preview the live auction packages and to purchase wine through the Wine Pull. Guests were seated at 7:15 p.m. for a lavish three-course wine-paired dinner.
The guest speaker was Dr. Ron Sanchez, the owner of Domaine Verdant vineyard in Yamhill-Carleton AVA, Oregon known for pinot noirs. Ron has known Venise’s husband Larry Stuart since high school and currently resides in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he is a professor. He and his wife Nina Sanchez purchased a farm in the Willamette Valley where they decided to try their hand at growing grapes and making wine. Their first commercial vintage was produced in 2010. Today very limited quantities are made and the wines are widely regarded in Denmark as being on par with the best pinot noir and chardonnay wines in Bourgogne.
A brief musical performance was presented by DSO violinist Sasha Adkins and cellist Nan Zhang.
The live auction followed which included a very rare bottle of 1973 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon which is the envy of wine connoisseurs. In 1976 this wine was presented at the “Judgement of Paris”, a blind tasting of the finest wines from all over France. The Cabernet Sauvignon wine shocked the world and put California on the map of great wine growing regions by winning the competition. A bottle of this 1973 Stags Leap is part of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History. Lia Ellis was the lucky winner and called her husband right away with the news.
Other guests in attendance included Kim Noltemy, Marena Gault, Jolie Humphrey, Donna Arp Weitzman, Carol Anne and Dick Brown, Brad and Becky Todd, Mari Epperson, and Maurice and Sharon Ballew.
The proceeds from the evening will benefit the Dallas Symphony Association and its education and community outreach programs. Some of the quality outreach programs the League supports are Young Musicians, Young Strings and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert Series. These programs impact over 35,000 area students and are vital as they promote brain development and increased high school graduation rates and open the door to a brighter future with more opportunities for the program participants.
* Photo credit: Jeff Smith