Wine and The Berkshires

Berkshire County has a wealth of individuals who are involved in the wine world. Through their actions, as consumers, we have numerous opportunities to interact with these individuals via wine dinners, free in-store tastings, wine trips, wine auctions and wine classes.

As a random check as what is going on in Berkshire County, I contacted three local wine merchants, Joe Nejaime from Nejaime’s (Stockbridge and Lenox); Kollin Kozlowski from Kelly’s Package Store (Dalton) and Jim Nejaime from Spirited (Lenox). The results of the numerous wine and beer related activities are amazing and listed below.

The Nejaime’s (Stockbridge and Lenox) schedule includes:
Every Saturday, both stores will host a free in-store wine tasting from 12-4pm. Special guests will be pouring wines from around the world.
May 30, 6-9 p.m.: Nejaime’s will host a wine dinner at the wine-friendly Alta Restaurant, located in the center of Lenox. The dinner will focus on “Wines from the Mediterranean Islands.” Reservations can be made by calling Alta at (413) 637-0003.

The Kelly’s Package Store (Dalton) schedule includes:
May 18, 2-6 p.m.: Kelly’s Huge Free Wine Extravaganza. The event includes both food and wine and is the store’s annual introduction of their products to consumers. It is a free event that is both educational and fun.

May 19, at Kelly’s from 1-4 p.m.: Sam Adams sponsors Kelly’s Homebrew Beer Contest and Festival. Contact Kollin at (413) 684-0870 if you would like to enter your homebrew beer for judging.

The May 18 and 19 events benefit the Kids Place in Pittsfield.

May 22 at Public restaurant in North Adams: Public is hosting a five-course beer and tasting dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $60. Reservations can be made by calling (413) 664-4444. Seating is limited. Kelly’s will sponsor an exotic Sierra Nevada tasting at Public after the beer dinner has concluded.

May 24: Wine dinner featuring Mediterranean wines with Michael Roller at Wahconah Country Club. Call Kelly’s for details.

June 1: Benefit beer tasting for Cheshire Lion’s Club.

As you can see, Kollin has created a very creative schedule at Kelly’s Package Store. He is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) from the Society of Wine Educators and has 20-plus years in Berkshire County wine sales experience. Kollin teaches introductory wine classes, called master classes, where he focuses on both varietal and wine region.

Spirited (Lenox) wine events:
Every Saturday from 12-4 p.m.: Complimentary in-store tastings. The Spirited staff selects new finds and shares these finds with customers. Also included on an alternating schedule are craft beers, spirits, specialty foods and cheeses.

May 13, Mayfest event supporting Construct Inc.: This benefit takes place at Crissey Farm, Route 7 in Great Barrington. Selected wines by Spirited will be tasted along with wine professionals who will educate the consumer about the wines. Contact Crissey Farm at (413) 528-4844 for reservations.
May 18,Berkshire Museum Wine Auction: Jim Nejaime is chairman of the wine committee. The event takes place at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield and benefits its educational program. Tickets start at $100 and can be purchased by contacting the museum at (413) 443-7171, ext. 37.

May 25, 12-4 p.m.: In-store special Memorial Day tasting featuring ‘Rose’ wines, spirits, craft brews, specialty foods and cheese

June 8: In-store tasting featuring wines from Chateau Massaya from the Bekka Valley in Lebanon

June 29, 1-4 p.m.: A huge summer tent tasting featuring well over 50 varieties of wine, specialty foods and cheese

Results of the Berkshire Summer Wine Challenge 2013 will surface in an upcoming issue. The three judges who sampled over 150 wines are Christelle Cotar from Blantyre, Caitlin Harrison from Mezze and Kollin Kozlowski from Kelly’s Package Store.

Posted by Phillip Kampe on May 9, 2013. Filed under Columns,Food,Opinion,Wine and Beyond. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry