WHAT
The Sonoma Valley Historical Society and Buena Vista Winery announce the second annual Sonoma Valley Wine History Weekend, a free, two-day event that celebrates the rich history of Sonoma Valley with lectures, plays, art, live music, food and wine.
WHEN & WHERE
- Saturday, July 27 from 12 to 4 p.m. at Buena Vista Winery, 18000 Old Winery Rd Sonoma, California 95476
- Sunday, July 28 from 1 to 2:30 at Depot Park Museum, 270 1st St W, Sonoma, CA 95476
SCHEDULE
Saturday, July 27 at Buena Vista Winery
- 12 to 12:30 p.m. A free lecture and art unveiling on the third floor of the Champagne Cellars at Buena Vista Winery. Sonoma Historian George Webber will tell the story of the noted Hungarian painter Ferenc Daday, whose original oil painting of Buena Vista founder Agoston Haraszthy will be unveiled at the end of the lecture as well as a painting illustrating the double wedding of the century (when two sons of the Count married two daughters of Sonoma’s General Vallejo on June 1, 1863). These two paintings are on loan to Buena Vista Winery from the Sonoma Valley Historical Society.
- 12 to 2 p.m. Live music in Buena Vista’s Champagne Courtyard.
- 12 to 4 p.m. Food available for purchase from a food truck in the Champagne Cellars Courtyard. Buena Vista wine available by the glass and bottle for purchase.
- 2 to 2:45 p.m. Performance of a new play in the Champagne Cellars Historic Wine Museum presented by the Buena Vista Players: “Wildcat and Grapevines.” This play, written by George Webber, brings to life one specific week in California’s history in which Mark Twain moves from Virginia City, Nevada to San Francisco and meets up with friends Count Haraszthy and General Vallejo with the intent to swap his wildcat mining stocks for the Count’s Buena Vista Vinicultural Society stock. Historical hilarity ensues!
Sunday, July 28 at the Depot Park Museum
- 1 to 1:45 p.m. Illustrated lecture by noted Sonoma historian Peter Meyerhof titled “The First California Theatre was in Sonoma.” Dr. Meyerhof will present contemporary accounts of California’s first commercial theatre in which an acting troupe made up of army volunteers performed a variety of plays on a somewhat regular basis to a paying audience in Sonoma beginning in April 1848, predating similar theatre performances in Monterey, Sacramento and San Francisco.
- 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. Second performance of the new play “Wildcat and Grapevines” by the Buena Vista Players
ABOUT BUENA VISTA WINERY
Buena Vista Winery is California’s first premium winery; it was founded in 1857 by Hungarian immigrant Agoston Haraszthy, the self-proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista.” Possessing a deep regard for the significance of Buena Vista’s place in California wine history, Jean-Charles Boisset purchased Buena Vista in April, 2011 and added the winery to the Boisset Collection. Boisset has returned Buena Vista Winery to its original glory with the complete restoration and re-opening of the historic property and its wines are achieving new heights under Winemaker Brian Maloney. Buena Vista Winery is located at 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, CA and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.buenavistawinery.com
ABOUT THE SONOMA VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The mission of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society is to provide a forum and a resource for the study and dissemination of Sonoma Valley history for present and future generations by identifying collecting, preserving and sharing artifacts, documents and images. The society operates the Depot Park Museum, which is open Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The museum features exhibits on the history of Sonoma Valley from before contact with Native Americans to post California statehood, a Victorian pre-1900 era kitchen and school room, the Chinese contribution to Sonoma Valley agriculture and also includes a rotating temporary exhibit. For more information, please visit www.depotparkmuseum.org
