"Mavericks: Everest of the Seas" Comes Alive in Time to Set Stage for Another Epic Big Wave Season
Mix two of Northern California's finest institutions - big wave surfing and the wine country - and you have what promises to be an amazing weekend at the Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room in Healdsburg October 23 - 25.
Relive heroic battles between man and wave as seen through the eyes of the
cutting-edge photojournalists who risk life and limb to document the wave's
intense man-against-the-sea drama and obsessive lifestyle of Maverick's
elite riders.
Oded Shakked, a longtime surfer who founded Longboard Vineyards, will be
unveiling his latest release, The Peter Mel/Mavericks Cabernet Sauvignon.
This signature wine will be blended by not only Shakked but guest vintner,
Peter Mel.
Mel, one of the most respected names in Big Wave Surfing is known as perhaps
the most skillful surfer ever to ride Mavericks. The famed
spot off the Half Moon Bay. In October of 1998 he was whipped into to what
is now considered the biggest wave ever ridden... Mel along with the
featured photographers, surfboard shapers and wine makers will be on hand
for the Friday night reception. The reception will begin at 5pm and run
until roughly 9pm.
Longboard Vineyard has always had a soft
spot for surfers. It's a place where you can hangout at a redwood-surfboard
bar, or sample one of its award winning wines while kicking back on a
comfortable sofa watching surf movies. For this harvest weekend event
Shakked has enlisted "Mavericks: Everest of the Seas," the heralded
collection of Mavericks surf photography from Frank Quirarte, Doug Acton,
Seth Migdail and Ed Grant.
"Everest of the Seas" first made its debut recently at the Coastal Arts
League Gallery in Half Moon Bay, drawing large crowds and an enthusiastic
response. It just finished a one-month highly successful run at San
Francisco's world class Museum and Gallery, SFMOMA.
"Everyone who sees the exhibit is just blown away," said Grant, the curator
of the Coastal Arts League Gallery. "Both surfers and non- surfers can't
help but get caught up in the energy and stoke that surrounds Maverick's,
the surfers and photographers who put it on the line every time they go out
there."
The event also represents a high point in the career of Oded Shakked, who
was born in Israel and grew up near a beach just north of Tel
Aviv. Immersed in surfing from the start, he made several trips around
Europe's Atlantic coast while discovering, to his delight, that "it was
easier, cheaper and safer to drink good red wine than bottled water." His
twin loves of surfing and wine brought him to California, where he studied
winemaking at UC Davis and became enamored with the people, climate and rich
soil of Sonoma County. He founded Longboard Vineyards with the motto "Wine,
waves and soul," making it a highly unique fixture in wine country.
The October 23-25 weekend will also feature the sale of surfboards and
memorabilia, along with Acton's acclaimed book, "Inside Maverick's."
Admission is free.
Opening reception sponsored by Maverick Events and Longboard Vineyards