The latest email newsletter from Maragas Winery has some interesting news: they are selling their Bend Tasting Room, and moving everything out to their winery north of Terrebonne.

With the completion of the winery, vineyard, and farm house, we know have everything in place for the next leg of our journey.

After much thoughtfulness, deliberation and communing with the wine gods, we are selling our beloved tasting room building in Bend so that she can fulfill someone else’s dreams.

Until the time that our building sells, we will be open at the tasting room by appointment only. Please contact us at (541) 546-5464 if you would like a tasting appointment or if you are interested in purchasing our building.

This seems like a counter-productive move; Central Oregon doesn't exactly have the vibrant winery scene like Hood River, McMinnville, or Medford where part of the charm is the "wine tour." But maybe it'll work out for them.

In the meantime, what would be a good business to move into their Tasting Room location? (The corner of Colorado and Bond.)

Sisters is having their very first Wine and Brew Festival, coming up in June. This came through as a press release, and it's not for another five months, but sounds pretty cool to me!

One question (so far): will it be kid friendly?

Sisters Wine & Brew Festival Announces First Annual Event

Announcing the first annual Sisters Wine & Brew Festival. Come celebrate the wonderful wines and brews of the Pacific Northwest! The weekend will also include live music, wine and beer pairing classes, cooking demos, art vendors and fantastic food. Entrance to the festival is free.

When:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
11am-6pm
Where:
The Village Green in downtown Sisters.
More Info: www.sisterswineandbrew.com, 541-385-7988, info@specialzied-events.com.

What Takes Place at the Event?

Wineries and Breweries
25 wineries and breweries will be in attendance to serve, sell and discuss their products.

Other Vendors
An array of other vendors will be on hand selling their products and services at the festival to round out participants’ experiences. These will include arts and crafts, food, specialty products and an extension of the retail already available throughout Sisters.

Music and Cooking Demos
Live music will add to the atmosphere and what is wine and beer without great food? Local chefs will be on hand to demonstrate their special recipes on our cooking stage.

VIP Area
Guests in this exclusive part of the Sisters Wine and Brew Festival will enjoy an array of all the wines on hand for hosted tasting at the event as well as delicious appetizers. VIP tickets are available for $60 (hosted wines, brews and cuisine).

Additional Events
In order to round out the guest experience, local restaurants will host a wine and brew makers’ dinner Friday evening. On Saturday, there will be an after party and a variety of local establishments will be staying open late.

Christmas is fast approaching (less than two weeks away!) and for any last-minute shopping you need to do, herewith are some suggestions. Organized by category, all as local as possible, with some specific suggestions and some general. Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments.

Both Newport Avenue Market and Whole Foods are great places to go for both specialty foods (gourmet cheeses, chocolates and candies, organic whatever), and have extensive beer and wine selections as well. (Particularly the beer—both have great offering perfect for any beer geek.)

Newport Market: 1121 NW Newport Avenue (west side), 541-382-3940. Open 7 days a week, 7am to 9pm.

Whole Foods: 2610 NE Highway 20 (east side), 541-389-0151. Open 7 days a week, 8am to 9pm.

Gift cards to one of our many good restaurants is always a good option: off the top of my head several good ones would be Zydeco, Ariana, the Pine Tavern, Joolz, the Victorian Café, Kebaba, and one of the many breweries.

Speaking of breweries, pick up a growler or bottles from one of our many: Deschutes Brewery, Bend Brewing, Silver Moon, 10 Barrel (at JC's), McMenamins, Cascade Lakes, or Three Creeks (in Sisters). Word to the wise about growlers though: they shouldn't sit around too long after buying them—they're full of fresh beer and don't have an airtight seal. So if you buy one a week or more in advance then you'll likely be giving flat beer as a gift.

More of a wine person? Try Maragas Winery or Volcano Vineyards. Both offer a nice variety of locally-produced wines which you can pick up (and taste!) in their tasting rooms here in town. Both also feature wine clubs that would be a fun gift to someone as well.

Maragas tasting room: 643 NW Colorado, 541-330-0919. Open Thursday through Saturday 2 to 8.

Volcano tasting room: 126 NW Minnesota, 541-617-1102. Open Tuesday through Saturday 12 to 8, Sunday 12 to 5.

Cheese goes great with wine, and Tumalo Farms produces handcrafted cheeses locally: artisan goat milk cheese, six different varieties on their website right now. You can order from them directly online, but I've also seen some of their cheeses as Whole Foods, and Newport Market probably has them as well.

Coffee lovers on your list? Check out Strictly Organic: they roast their own beans and sell a wide variety of blends and yes, they are certified organic. Stop in at their retail location/café to pick up your coffee, and stick around long enough for a cup or two and maybe lunch.

6 SW Bond, 541-330-6061. Open Monday through Saturday 8 to 8, Sunday 10 to 6.

Finally, booze might be what you're after—nothing wrong with that! My favorite liquor store is East Bend Liquor at 2220 East Highway 20, though the smaller west side liquor store inside of Ray's is pretty good also. East Bend Liquor carries a nice variety of gift packages—bottles of specialty alcohol with custom glassware, for instance—and the staff is friendly and very helpful.

And they stock the full line of Bendistillery wares as well: Crater Lake Vodka, Cascade Mountain Gin, Mazama Pepper Vodka, and the Hazelnut Espresso Vodka.

This Saturday Maragas Winery is hosting a winery barrel tasting out at their north-of-Terrebonne location. They're teaming up with Volcano Vineyards to do this, which is cool. Here's their news blurb about it:

The first annual Central Oregon Winery Barrel Tasting Saturday November 28, 2009 from 10am to 5pm.

Maragas Winery and Volcano Vineyards will both be tasting and celebrating the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend on Saturday with their limited production wines – including internationally award winning wines. Additionally, they will each barrel taste wine that has yet to be released.

Five dollar entrance fee allows for 5 tastes of wine. Additional tastes are one dollar each. Kids are welcome with their parents and will be admitted free. Hot spiced cider and popcorn will be provided free to all.

We'll also be tasting local/regional cheese.

And - Live jazz - Enjoy the Desmond/Getz jazz stylings of Bend's "Just Joe" and Portland's own David Evans.

They don't specify exactly what wines they'll be sampling, but it's hard to beat the price whatever they might be.

The Good Drop Wine Shoppe is the new wine place that moved into the old Chocolat et Gateaux space on Minnesota in Downtown Bend. They've been open almost a month and are having their grand opening celebration the beginning of December. Here's the press release:

The Good Drop Wine Shoppe, which opened Oct. 2 in downtown Bend, is hosting a Grand Opening celebration over the entire week of Dec. 5 - 12. The new wine store and tasting venue will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for anyone who wants to come downtown to taste "bubbles" and unique wines for free, and shop for unique gifts at special, grand opening prices for the wine lover on their list.

In addition, a portion of the proceeds from sales over the week will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon.

"This will be a truly special week-long wine event like no other," said The Good Drop's owner Chris Oatman. "We'll be pouring free tastings of bubbles, but also at times will bring out vintage wines that are probably out of stock everywhere else or extremely hard to find. It will certainly be a memorable celebration of great wine and good times. And while the event and tastings are free, any sales made during that time will benefit a great cause."

Throughout the week, Oatman, a vintage and rare wine specialist, will greet guests, answer questions, and have wine tastings available as they peruse the unique selections of wine and wine-related gifts.

For years, Oatman has collected, sold, and shipped wines to wine connoisseurs across the world. Now these same wines are available in downtown Bend at its new store a 141 NW Minnesota Avenue, and through www.gooddropwineshoppe.com. It carries vintage, hard-to-find, rare, and everyday fine wines at affordable prices.

According to Oatman, "Being so close to the Willamette and Columbia Valleys, Walla Walla, Yakima, and the California wine regions, means we can offer a wide selection of well-rounded, diverse, and high-end wines at a price that's often lower than wine connoisseurs might expect."

See www.gooddropwineshoppe.com or call 541-410-1470 for wine store location and hours, wine selection, and for more information about the latest offerings.

I don't really know anything about the shop, but free wine tastings are always an intriguing start.

I suspect I'm behind the curve on this one, but Monday nights at Typhoon in downtown Bend are half-price wine nights. Basically, all wine under $100 is half price... that's per glass and per bottle.

No kidding, half off a bottle. Our waitress told us that there are people who basically order a bottle on Monday nights just to take home.

It's probably about time to start compiling a new list of happy hours and deals like this one.

Volcano Vineyards posted on their blog today that their new Tasting Lounge is open:

Right this second Scott is at the OLCC office picking up our new license, so we should be open today at 126 NW Minnesota (between Wall and Bond) by 3 pm! Woohoo! The next two weeks we will be in “soft opening” mode, meaning we won’t have the full food menu (if any food at all) just yet, and the hours will be erratic, as we complete the move and iron out the new set up.

No Grand Opening announced as yet, and one other bit of news: no minors allowed anymore. (Minors used to be allowed into their tasting room on Brooks.)

This weekend—starting tomorrow, actually—is Wine by the River, a wine festival featuring "wineries, chocolatiers, restaurants, entertainers and artists" and taking place at Riverbend Park Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th. It's put on by Partners in Care, and the intent is a good one:

Partners In Care Wine by the River’s purpose is to bring awareness to the growing end-of-life needs for children in Central Oregon. Partners In Care Wine by the River’s long range goal is to provide quality end-of-life services, education, and grief counseling care to patients under the age of 25 and their families.

From 1pm until 9pm Friday, and noon until 8pm Saturday, you can drink some great wine, enjoy entertainment, and check out the culinary demonstrations that will be going on.

Ticket details are here; basically it's $20 for one day or $40 for both, and you'll get a commemorative etched wine glass. Looks like tasters (as well as glasses, bottles, and cases) of wine will cost you as well.

The week's Source has an insert for the event, with a schedule and an event layout map included. Worth picking up if you're heading down.

This weekend is the Sunriver Sunfest Wine Festival, the two-day event that takes place in the Village Mall at Sunriver's central "courtyard" area (where the restaurants and shops are). It takes place Saturday and Sunday from noon until 9pm and 11am until 3pm, respectively.

(Actually, it started tonight with a $100 four-course wine pairing dinner at Marcello's.)

It's a fun event that we've enjoyed in the past (the kids get bored, though, even though there is a Family Fun Zone), and the weather this weekend looks perfect (if hot).

There's wine and live music, what more do you need to know? You could always finish off your day with dinner at the Trout House...

From the Volcano Vineyards blog today comes the news that the downtown local winery is closing their tasting room, but with good reason: they plan to open a larger space.

We are working on opening a winery facility here in Bend for the production of our Magmita Sangria and our second label, Magna Wines. Because of permitting and licensing issues, we can’t have the tasting room open – the OLCC allows three locations under our winery license: we have our main winery facility in southern Oregon as one, our house is another (from where we ship) and the third is now the tasting room, but that will be transferred to the new winery space.

No word on when—things are taking longer than they thought—but it's certainly refreshing to hear of a local business actually planning on expanding in this economy.

They make good wine, too. Pop in to their tasting room on Brooks Street to try some before they move.

Over on the Blacksmith Restaurant blog today, Paul points out their new wine tasting Wednesdays:

Here’s a low-cost opportunity to taste great wines with guidance from experts. The Blacksmith Restaurant has started Wednesday Tastings after work, and each month spotlights a different beverage....

Cost is $10 to taste approximately eight wines, and every week will feature different vineyards, varietals, vertical tastings and other fun ways to experience the beauty of the bottle.

Not quite as free as Newport Market's Thirsty Thursdays, but $10 isn't bad either. Looks like they start at 5pm.

What: A bottle (or two! or more!) of wine from one (or both!) local wineries, Maragas Winery and Volcano Vineyards. Maragas is the winery that is also attempting to grow vineyards locally, just north of Terrebonne—something that hasn't been done here before.

The available styles of wine are Zinfandel, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Syrah, Viognier, and a Muscat dessert wine. And, you can sign up for a wine club or put together a gift basket if you're looking for more than just a bottle or two.

For: Wine lovers, foodies.

Price: Individual bottles priced at $14 on up to $32 - $-$$$

Where: Maragas' tasting room at 643 NW Colorado Avenue; Volcano Vineyards at 930 NW Brooks Street Promenade downtown.

Trivia: You can visit the Maragas Winery north of Terrebonne on weekends, Friday through Sunday from 11 to 4pm. They're located just north of the Crooked River Gorge.

Don't forget, this weekend is the Bite of Bend, in downtown Bend. Live music, food, etc. Today's Go Magazine in the Bulletin has a map of which streets will be closed downtown; it's not online though. However, I've tried to recreate it from memory and Google Maps in the image there on the right. (Closed streets are the highlighted ones.)

Also going on this weekend that I hadn't blogged about is the Sunriver Sunfest. It's the two-day wine tasting festival held in the Sunriver Village square. Food, music, and some craft vendors are also there but the focus is really on the wine. Times are 11:30am - 7pm Saturday and 12pm - 4pm Sunday. Looks like they have 29 participating wineries.

We'll be hitting the Bite of Bend Saturday and then the Sunfest on Sunday, it looks like. Busy weekend!