Saturday, June 19th was St. Louis Uncorked, a downtown wine and music festival. It was supported this year by KMOX, KEZK and Y98 FM, but it was organized by a private special events company, which I believe was a wise choice on the part of the radio stations.
Despite soaring temperatures and unbelievable humidity, my friend and I enjoyed the event. Live music was presented continuously from 11:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., though we were too busy planning projects and hiding out under shade trees to listen too closely to any one band.
The food at the festival was mostly really good. The organizers chose mostly locally-owned restaurants (Lola, Chefs de Cuisine Association of St. Louis, etc.). Each vendor offered something that was suitable to people of very different palates, from fruit and cheese plates to Chinese to crepes, and price points were spot-on; ranging from $1.00 to $6.00 per item.
I opted for a savory crepe from Lola, and oooh, was I satisfied. It was fantastic. I’m used to spending $6.00 at festivals for a hot dog and soda. This time the same amount of money bought me a delectable lunch from Lola. For another dollar, I bought a truly refreshing strawberry lemonade from O’Charley’s.
Unlike the cool, coordinated white tents used by the other food and wine vendors, Palermo’s Pizza was served from a mobile marketing trailer covered in photos of pizza and of the Palermo’s logo. I’m sure the pizza tasted fine, but the trailer the pizza was served from didn’t fit in with the crisp, preppy feel of the event. St. Louis Uncorked should opt for one of the many fantastic local pizza joints in the city next year.
The festival itself was free, and while the food was reasonably priced, the wine was a little bit on the expensive side for being served outdoors in plastic cups. $5 bought four tasting tokens, which seemed like a good deal until I realized that two ounces of wine was valued at two tokens.
If you’re having trouble visualizing what two ounces looks like, picture a shot glass or check out this picture:
My $5.00 in tokens bought me tastes of a 2007 Argentinian Malbec from Graffigna and 2007 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon by Santa Rita. I liked the Chilean Cab, but not enough to buy a bottle. The Argentinian Malbec and I could have spent more than two tokens worth of time together. I’ll likely seek a bottle of this wine out at some point soon.
On a whole, StL Uncorked was a lot of fun. The organizers did a nice job with the venue (Soldier’s Memorial), the view of the Arch, and a wide enough street to allow plenty of people to move through comfortably. The food was great, and the vendors were friendly. I’ll definitely try to attend again if they hold the event in 2011.
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For more information about St. Louis Uncorked, click here.
For reviews of and directions to Lola, click here.
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For me, the food at the event was for sure the highlight! A tastey chicken salad sandwich and chips for a few bucks? A rib sampler for $2? And that AMAZING lemonade for $1? One dollar?! When I saw how expensive the wine was going to be, I resigned that I would choosing ice cold Buds for the rest of the afternoon, but I ended up opting for that lemonade instead!