April 22, 2022
Chris talks to Kerri Blackman and Rachel Maxwell, masterminds behind a new and unique culinary event in Alpine: the Spirits of the West Wine & Beef Festival, May 27-29, 2022! Eleven Texas wineries, distilleries and breweries will offer three days of exquisite pairings of wine and spirits with signature appetizers, most using Big Bend ranch-raised beef. The event will also feature live music, fine art, workshops and more.
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Transcript for “Spirits of the West Wine & Beef Festival”:
Intro
It’s time to kick back, put your feet up, grab your favorite beverage or snack as we discuss declare, proclaim, publicize and articulate about the wonders, magic, beauty, music, and happiness openings here in the area known as the Big Bend of Texas.
Chris Ruggia
Hello. Welcome, and thank you for joining us again for Heart of the Big Bend. This is a podcast and radio show coming to you every other week about visiting the beautiful Big Bend of Texas. Specifically, we will cover what’s happening in Alpine, an incredibly friendly small town nestled in a desert mountain valley at the heart of the Big Bend region. With easy day trips from Alpine, you can take in everything this amazing region has to offer. I’m Chris Ruggia, Director of Tourism for the City of Alpine. And I’m thrilled to have today Kerri Blackman of Artwalk and Rachel Maxwell also.
Kerri Blackman
Good afternoon!
Rachel Maxwell.
Hello.
Chris R
Thank you guys for joining me. So we’ve talked about Artwalk in the past on a couple of different shows, folks. Look back a bit in the podcast feed. There’s one on the event and there’s one on the mural program that you guys have added so much to downtown Alpine. But we’re about to add a whole new dimension, kind of, to your activities this year. So, there’s a brand new event that’s Memorial Day weekend, May 27 to 29. And it’s called the Spirits of the West Wine and Beef Festival.
Kerri B
Sure.
Chris R
This is a brand-new concept.
Kerri B
Well, actually, it’s about a three-year concept.
Chris R
Brand new to everyone who’s…
Kerri B
Brand new to all of you guys.
Chris R
Yes, we’ve heard of wine and cheese, but this is new!
Kerri B
We started out with wine and cheese. And actually, it was a great idea of our President, John Davis. He’s like, we’re beef producing country. Why don’t we be a wine and beef? Yeah. And I’m like, that’s great. The board loved the idea.
Chris R
Excellent. So, I imagine you were dealing with locally sourced food here, actually, as much as possible.
Kerri B
What we really were wanting to do is showcase what we have here in the Big Bend region, showcase vineyards or spirit makers food and then pairing it with what we have here. We are doing that. We have Marfa Spirits and we have Chateau Wright. There’s a couple of other vineyards that are here that aren’t quite ready to showcase what they have. Maybe they don’t have enough to produce yet or they’re waiting on the vines. So, we’ve reached out across Texas and invited a few other vineyards and spirit makers.
Rachel M
We will also have our two local brewing companies Chisos and Brick Vault.
Kerri B
So, they’ll be pairing vegetable pairings, cheese pairings. They are going to be paired VIP night with different spirits and different wines and beers
Rachel M
And Gumslingers was kind enough to chip in. And they’re making a chocolate truffle special for the event.
Chris R
Okay. So for folks who aren’t local, we’ll give a quick glossary here. So we talked about Marfa Meats. So, this is a Marfa… locker plant basically. It’s a meat processing so what’s the story on Marfa Meats?
Rachel M
So, her name is Christy Miller and she’s a fantastic person. So, if you ever have the chance just to stop by, she keeps her freezer stocked in the storefront. But she had the idea to put in a processing plant that uses local cattle to completely process the animal. And so, she’s doing everything from doing cuts of steak to making bonemeal and bone broth. She tries to utilize every piece of the animal.
Chris R
And I would direct listeners to Sterry Butcher’s Amazing Texas Monthly article that recently came out about Marfa Meats. So just do a search. Do a Google search for that. It’s really good. And then we mentioned Chateau Wright, which is another new neighbor just past Fort Davis.
Kerri B
Right. Chateau Wright has actually been growing grapes for several years now, and they have been producing some very nice wines. And he is our Premier Cru sponsor. So, in the wine world, that’s the top. Premier Cru. They’re one of our top sponsors for this event and helping us put on the event and partnering us with the other vineyards and different people that they know in the wine world and the spirit world.
Chris R
Right. Yeah. And they have… it’s on Point of Rocks Road, which I guess I’m not sure the highway number. I think it’s 66. But anyway, it’s close to Fort Davis on the way to Marfa. And then there’s a turn off to the right, and they have a tasting room, a little food truck there. That’s a nice little destination. When folks are coming outside of the event time period.
Kerri B
They do.
Chris R
And then you mention Gumslingers, which is Alpine’s local sweet shop. They make sweets. They sell a lot of different candy.
Kerri B
It’s a candy store, definitely. Yes. They’re handmaking the truffles for the event so that a chocolate truffle can be paired with a wine or a spirit.
Chris R
Oh, great.
Rachel M
And during the event, Alpine Wine is going to create a tablescape charcuterie cheese table for the event.
Chris R
All right. And they’re another brand new asset that we have in town. It’s a wine bar. They have charcuterie primarily for their food and a lot of selections of wines right in the middle of downtown Alpine.
Kerri B
Yes. And they’re going to be a big sponsor of ours as well. So, we really love partnering with everybody local that we can.
Chris R
Fantastic. So, we’ve got three days for this event. Give us a run down. What’s going to happen on Friday?
Kerri B
Well, that’s our VIP night. So, it’s only VIP five to nine. And we’ll have a five-piece jazz band that will kick off the evening. And as long as you have your VIP sponsorship bracelet, which a lot of sponsors are getting the bracelets and a lot of people are going on Eventbrite and buying the bracelets. And we’re keeping it to 250 attendees. And what we’re doing is closing the street, 6th street from one end of the Holland End to Avenue E. And we’ll have art booths, as well as the vineyards and chefs, chefs preparing signature beef bites and or there’s going to be a fungi bite. And that is from our gentleman…
Rachel M
It’s Big Bend Fungi.
Kerri B
Big Bend Fungi from Fort Davis
Chris R
Another brand new; we’ve got a lot of new businesses opening up.
Kerri B
So, he’s partnering with Marfa Spirits. And the chef over there, Seth, is creating a mushroom ravioli.
Chris R
Right. And so, there’s one we didn’t call out. So that’s the old Godbold plant, correct?
Kerri B
Exactly. Yeah. Marfa Spirits. And so, they’re doing their whole Sotol spirit making. They’re a distillery and they’re partnering with Spicewood to have signature mixologists for their drinks. So, they can have their drinks mixed with their mixers and then serve to the public.
Chris R
Okay, so we have the VIP night. You had mentioned to me earlier that the art booths by invitation. You’ve got some special artists coming in.
Kerri B
We only have so much room. And so, 6th street, at one end of the street where you get your wristbands is the Holland Inn. Once you get in on the VIP night, the first thing you’re going to see is the vineyards and the spirit companies and then the chefs that are preparing the bite. And then there’ll be tables for the VIPs. And there’s different sponsorship levels and you get a big table if you’re at $5,000 sponsor. We have several of those. And then we have mixed random tables for other VIPs. At the other end of the street, it’s pretty small and quaint. And this year we’re keeping it to like ten or twelve artists. That’s about all we could sit on that street. But we are going to have Todd Elrod there doing live blacksmithing that evening. So that’s going to be really a fun event.
Chris R
Okay. And so, you mentioned earlier, only 250 tickets. So, folks will want to go. What’s the easiest way to get to the Eventbrite now? Well, what’s the easiest thing to find?
Rachael M
You can go to Artwalkalpine.com and we have a pop up on our website and you just follow the link to the Eventbrite.
Chris R
Okay. So, folks, you want to grab that right away because when those are gone, they’re gone.
Kerri B
And we’re limiting it to 250 because between the chefs, the people that are the artists, the art booth, all of Artwalk board and all our volunteers, it’s going to be about 300 people down there. So, we needed to kind of cap it off. It’s something that we could manage.
Chris R
Got you. So that’s Friday.
Kerri B
That’s right.
Chris R
Then we sleep off Friday.
Rachel M
You do get your four drink tickets with your VIP wristband. So, there’s that, too.
Chris R
What’s going to happen on Saturday?
Kerri B
Saturday morning early. We have a 5K fun run. It’s a “Beef for Breakfast Fun Run”. And I’m making machacado burritos for everybody that crosses that finish line. And local artist Amanda Calhoun is making a little T-bone medal out of ceramic.
Chris R
Which I’ll never stop saying how great Amanda is.
Kerri B
We love that stuff. And we try to raise money locally and spend money locally. And so that’s at 08:00 in the morning at the courthouse lawn. Okay. We will start racing at 08:00 in the morning. And where does that go, Rachel?
Rachel M
It’ll follow the loop road and then come down on the Fort Davis Highway.
Chris R
Got you.
Kerri B
And then back to the courthouse. So that’s from 8 to about 9-9:30. And then we open the street at 10. And it’s a $25 wristband to get in to sample all the stuff that’s now available, which will be spirits, beer and wine. You can go to any of the booths and sample for free because your $25 wristband got you in. And you can sample for free any of their stuff. And then you may purchase bottles of wine, glasses of wine. Beer is being given away for free. We have free beer. And then the spirit companies will all have samples as well. Tell them about the two classes we have.
Rachel M
We’ll have a sommelier class and a “ranch to plate” class. And I believe the sommelier classes from two to two to three.
Chris R
And then the one that we take like a Wine 101 kind of what’s our approach, do, you know?
Kerri B
So, the sommelier is going to actually teach you to pair different wines with different foods. It’s sort of a tasting and a drinking little thing. It takes about an hour. And Chateau Wright is hosting that. And we’re going to do it right there where you guys painted Desert Fiesta. It’s going to be in that little courtyard. We’re having a lot of activity right there. We’re trying to combine as much as possible with the alley art and 6th street.
Chris R
Yeah. And for folks who aren’t familiar, right between 5th and 6th street downtown, there’s an alley that is full of murals, which once again, you can find that in our mural episode of the podcast. And then it’s sort of a tee that goes off to the old bank parking lot area. And there are more murals down that direction. There’s an open space.
Kerri B
There’s a little courtyard that can close where your mural and your wife’s mural is. We talked to the gentleman that owns it. And we’re going to have a sommelier class in there that does that tasting from two to three. And then we’re going to take a little break from three to four. And then we have the Ranch to plate, and that’s from four to five.
Chris R
And tell us about what is ranch to plate.
Rachel M
So again, Christy Miller, who is amazing, we’ll be heading this up. And she basically wants to cover the process of how your cattle is raised when it’s raised locally and on a Ranch. And the process of finishing it as well as the rest of it. And I believe she’ll have samples of the differences during the class.
Chris R
Okay, cool. So, you’ve got the classes during the day and are you going to have music through the day?
Kerri B
We are going to have music. We’re finishing up the music schedule, but we will have music all day up until 8:00. And then Sunday morning is Bloody Mary morning. And Artwalk will be hosting that. And shout out to Enchanted Rock Vodka. John Morrow is donating the vodka for us to give away. So, we’ll have our tip jars out there for anybody that would like to help with our scholarships and our art programs. And so that is from 10 to 12, hopefully until we run out of vodka. But the street will open at 10:00. And any food vendors there, we’re kind of pushing them towards maybe a brunch menu. And also, we have the pizza guys are coming that are already here for Artwalk. The pizza guys are coming.
Rachel M
And Michelle Minto and her husband. Michelle is an English teacher at Alpine High School. She and her husband will be having a gourmet grilled cheese food truck where she is going to actually bake all of the bread. So it’ll be a very fancy grilled cheese.
Kerri B
And we didn’t shout out to the Far West Texas Cattle Company. They’re local. And the West Texas Italian Delicacies, they’re going to be participating as well.
Chris R
Excellent. And those are at the corner of Cockrell and Holland Avenue. Right. For folks who are looking for a lunch at the deli or some locally raised meats.
Kerri B
Yes. They will be selling their meat downtown. I believe that we’ve arranged that we will have a freezer downtown with freezer bags available. So, you can just purchase your meat, put it in the freezer, go have fun. And come pick it up later with your name marked on it and take it to your room or put it in your ice chest or whatever you need to do it or take it at the end of the festival.
Chris R
Yes. Well, and also on Sunday, I believe there’ll be a dedication of the mural we were just talking about. That’s the Artwalk portion of the program.
Kerri B
Exactly.
Chris R
That’s a mural of a desert Willow tree with the blossoms and some insects visiting the blossoms and Artwalk assisted with facilitating the fundraising for that. My wife did the design and we then coordinated the production.
Kerri B
We’re going to have a nice little dedication there. I believe the dedication is at 01:00. And did you say you are going to have some prints and cards available?
Chris R
Yeah. We’ll have some of Ellen’s work there that people can pick up.
Kerri B
Yeah. That’d be great. So, we’re going to wrap up the festival, I believe, on Sunday. What time is that? It ends at 04:00. So, it’s a three-day weekend, and we were hoping just to get a lot of people together to try and showcase what we have out here.
Chris R
So, if you’re feeling like a VIP, you got three full days of entertainment. And if you’re not, that’s fine. You got two great days of food and drink and music and art.
Kerri B
Right. The VIP wristband gets you in for the whole weekend. So, you can come VIP night, Saturday and Sunday. The $25 writstbands are either day.
Rachel M
Yes, Saturday and Sunday.
Kerri B
Right. You can come both days. The music, like I said, we’re still trying to get it all dialed in. I believe Sunday that we’re working towards a picker circle to kick us off that morning.
Chris R
An Alpine classic.
Kerri B
Yeah, definitely during the Bloody Mary morning. And we’ll be serving our pickers Bloody Marys as long as they keep picking.
Chris R
All right. Well, this is an exciting vision that you guys have started from nothing, and you have been working on it for a while because I know it went through a few all through the pandemic period. It went through a few different versions of how is this going to work? But you’re really pulling it together.
Kerri B
It’s like creating from nothing. And about three years ago, before pandemic is when it all really started, we were like, wow, could you come up with another festival, Kerri? And I was like, well, there’s this one floating around out there. It’s called the Horny Toad Festival. And when we started talking to vineyards, they were like, well, that’s not very mature for a wine and cheese fest. And I was like, oh, okay. So, there’s still a possibility that somebody could come up with a Horny Toad festival, which would be great.
Chris R
I’ve got a really nice drawing of a Horny Toad head whenever they’re ready.
Kerri B
There you go.
Chris R
All right, everybody, Mark your calendars. May 27 through 29th. Go to that Eventbrite right away. Get that VIP ticket before they’re all gone. Where can they sign up for the 5K?
Kerri B
Eventbrite
Chris R
That link is on artwalkalpine.com as well?
Kerri B
Yes, artwalkalpine.com. You can go to Eventbrite and spiritsofthewestfest.com as well. So there’s plenty of places, Eventbrite would be a nice place to drive everybody to it.
Chris R
But beforehand, if you’re interested, the VIP and the 5K, you’ll want to do that beforehand. But everybody can just walk up and pay their $25.
Kerri B
Absolutely.
Chris R
Are there going to be pre tickets for Saturday and Sunday, or is that just come and get your wristband?
Kerri B
You can walk up and get wristbands at the booth at the entrance, or you can go to Eventbrite. Right. You can do it both or yes, but there will only be one ticket booth and it’ll be on Holland Street. I know that’s a lot of information and we’re still looking for sponsors.
Chris R
But it’s a podcast. So, once you hear this on the radio, if you’re like, “What were they saying about the–?” just go to Heart of the Big Bend, search that and search it on Google on any of the podcast platforms and you can relisten and get all the info.
Kerri B
Exactly.
Chris R
Yeah. So, thanks, you guys.
Kerri B
Thank you very much. We really appreciate it!
Chris R
And thanks for all your hard work for Artwalk, for the murals, for this new event. You’re making such a difference for Alpine and we really appreciate it. Thank all of you for listening to us again. You can get more information about this show at visitalpinetx.com/podcast and see all the previous episodes on so many different topics now. Or you can search, as I said, for Heart of the Big Bend on Apple podcasts, Spotify, most of the other apps. And we’ll be back with you on the radio, KALP and KVLF in Alpine, two Fridays from today. Thanks, everybody.
Outro
You’ve been listening to the Heart of the Big Bend Hope you liked what you heard and that you’ll will find the time to experience all that the Big Bend has to offer. See you soon, partner.