Wine Tasting Above Bristol Motor Speedway – October 20, 2005

Last week, Tracy Lau from The Plum Tree Restaurant in Colonial Heights invited me and my friends Danny and Tracy Stickler to the Seventh Annual March of Dimes Wine Tasting sponsored by Bank of Tennessee. We attended this event a couple of years ago at The Bristol Motor Speedway and were excited to revisit this one nighter that featured some of the best samplings from area restaurants, live music and a ‘little’ wine.

Bristol Motor Speedway is the NASCAR monolith that anchored in Bristol, TN and each year the March of Dimes gathers several sponsors, area restaurants and musicians and hosts a wonderful benefit. The location of this wine-taste is exciting too and we always look forward to the night. The Bristol track is one of the most popular spectator arenas in Tennessee and as you drive in the complex, you’re overwhelmed by its size. Sprawling over the Bristol countryside, this modern-day arena is silent during the off season and is an excellent choice for a night out with friends.

The parking lot was full with BMWs, Jaguars, Mercedes and all of the other luxury brands nestled in rows underneath the metal bleachers that stretch into the night sky above this track. It was a little after six when we arrived and after signing a waiver on the ground, we were whisked up to the top of the stands via an elevator and entered the luxury suites that are playgrounds for local aristocracy and corporate sponsors.

The turnout was great and several long lines were already forming outside of many of the suites. The following restaurants were serving food and wine for the evening;

– The Troutdale Dining Room- Bristol, TN
– The Crazy Cajun- Boones Creek, TN
– The Plum Tree, Kingsport, TN
– The Vinyard – Bristol, TN
– Main Street Cafe and Catering – Jonesborough, TN
– Outback Steakhouse- Johnson City, TN
– The Country Club of Bristol, Bristols, VA
– Java J’s of Bristol and Abingdon, VA

In addition to the food, each restaurant was serving champagne, wine, brandy and a few liqueurs. Overall, not a bad value at all for the $25 admission, but I would have paid twice the donation had they served better wines and poured them in something a little larger than the half-jiggers that would barely hold a dose of cough syrup.

A few of the suites featured live music including Brent Billheimer on piano, Richard Banks on Acoustic Guitar (I dug the Edmond Fitzgerald vibe) and my favorite, Lightnin’ Charlie in the Bill Bruton suite that joined The Plum Tree and The Vinyard. Charlie was dishing up a groovy set of hillbilly swing blues and had on a black suite, black hat and white hat and was accompanied by a gorgeous backup singer.

The food was Ok and the wine was just shy of average, but the entertainment and friends gathered for a fund-raiser like this was all the more enjoyable.

I enjoyed seeing Jared Bentley and his intriguing girlfriend (Rhonda?) who has a masters in Literature and works in the Elizabethton school system. I enjoyed talking with her about William Blake and Emerson in between glasses of Cabernet and continuing to talk to Jared about playing some music with him someday.

It was a delight to talk to Julie at Java J’s. She’s got the hippest coffee shop in the Tri-Cities and I was flattered her mother recognized me from the performances at Java J’s when Kevin Adams and I played their stage. Java J’s suite was the last one to visit and included a wonderful brandy and several sweets too. Mark Warner had a beautiful bouquet of roses on their bar and we talked for a moment about how he might make a great president.

Gary Redden and wife and were with some of his friends he performs with in the Hoo Doos were in attendance tonight and it was a treat to talk to Pat and Jim Donaldson who were a part of the event from The Kingsport Times-News.

This is a great event for our region and I look forward to marking my calendar again next year for the annual wine tasting. My only advice would be to raise the ticket price a bit and serve a better sampling of wine. Everything else is extraordinary and makes for a wonderful benefit. My estimate was over 500 were hanging out above the quiet track in Bristol and even though the wine and the food was almost completely gone around 8pm, it was still great fun.