Guests enjoy variety of wine, food during Cellars & Chefs

SPRINGVILLE — Bitter or sweet, hot or cold, everyone’s taste buds were satisfied Saturday during “Cellars and Chefs” at the Springville Inn.

For $30, attendees gained access to wine from six wineries and food from seven vendors.

From stiff chardonnays to sweet zinfandels, spicy meat balls to mouth-watering desserts, selecting favorites was made easy for most.

“They just like the atmosphere. It’s pretty casual,” second-year organizer Del Pengilly said. “It gives folks an opportunity to socialize. We get people here from Springville and Porterville.”

Pengilly estimated 35 different wines were on display. All of the proceeds will go to the Springville Chamber of Commerce. Pengilly also said roughly 200 people attended last year’s event, and he was hoping for the same — or more — Saturday.

“I like the way it’s set up,” Cam Alves said. “It’s a friendly environment.”

Alves walked around with his fiancée, Rebecca Rowser. Both said they had become fans of “Peasant,” a Paso Robles red wine blended with five different grapes.

“They have a wide variety of wines,” Rowser said. “I’d recommend it to anybody.”

Victor and Cari Flores, owners of Bella La Vina Winery in Terra Bella, offered five wines.

Cari Flores said she and her husband purchased 12 acres and began their business in 2003. The winery, she said, produces 500 cases of wine each year.

The couple’s products aren’t wholesaled, though. They are sold strictly from the winery’s tasting room.

Cari Flores said “Floozy Red,” a sweet wine consisting of 20 percent Muscat, was a big hit Saturday.

“People love it,” she said. “I think it’s a really easy-drinking wine.”

It was the husband and wife’s second year showcasing their products at “Cellars and Chefs.”

“This is a really fun event for us,” Cari Flores said. “We’re usually the last ones to leave. We have a great time.”

Thea Widener, a nine-year bartender at the Springville Inn, said she had just gotten off work when she decided to check out the function.

“I love wine, I love good food and I love to visit with people,” she said. “It’s a beautiful night.”

-- Contact Alex K.W. Schultz at 784-5000, Ext. 1045.