Rosés are springing up – along with chardonnay, cabernet and more – at the Spring Wine Walk hosted by the MSPA.

By Charly SHELTON

Spring is in the air and hors d’oeuvres, wine and the chance to know Montrose and its merchants have arrived. It’s all part of the Spring Wine Walk.

“We have 29 pouring stations, which is a good number. We like to get at least 25 or so, and we have 29,” said Dale Dawson, event coordinator for the Montrose Shopping Park Association. “I’ve just been collecting all their pouring information over the last few days and we have a tremendous variety of reds, whites, rosés and even bubblies. There’s a lot to choose from.”

This third annual Spring Wine Walk is the first wine walk of the year with the next planned near the holidays. The event invites guests to come sample some exceptional wines paired with small bites in several businesses of Montrose Shopping Park. Business owners choose and provide their own wines and hors d’oeuvres, leading to great conversation over wine selection and taste profiles.

“I’m repeating a success story from the last Holiday Wine Walk, offering Barrelhouse Bourbon Red Wine [at Mountain Rose Gifts]. Our friends who came and helped us liked it so much they wanted a bottle for themselves,” Dawson said. “It’s really quite good. Then we’re trying a white that I can’t even hardly pronounce, but the guy at Total Wine said, ‘Oh that’s a good one,’ so I thought that’s the one to go with.”

Between the wine and the small bites, there is plenty to discuss with fellow event patrons and shop owners, many of whom are on hand to meet and greet. And for that reason, Dawson said, this event is their favorite of the year.

“It’s the one event we do, twice a year, that does not close the streets and does not do anything in the streets. All of the action takes place inside the businesses. [That is] why the merchants love it more than anything else that we do, because you cannot participate unless you go into their business,” said Dawson. “So they’re meeting a lot of new people and cementing some friendships and getting new customers.”

New additions to the Spring Wine Walk this year include Technix Academy, a first time participant, and Synergy Nail Bar that just opened their shop this month. Another new addition is a bit further removed than other businesses but whose business owner is excited to take part – April Ray Salon.

“April just celebrated her 10-year anniversary here in town and hosted a soirée at the Wine Cave that we attended,” said Dawson. “She’s a lovely lady and also a drummer in a band. April has a salon up in the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk, as you might know, is off the beaten path. It’s in Thompson Court behind the cleaners in the parking lot, so there’s not a whole lot of walk-by in terms of Honolulu Avenue. So our challenge is to see if we can shoot people up to April Ray. She said, ‘I’m a little nervous about it,’ and I said, ‘Well, just tell all your customers and we’ll network with you to get the people down there to Thompson [Court] from Honolulu [Avenue]. We put a little arrow on the map that says, ‘Don’t miss this one.’”

The event is this Saturday, March 23 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $45 presale and $50 at the event. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the event at the tent at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue. Pre-sale tickets are available at various Montrose Shopping Park merchants. To learn more, see page 5 of this week’s issue of CV Weekly.

  Charly Shelton