Experience a weekend of wine in Durango
One of the best street parties in town will return this week, with the Durango Wine Experience running Thursday through Sunday.
A local favorite during the 9-year-old festival is Friday’s walk-about wine tasting, hosted by different businesses downtown. Everyone from boutiques to kitchen shops to art galleries offers tasty little snacks and swift sips of vino to enjoy while you’re browsing. Wine experts are on hand to explain what they’re pouring.
Saturday, of course, is the pièce de résistance, the Grand Tasting under the tent in the First National Bank parking lot. Local restaurants prepare bite-sized gourmet menus with local ingredients – the better to hold standing up – and wine distributors offer their hottest new vintages, from roses to tempranillos.
If you want to do more than party, the festival also offers classes to learn more about vermouth, pairing steak and wine, and even beer.
To buy tickets and register for classes, go to durangowine.com or sign up in person at the Durango Wine Experience table at the back of the Strater Hotel lobby, 699 Main Ave.
Free workshops at new coffee tasting room
Local coffee roaster Desert Sun just opened a new space dedicated to informing customers about the intricacies of their favorite beverage.
They gutted their old multi-purpose room to put in a new tasting room fitted with gleaming counters, high-end espresso machines and specialty drip cups. You can taste a latte, try out the individual pour-over or do a shot of espresso. You can also get a tour of the roastery.
Desert Sun also is offering free workshops every third Thursday to teach pros and home baristas alike such things as how to steam milk properly and the five elements of a perfect cup of coffee. The next workshop will be held at 2 p.m. May 7 at its Bodo Park facility, 284 Sawyer Drive, Unit C, topic to be announced.
If you’re interested, RSVP at 247-1000 or through its website, desertsuncoffee.com.
Learn safe handling for cottage food producers
If you live in Montezuma County and you make handcrafted cottage foods, the local extension office has a course for you.
The one-day class will cover the basic requirements for properly handling food, including hygiene, preventing cross-contamination and controlling temperatures for preparing, storing, transporting and selling your products. The Colorado State University – Montezuma County Extension Office offers the course in cooperation with the state Department of Health and Environment for Food Safety.
The class will be from 1 to 5:30 p.m. in the Montezuma County Extension Building, Room 102, 109 West Main Ave., Cortez. The class costs $32.40 per person. To register, call Cheryl Young at 565-3123 or email coopext_montezuma@mail.colostate.edu
Pamela Hasterok
