The nonagenarian patriarchs of the legendary Mondavi wine family, brothers Peter and Robert Mondavi, will appear together to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards next February at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami.

The event includes a tasting of the first wine the Mondavis have produced together since the 1960s, when both worked side by side at their family's Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley.

The award from distributor and festival sponsor Southern Wine & Spirits of America, recognizes the brothers combined 130 years of contributions to wine.

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is Feb. 22-25. About 28,000 people attend the four-day festival.

Information is at www.sobewineandfoodfest.com.

PlumpJack Cookbook

Jeff Morgan’s latest effort — along with ZMOR wine — is the PlumpJack Cookbook. It was released Nov. 1.

Morgan says the book is an ode to PlumpJack-owned restaurants in San Francisco, Napa (Carneros Inn), Squaw Valley and the Napa Valley winery.

It includes 85 recipes from the various restaurants, a chapter on wine and the California wine country with PlumpJack Winery as the backdrop; food and wine pairing advice and recommendations with the recipes.

The foreword is by Gavin Newsom, PlumpJack’s co-founder and mayor of San Francisco.

Jackson, Banke launch new wine company

Husband and wife vintners Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke have created White Rocket Wine Company to focus on new wine brands for the upcoming generations of wine consumers.

Gary Glass, president of White Rocket, said consumers today are willing to buy wines that are high quality and high value, but they want to have fun with wine and enjoy it in a different way.

The company starts with existing brands from the family’s portfolio, Camelot, Dog House and Tin Roof.

Glass was vice president of marketing for the Centerra division of Constellation Wines US, where he helped launched such brands as Monkey Bay from New Zealand, Three Blind Moose, Trove, Houghton and Vendange wines in Tetrapak containers.

The winemaker is Melissa Bates, who was winemaker and general manager for Belvedere Vineyards.

The company will be based at the Gateway Corporate Park in Napa.

White Rocket is a part of Jackson Family Farms, which is owned and operated by  Jackson, Banke and family.

It also owns Kendall-Jackson and many other brands including Cardinale, Lakoya and Atalon here, and recently bought Freemark Abbey and the Pecota facility.

McDonald opens wine communications firm

Well-known local public relations expert Tim McDonald has left E & J Gallo Winery and is now a consultant specializing in reputation engineering for wineries. His main focus is media relations, communications and marketing.

McDonald has been in the adult beverage business all his working life.

He was with Gallo for five years as marketing director fine wine communications; two years with Trinchero Family Estates as director of trade relations; two years with Geyser Peak as vice president marketing and public relations; 10 years at Heublein in public relations and national account sales and five years with Seagram.

He has served as a wine judge at more than 100 wine competitions and worked in various channels of trade on- and off-premise.

His e-mail is timothyscottmcdonald@yahoo.com and phone number is 363-0174.

November at Copia: Comfort food rules

As winter approaches, Copia is focusing on comfort foods and the wines that accompany them.

Here’s a summary of the ongoing programs, but there’s lots more happening.

Look for more information at www.copia.org.

Winetasting 101:

Know Before You Go

Are friends headed here to visit wineries?

Before they go, suggest they stop by Copia and attend the classes at 10:15 a.m. or 1 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

In a 30-minute session, they’ll learn the ABCs of winetasting and spit-bucket etiquette and get an insider list of “can’t-miss” wineries.

They’ll also receive Copia’s Wine Country Passport offering special programs and discounts for some of Wine Country’s most memorable experiences. The program (with pass) is $15 including admission to Copia or $5 per member.

You can buy additional passports for $10 each ($5 for Copia members) for family and friends.

Women in Wine

Every day at 11:45 a.m. and 2 p.m., Copia will have a talk and tasting about how women are affecting the wine industry. It’s included with admission.

Also, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily you can taste wines made by women.

On Saturdays from noon to 2 p.m., you can meet the winemaker and enjoy her wine. Each week a different winery is featured.

Super soups

Also daily at Copia is a talk and tasting of hearty, satisfying, nutritious soups. It’s at 11 to 11:25 a.m. and 3:15 to 3:40 p.m. and included with admission.

   

Anniversary

This is the start of my 10th year writing this column. I welcome any suggestions about coverage and news as always.

E-mail news to paul@napalife.com.