A Sensational Season of Wine Country Events
A Sensational Season of Wine Country Events |
| ABOUT TICKETS MERCHANDISE CALENDAR CONTESTS |
| your invitation / art / press / business / sponsors / contact / home / site map |
 |
About
|
|
Your HostsYour Hosts, 2004 ~ Michael Reardon, Ludovic Dervin & Ira Yeager / Michael Reardon ~ 2004 Host Chef / Ludovic Dervin ~ 2004 Host Winemaker / Ira Yeager ~ 2004 Host and Featured Artist / See AlsoYour Hosts, 2004 ~ Michael Reardon, Ludovic Dervin & Ira Yeager The Napa Valley Mustard Festival is honored to have these wonderful hosts for our eleventh annual season of sensational Wine Country events. Michael Reardon ~ 2004 Host Chef
As Host Chef of the eleventh annual Napa Valley Mustard Festival, Michael Reardon, Executive Chef of Tra Vigne in St. Helena, offers a chef’s perspective on the Festival’s sensational season of events. “Napa Valley chefs and winemakers have the opportunity to work with some of the finest raw materials the world has to offer, but so much of our artistry occurs behind closed kitchen and cellar doors,” he says. “This Festival gives us a chance to gather as a community to meet and greet the people who make our efforts possible.” Guests will have the opportunity to meet Reardon at Mustard Magic, the Festival’s Grand Opening Event, on Saturday, January 31, at 7 p.m. He will present one of seven courses at Grand Dîner à Domaine Chandon on February 20. Reardon will also join other world-class chefs to present cooking demonstrations at The Marketplace, the Festival’s signature event on March 13 & 14 at COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food, & the Arts. Reardon discovered his place in the culinary world as a cook at the early age of 13. Sixteen years later, at the helm of Tra Vigne, he is living his dream. “From the first moment I stepped into a professional kitchen I was drawn to the energy and intensity,” he says. “I sensed control within the chaos. A thousand things were happening at once and at the center of it all was the chef, whose culinary vision was leading the aesthetic focus of so many busy sous chefs, cooks, prep-cooks, and apprentices. That’s where I wanted to be.” As a young man living in Hudson Valley, New York, Reardon chose the traditional European path to success in the culinary world: Start at the bottom, work hard, learn every step, embrace responsibility. By the end of high school he was balancing 60-hour workweeks with course-work that included college level Italian and French language studies. His father permitted his unrelenting passion for making rich stocks, roasting meats, and out-hustling his co-workers on the line – as long as his grades remained high. By the age of 17 Reardon was living and working in Manhattan under an old-school French chef – where every detail had to be perfect. Continuing to work in small, high-end restaurants, he eventually returned to Hudson Valley and his first Italian kitchen - where seasonal ingredients were the emphasis. A return to Manhattan came in the form of an “awe inspiring” year under Eric Ripert at New York’s famed Le Bernardin. Further highlights included his tenure as Executive Chef at Café Allegro in Middletown, New York; Executive Chef of Folderol in Westtown, New York; and as Executive Chef/Owner of Bistro Zella in Middletown, a learning experience he considers his most valuable. Breaking from his East Coast roots, Reardon relocated to Napa Valley in June 2001 to join the staff of Tra Vigne. “It is important to me to be in a place where the emphasis is on local products, excellence in food and service, and of course, wine,” he says. “Napa Valley and Tra Vigne are a perfect fit. “This is truly the most exciting time of my life, and I am honored to serve as Napa Valley Mustard Festival Host Chef for the 2004 season.” Ludovic Dervin ~ 2004 Host Winemaker
Napa Valley Mustard Festival Host Winemaker 2004, Ludovic Dervin, Winemaker for Mumm Napa, grew up in Meaux, France, the capital of Brie cheese and home of one of the world’s most famous gourmet brands of mustard. “Napa Valley’s Mustard Season brings back colorful childhood memories of golden mustard fields,” he says. “When mustard is blooming it is gorgeous in Napa Valley. There is something magical about this time of year. The light and colors are brilliant as we watch the rebirth of nature every year during the Mustard Season.” The season is a splendid time to visit Napa Valley and the Mustard Festival is a great avenue for bringing people to the Valley when the air is fresh and it is not hot and rushed as in the summer, Dervin points out. “It is a relaxing time to visit,” he says. “Visitors will enjoy being taken care of by our staff, who have more time to devote to customers, and give them extra attention.” Mumm Napa has hosted The Mumm Napa Photo Finish, the Napa Valley Mustard Festival’s Grand Finale Event, since its inception. The Festival is an extraordinary success, Dervin believes, and will be even more so with the addition of COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food, & the Arts as an event venue. “The Mustard Festival should top all previous records of attendance and success,” he says. Named winemaker at Mumm Napa in 2002, Dervin comes to his position with solid experience in both sparkling and table wine production. Completing his winemaking studies in his native Champagne region of France, he has a thorough understanding of Méthode Champenoise production. He refined his skills during several harvests with the prestigious Champagne houses of Charles Heidsieck and G.H. Mumm, as well as a three-year period at California’s Piper Sonoma. His search to expand his wine education has also taken him to far away places such as South Africa and Greece. Prior to joining Mumm Napa, Dervin developed his talents in still wine production at two super-premium Russian River wineries, Hartford Court and Gary Farrell. “Making sparkling wine from the Napa Valley gives me the opportunity to be creative with the outstanding fruit that is grown here,” he says. “My goal is to make a sparkling wine that shows elegance, balance and artistry. It is a way to celebrate life every day.” Dervin resides with his wife Keely and young son, Quentin, at their home in Napa. Ira Yeager ~ 2004 Host and Featured Artist
To meet artist Ira Yeager is to become enamored. His charm, wit, and art are of such scope and diversity that one is inspired by how much an artist can accomplish. A Napa Valley Mustard Festival committee assigned to select an artist to represent the Festival in 2004 had the pleasure of meeting Ira and visiting his country estate in the spring of 2003. The visit became a two-hour tour of his fascinating art and antique filled pavilions. The morning passed quickly and there was still much to see. He offered to fix them lunch. They didn’t want to take advantage of his time and generosity. Following that spring morning in the green hills above Calistoga, Ira agreed to create an image for the Festival’s 2004 poster. His sincerity and flexibility became even more evident when he accepted the committee’s request for a chef’s image more contemporary than the old world European style paintings he is so well known for. The resulting Le sommelier de la moutarde (featured on the cover of this publication, and on other Festival materials and merchandise) is the perfect blend of old and new, warmth and invitation. Le sommelier’s intense and welcoming gaze is irresistible - and certain to lure connoisseurs and art collectors to the Festival’s captivating events. “I am honored to be the Mustard Festival’s Host and Featured Artist this year,” says Ira. “The Festival works hard for our community and I am honored to have the privilege of contributing to this tremendous effort.” Mustard Magic - the Grand Opening Event at The Culinary Institute of America - celebrates and brings to life works by French masters - a true match with Ira’s life and work. The World of Ira Yeager and Le sommelier de la moutarde will greet guests as they enter this year’s event magnifique on January 31. Born in Bellingham, Washington in 1938, Ira started painting and collecting antiques as a child. Influenced by Morris Graves and Mark Tobey, he launched his career painting abstracts during his teens. Moving to California in 1957, he enrolled in the California College of Arts and Crafts, where he studied under Richard Diebenkorn, who encouraged him to develop a more independent style. An awakening interest in Bay Area abstract and figurative painting took him to the San Francisco School of Fine Arts (later the San Francisco Art Institute) to study under Elmer Bischoff and Nathan Oliveira with fellow students and friends, Joan Brown and Manuel Neri. Ira has since resided, studied, and painted in Italy, Monaco, and Greece, traveling extensively and painting in England, Spain, and France. His first one man show was held at Pantechnicon Gallery in San Francisco. In New Mexico his life-long interest in the representation of American Indians was kindled. He has derived inspiration from travels in the United States and south of the border in Mexico and Guatemala, as well as in Europe. While residing in Greece for a decade beginning in 1973, he purchased property in Napa Valley, established a studio on Shotwell Street in San Francisco, acquired a studio in Tribeca in New York City, and exhibited in San Francisco. In 1982 he left Greece for life in Northern California, working in Napa Valley and San Francisco, moving his studio to Napa Valley following the 1989 earthquake. Throughout Ira’s prolific career he has produced work in series, ranging from landscapes and abstractions to Native Americans and 18th century subjects. A permanent collection of his famed Wine Vendor Series hangs at Swanson Vineyards and Winery in Oakville, California. Ira’s work is collected by celebrities including Robert Redford, George Lucas, Danielle Steel and Napa Valley Mustard Festival Founder George Rothwell and his wife Alice, owners of Antique Fair in Yountville. “We are extremely pleased to have introduced the Mustard Festival Board of Directors to Ira and his wonderful work,” says George. “He is a special human being. We are very proud to own several of his paintings - and look forward to the bidding still to take place on Le sommelier de la moutarde. The highest bidder will own a priceless piece of artwork.”
Ira’s Mustard Festival painting was unveiled at a special event and opened to bidding at Domaine Chandon on November 9, 2003. The high bid as of press time is $12,000. The painting will hang at Domaine Chandon throughout the Mustard Festival, going to the highest silent bidder at The Mumm Napa Photo Finish on March 27. Ira will be guest of honor at Grand Dîner à Domaine Chandon on February 20. The seven-course dinner presented by Napa Valley luminary chefs and winemakers is offered at $175 per person and is limited to 125 guests. Ira’s work will also be featured in an exhibit at The Marketplace, the Festival’s Signature Event, at COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts on March 13 and 14. For more information please see the Calendar of Events. See Also:
Back to Top |
|
|
|||||
|
||||||||||
