2007 may no longer be on the calendar, but all of the people we served and all of the new friends we met last year will not be forgotten. We thank you for sharing part of your lives with us in 2007 and hope to see you often in 2008. Have a wonderful New Year!

Italian-American Festival

January 25-27, 2008

Our first festival of the New Year is our favorite, a celebration of our Italian roots, roots that run deep in the Minchella family and especially in our 4th generation Italian wine-maker Dennis Minchella.

Italians love fine food, wine and music. That is what we will have in store for you at the Bistro. Our chef will be cooking up some traditional Italian specialties which go perfect with Kokopelli's Chianti and Pinot Grigio, and accented by Italian and Jazz from Bistro regulars Jazzola.

We will also have a Bocce Ball court set up outside behind the Bistro. It is a fun game for any age, basically an Italian form of lawn bowling. Bring your competitive spirit - we will have competitions for some great prizes!

New this year, we are also planning some more fun activities: Pizza Dough Tossing, Italian Cooking Demonstrations, Ice Sculpture, and LaMoge, a wild Italian game featuring hands and learning Italian!

Join us for a ton of fun, Italian-style!

Cost: $10 includes 6 tasting tickets, souvenir wine glass and $1 off on any bottle of wine purchased for drinking at the Bistro or to take home. FREE to children or non-drinkers. Menu items separately priced.

Festival Hours: Our special Italian-American menu items will be available from Thursday at 5 pm through Sunday. The Bocce Ball court will be available all weekend, but we will only be running special games and activities on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.
 

• Italian American Festival
• News from the Nose
• Featured Wine
• Cooking with Wine
• Wine Trivia
• Days of Wine & Roses - Wine Lovers Dinner
• DoCha Vida (Wedding Walk)
• Kokopelli Savings
• Mark Your Calendar
• Live Music at the Bistro

Do not let the reasonable price fool you - Kokopelli Merlot is one of our favorites. The merlot grape is a close cousin to cabernet sauvignon, but Merlot grapes are typically lower in tannins yielding wines that mature faster and are softer in texture while offering the same aromas and flavors that you find in a cabernet sauvignon.

Kokopelli's Bronze Medal Award Winning Merlot has a cherry-nose and well-rounded soft velvety finish this wine is a perfect match to a simply prepared beef, lamb or pork dish, especially Rosemary Pork Tenderloin (see below).

Price: $13 per bottle (get $2 off with this newsletter)

This is a simple, but very fragrant dish, filling the house with an aroma that arouses the appetite!

Ingredients:
2 Pork Tenderloins
2 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 oz minced garlic
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
4 sprigs of fresh Rosemary
1/2 bottle of Kokopelli Merlot (the other 1/2 is for the chef)
 

Method:
Place the olive oil and minced garlic in a sauté‚ pan on medium heat. Add pork tenderloin strips and braise in the pan (just sear the outside of the pork). Place the pork in roasting pan and top with salt & pepper. Place 2 sprigs of Rosemary over the top of each pork tenderloin and then pour in the Kokopelli Merlot. Cover and cook in the oven at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150 degrees. After removing from oven and allowing the pork to rest for 10 minutes, slice into 1/2 inch medallions and serve.
 

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Wine is for lovers, so Valentine's
Day has always been a very special day for us at the Bistro.

Days of  Wine & Roses
February 8-10, 2008
During the days of wine & roses,
the weekend before Valentine's Day, bring your love to the Bistro. We'll have FREE champagne tasting and a chocolate rose for every lady, plus a very special French menu and live jazz Friday and Saturday night.
 

Wine Lovers Dinner
February 14th

On Valentine's Day, we will have a very special Wine Lovers dinner, a 5-course meal with each course paired with our award-winning Kokopelli wines, plus live jazz music all evening. There will be two seatings for dinner: 5:30 and 7:30 pm. The cost is $50 per person. Reservations are required. (480) 792 6927
 

Join us every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night for our "Kool Jamz" dinners with live music from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

January  Entertainment Schedule:

Thursday Jan 17 Brent Scherer on guitar
Friday Jan 18       Mill Avenue Jazz Band
Saturday Jan 19 John Shea duo

Friday Jan 25      Jazzola
Saturday Jan 26 Jazzola

February will include all of these great entertainers, plus the Energy Trio. Call the Bistro for the schedule.

NEW Happy Hour at the Bistro

We are happy to announce that on Thursday we will be hosting a Happy Hour from 3 pm to 7 pm with 1/2 price appetizers and 1/2 price glasses of wine at the bar or on the patio.

Bistro@Kokopelli Winery

Monday to Wednesday - 11:30 am to 6 pm
Thursday - Saturday - 11:30 am to 10 pm
Sunday - 11:30 am to 5 pm

We are very excited about the New Year and our two new ventures in Surprise Arizona. The first to open will be the new Kokopelli Winery & Bistro, located on 14719 West Grand Avenue, next door to the Hampton Inn. We hope to have the new Bistro open by mid-March.

The Bistro will have a full-service sit-down restaurant with seating for 165 people, plus a private dining room for parties up to 12, and a full winery! We are very excited about the new facilities and plan to roll out a new line of wines as part of the Grand Opening. We'll be sure to invite you all, so watch your email!

The other new venture is a sports entertainment venue, developed in partnership with Bobby Freeman, organist for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Called, Rally Chants, this facility is located just across the way from the new Bistro  at the other end of the Village Center Mall nearest Blockbuster.

The concept of Rally Chants is quite simple - great food, sports and live music. The food here will be more casual than the Bistro and there will be a greater emphasis on beer, but we will still serve a full range of Kokopelli wines and spirits.

We are hoping that Rally Chants will be open by the end of April. We will keep you posted.

I hope that all of you, no matter where you live in the valley, will drop by and say hi to us at the new Bistro and Rally Chants. But, do not worry, we won't stop serving great food, making great wine and having fun festivals at the original Bistro in Chandler as well as at our new locations!

Now, I invite you to sit back and enjoy a Kool refreshing glass of Kokopelli wine.

Your winemaster (the nose),
Dennis Minchella.

January 25-27 - Italian American Festival

February 8-10 - Days of Wine and Roses

February 14 - Valentine's Day Wine "lovers" dinner

March 21-23 - Jazz, Wine, Blues and Barrel Tasting

May 11 - Mothers Day Brunch Buffet (9 am to 3 pm)

May 16-18 - Beach Blast Anniversary Party

June 6-8 - Kokopelli's BBQ and Blues Festival

Basha's has been a long time partner with Kokopelli Winery offering ten different wines. We would like to thank the team at Basha's for their continued support. If you are looking for Kokopelli Wine, try Basha's!

Roses are traditionally associated with Valentine's day, that is why the Bistro presents every lady with a chocolate red rose during this wonderful holiday. Some believe that the rose became the symbol of Valentine's day because it is sacred to the Goddess of Love. Whatever the reason, 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered in a three day time period. And it isn't only men who buy flowers, it is said that 15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day!
 

Cheaper by the Dozen!!!

Pick up a Frequent Buyer Card and get free wine! Here's how it works. Each time you buy a bottle of Kokopelli Wine at one of the Bistro's (for eat in or to take home), we'll stamp your Frequent Buyer Card. Once you have purchased 12 bottles, the next one will be FREE. (Still wines only)

Mention this newsletter at the Bistro and get a free glass of wine with your Thursday night dinner purchase.