Rock The Vine Festival
“A Grateful weekend of Rock & Roll”
May 23 - 25, 2008

Calling all “deadhead’s” for our newest festival. Join us at the Bistro the weekend of May 23-25. Friday and Saturday night will be a Grateful Dead Tribute, with a live band from 6:30 to 9:30 pm both nights playing all your Grateful Dead favorites. Saturday there will be live music all day.

Relive the 70’s all weekend – we’ll have 70’s food, music and festivities. Get out those platform shoes, leisure suits and tie dye… We’ll have a contest at 9 pm on Friday and Saturday night and the best 70’s outfits will win great prizes!!!

Friday and Saturday, from 9 to 10 pm, it’ll be a 70’s OPEN MIC – Grab the mic and perform one of your favorite 70’s tunes… you might get a GONG or you might just win a prize!!! The audience will be the judge! Too shy to sing? Flash back to the 70’s and enter the AIR GUITAR contest at 8 pm Friday.

Celebrate the 70’s with some magical foods - Bat out of Hell Meatloaf, Ron’s Pigpen Pork BBQ, Monster Mash Potatoes, “Pot” Roast and Strawberry Fields Forever Shortcake - all for 70’s prices – just $7 for every entrée on the menu! And we’ll also have specially selected Kokopelli Wine for just $7 a bottle!

So “tighten up” and head down to the Kokopelli Bistro. Don’t sit home tending the “Watch Tower” and show how you were “Born to be Wild” by rocking out with the Grateful Dead Tribute Band and other Rock & Rollers.

Lovin’ Spoonfuls and Peace to you all!!!  Man I wish I still had my platform shoes and Leisure Suits
 

Join us for a barrel of fun!

Ferguson Jenkins at the Bistro

Baseball fever is on us… It is March and major league ball teams are taking to the field all over the metropolitan Phoenix area.  Fans love to see the new up-and-coming players as they mingle with the legends.

One of these legends is Ferguson Jenkins (“Fergie”) and we are delighted that he will be coming out to the Bistro on Friday March 21^st between 6 and 9 pm to meet you, our customers. We’ll have some fun prize draws for autographed items, and Fergie will be doing autographs for a donation to his Foundation. He might even bring along some “surprise” guests!

Fergie is a Cub’s legend, with his first All-Star season as a starting pitcher the year after the Cubs drafted him as a reliever in 1966. Fergie set a Cubs record with 274 strikeouts in 1970 and was the first Chicago Cub to win the NL Cy Young Memorial Award, leading the NL with 24 wins, 30 complete games, 325 innings and a 2.77 ERA. Fergie ended his long, successful career as a Chicago Cub, retiring in 1983 after a record six consecutive 20-game winning seasons. Fergie was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, truly one of the Cubs’ (and baseball’s) greats!

Since his retirement, Fergie has focused his energy on helping others, establishing the Ferguson Jenkins Foundation and raising thousands to support charities like the Red Cross, Special Olympics, and a variety of local charities. Kokopelli Winery has chosen the Ferguson Jenkins Foundation as our primary charity of choice and will continue to help Fergie raise money to support these great organizations.

• Jazz, Wine, Blues & Barrel Tasting

• Ferguson Jenkins at the Bistro

• News from the Nose

• Featured Wine

• Cooking with Wine

• Wine Trivia

• Mark Your Calendar

• Live Music at the Bistro

  
  
Pronounced CAB–AIR– NAY SO-VIN-YAWN, Kokopelli’s Cabernet Sauvignon is a fine red wine made from a blend of Cabernet and Merlot. Fuller-flavored than a Merlot, this wine has a smooth and lingering finish; a perfect accompaniment for traditional Italian dishes like Grandma Jo’s Lasagna.

Price: $12 per bottle (get $2 off with this newsletter)

We don’t exactly put wine in this recipe, but it is impossible to make (or eat) lasagna with a nice, full-bodied glass of Kokopelli’s Cabernet Sauvignon!  This recipe is one of our favorites, a tradition in the Minchella family. We are happy to share it with you.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. dry lasagna

• ½ lb. Italian pork sausage

• ½ lb.Ground chuck

• 1 tsp fresh chopped garlic

• 1Tbsp olive oil

• 3 eggs

• ½ lb shredded mozzarella cheese

• ¼ lb ground pecorino romano

• 24 oz Marinara sauce

Method:

Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water to al dente. Drain, rinse and coat lightly in olive oil. Brown meat, remove from heat and drain off excess oil.

Hard boil 2 eggs. Remove shells and chop.

In a baking pan with high sides, layer:

1^st Layer

Line bottom of pan with a bit of marinara. Layer lasagna noodles to cover bottom. Layer in half of the cooked meat and a ladle or two of Marinara sauce.

2^nd Layer

Layer with lasagna noodles, then add half of the mozzarella cheese and half the pecorino romano cheese and the hard boiled eggs. Top this layer with a little marinara.

3^rd Layer

Layer of  lasagna noodles, followed by the remaining meat and mozzarella, and a ladle of marinara.

4^th Layer

Top with last layer of lasagna, the remaining marinara and pecorino romano. Beat the remaining raw egg and drizzle all over the top of the lasagna.

Cook at 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for 15 additional minutes. Let cool. Cut into squares and serve

AZCentral.com is holding its second annual Reader's Choice Awards. Please show your support by voting for Kokopelli Winery and The Bistro @ Kokopelli Winery. The web site is:

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/best/2008/polls/

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

Friday March 21^st                  Jimmy McElroy

Saturday March 22^nd            KC (4-6 pm)

                                                Brotherhood (7-10pm)

Friday March 28^th                  Jimmy McElroy

Saturday March 29^th String Theory

 April will include all of these great entertainers, plus a few other surprises. 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 hard at work building the future for Kokopelli – a new restaurant and winery is under construction. It’s been a huge undertaking, but we are very confident and happy with the progress.

The private offering has been very well subscribed and we hope to find our final few investors in the coming weeks. These private investors will all have a stake in the Chandler Bistro, Kokopelli Winery, the Surprise restaurants & Winery and our building in Chandler. (If you love Kokopelli and would be interested in hearing more about his, give me a call!)

One of the most exciting off-shoots of this is the soon-to-be-introduced Forte Cellars brand. While “Forte” has many meanings, we chose it because it is the maiden name of my great-grandmother back in Italy and it is our intention that the Forte wines reflect the family nature of the Kokopelli winery.

One of the first Forte wines we introduce will commemorate great-grandmother Forte, who unfortunately died of breast cancer. We will donate a percentage of sales of this wine to the Susan B. Komen Foundation in her honor.

Once again we thank you for your patronage and friendship, and can’t wait to share these new developments with you.

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

Your winemaster (the nose),
Dennis Minchella.

At The Bistro

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

March 23 - Easter Brunch

April 4 - 6 - Chandler Jazz Festival

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

July 18-20 - Latin Rhythms Festival

August – Vineyard Tours (dates tbd)

Festivals Around the State

March 21 - 23 - Fountain Hills

March 28 - 30 - Tempe Festival of the Arts

April 4 - 6 - Litchfield Park

April 12 - 13 - Glendale Jazz 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!

Cabernet Sauvignon is thought to be less than 600 years old, a relatively young grape given that the earliest evidence of winemaking found in archaeological digs in Iran comes from ceramic urns bearing wine residues that dated back 5,000-plus years.

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.