THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 28 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com <strong>June</strong> <strong>2019</strong> 31 Years of Concerts at Thornton Winery CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 City of Temecula Hosts Six Free Summer Sunset Concerts in the Temecula Amphitheater The City of Temecula will host the <strong>2019</strong> Temecula Art & Street Painting Festival on Saturday, <strong>June</strong> 8th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday, <strong>June</strong> 9th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Main and Mercedes Streets in Old Town Temecula. The Festival will have a Free Kid’s Zone located at Town Square Park. Families and friends are encouraged to come out and support your local arts. Temecula’s Art & Street Painting Festival always turns out to be an inspiring, informational, and creative, family friendly weekend. Stroll throughout Old Town and marvel at the many masterpieces evolving right before your eyes. In addition to the Chalk Art, unique artisans and vendors will display paintings, ceramics, jewelry, photography, and more during this two-day fest. The Best of Show winner receives a $100 Prize! The City is still accepting applications for Chalk Artists only at this time. It is free to apply, pastels will be provided to artists, and the deadline is Friday, May 31, <strong>2019</strong>. Space is limited and all ages are welcome to apply. All artwork must be appropriate for family and public viewing. Chalk Artist applications are available online at www. TemeculaCA.gov/ArtFest. 31 years ago, Thornton Winery launched what was then called the Champagne Jazz concert series. A few years back, the series was renamed Champagne Concerts, a nod to some of the notable non jazz artists who have graced Thornton’s stage, such as Melissa Etheridge, Chris Isaak and America. I sat down with General Manager Tonya Wake recently and she told me about this year’s concert series, kicking off July 20 with The Brian McKnight 4 making their Thornton Winery debut. Chris Botti, Brain Culbertson, Keiko Matsui and Sax to the Max and Euge Groove will all be returning this summer. Dave Koz and Summer Horns will make a two-night appearance. “It’s going to be a fun year, a very solid year”, Tonya told me. “Well be spicing things up a bit” with better music and more personable service. “Next year should be even better!” Gradual changes continue following the total renovation of Café Champagne two years ago. New lights and a lot of outside improvements are planned. They have planted several flowers. David Vergari continues making award –winning wines and now has a new assistant winemaker, Tom Stolzer with an extensive resumé and years of experience working alongside Jon McPherson and Javier Flores. He has also been honing the winery’s exceptional sparkling wines. Thornton is open late for wine tasting until 7pm Sunday through Thursday and until 9 Fridays and Saturdays in Café Champagne. Executive Chef Ceasar Solarzano oversees the kitchen and has begun offering cooking classes. The first one sold out in four hours. He’ll offer a barbecue cooking class in <strong>June</strong> and later a class on stews and soups, appetizers, and Thanksgiving leftovers. There will be a spooky desserts class for Halloween and cooking tamales in December. For the full concert series schedule, visit https://www.thorntonwine.com/ champagne-jazz-series/artist-lineup-and-schedule/ Become an INFLUENCER Advertise with us and share your expertise Your articles printed in our newspaper, online and shared on social media. Contact us today: (951) 461-0400 • publishertvbj@verizon.net
<strong>June</strong> <strong>2019</strong> THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com 29