Unfiltered

Inside an adult-film star's wine party, a world record verified and a real hootenanny in the vineyards

Posted: June 28, 2006

• What do you get on a typical night in a penthouse hotel suite in Manhattan's East Village? Adult-film stars, friends of adult-film stars, people wishing they were friends of adult-film stars and Unfiltered, of course. Recently such a gathering at Hotel Rivington--a party for the DVD release of the HBO documentary Thinking XXX--was made that much more titillating since it was also the introduction of Sogno Due, the white wine from adult-film star/vintner Savanna Samson. Samson, a former dancer at Manhattan, um, "gentleman's" club Scores, and later star of such films as The New Devil in Miss Jones, released her first wine, a red called Sogno Uno, last fall. The blend of Cesanese, Sangiovese and Montepulciano was immediately met with critical acclaim from some quarters. Her encore performance, Sogno Due, a 100 percent Falanghina from 70- to 85-year-old vines planted on their own roots in a vineyard west of Naples, will be available for $25 from retailers in late August or early September. (There were 400 cases made). What did Samson's colleagues think of it? Not sure it's worth asking, since we spotted one partygoer drinking his Sogno Due on the rocks. But hats off--heck, everything off--to Samson for trying to bring a sense of good taste to the adult-entertainment business.

Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman raises a glass...not exactly a rare occurrence in his town.

• They did it. It took six months for Guinness World Records to verify it, but Las Vegas officially held the world's largest toast this past New Year's Eve with the help of Napa's Beaulieu Vineyards (BV). Just before midnight and the end of 2005, more than 13,500 people raised a glass and took a sip of BV's Century Cellars Chardonnay (the previous record was held by a Japanese sake company that once rounded up 10,079 people for a toast). Among the revelers were Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman and a Guinness World Records representative whose job it was to make sure that all participants were raising their glasses and drinking the same beverage at the same time. Tom Scott, director of PR for Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, which owns BV, said in a release, "Over 13,500 people will always remember where they were for New Year's." We're not sure if that's a good thing. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a New Year's Eve drinkfest?

• Vineyard managers spend a lot of time shooing birds away from ripening grapes, but the owners of San Bernabe vineyard are trying to attract them, by erecting 200 owl-nesting boxes around the vines between now and January. The "Habitat for Hootmanity" project is part of large wine company Delicato Vineyards' efforts to promote sustainable agriculture through its Night Owl Winery brand. Vineyard workers are installing the custom-built nesting boxes to attract barn owls, giving them a summer home to raise their young in. The owls will hopefully repay the favor by eating rodents who might go after the grapes. The San Bernabe vineyard, one of the world's largest, stretches for more than 12,000 acres in Monterey County, which should provide plenty of late-night mouse snacks for the owls.

What's the angle? That bass could be worth a fortune.

• While one winery tries to put a parliament of owls in its vineyards, a whiskey distillery is dumping a school of bass into various ponds scattered across 13 states. Early Times Kentucky Whiskey, the Bourbon behind the official mint julep of the Kentucky Derby, is launching its annual "Tagged Bass Challenge." Employees have attached tags to 650 fish and dumped 50 into each of 13 bodies of water, ranging from Florida to Texas to Illinois. Anglers who pull up the fish can enter the tag number on the distiller's Web site for a chance to win various prizes. The top prize in each state is $25,000, which would buy a lot of Bourbon to sip while staring at the water, waiting for the fish to bite. No word on whether you get to keep the fish, but it's probably a safe bet.