Inaugural festival enjoyed by hundreds Noah Bless, a 30-year veteran in the jazz scene, plays lead on the trombone with The Noah Bless Quintet for Nederland’s first Jazz & Wine Festival, just as the skies opened up and rained down on the crowd. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER KELLEY[/caption]

It threatened rain all afternoon. Rain lightly drizzled as more than 450 guests roamed Chipeta Park amongst smooth, improvised sounds, tasting, drinking, and purchasing from a plethora of choices. From cider to mead, wine, and spirits, Nederland’s first Jazz & Wine Festival offered a connoisseur’s delight worth of options.

More than 15 local vendors, from Boulder to Erie and everywhere in the Peak to Peak region, proudly poured glasses and enthusiastically explained their products and processes.

Local favorites Busey Brews was present with a house-brewed Kombucha and a Barleywine, and Gold Dirt Distillery from Rollinsville served up designer cocktails and samples of their popular lavender gin.

Jack Rabbit Hill Farm, based out of western Colorado’s North Fork Valley offered their CapRock brand organic vodka and organic peach brandy in addition to some quality box wines. Augustina’s Winery, a “one-woman winery” out of Boulder, served a wide range from their selection, including their Sauvignon Blanc “Bottoms Up.”

The Old Mine Cider Company, based out of Erie, was one of many vendors providing alternative beverages, including their “Handlebar” Hard Cider, which they marketed as “adult apple juice.” Queen Bee Meadery, out of Denver, provided small batch handcrafted mead “produced in the old world style,” while Lux Elixirs showed off their Blueberry Kveil and Sour Berry Meads.

Evergood Adventure Wines drew lines of curious festival goers with their wine made from lemons, which featured such names as “Snow Bunny” for their strawberry lemon chilled wine, and “Skier Pee” for their lemonade flavor.

There were options as well for those who wished to whet their appetites with something other than wine and various alcoholic beverages. The festival featured many food vendors that offered fantastic choices for wine pairings.

Aspen & Sage Botanicals LLC brought organic, healthy, and vegan chocolates, as well as natural skin creams. Mountain Goat Catering presented organic crackers and dips, while Kind Confections offered homemade, plant-based pastries. Karen DeVincenzo, otherwise known as The Pie Lady, served a selection of her popular pies.

Local businesses and artisans also had tents set up on the wet Chipeta Park field, including The Mountain-Ear, Brightwood Music, Kaleidoscope Fine Arts Gallery, and The Shop.

The musical acts for the event definitely brought the jazz to the Jazz & Wine Festival, though in gloriously different and unique forms.

Daniel Jones, a pedal steel guitar virtuoso from Nederland, greeted festival goers with his adventurous approach to jazz from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., and carried the spirit of the festival from 3:30 to 4 p.m., just before the heavy rainfall.

The Gabriel Mervine Quartet, a Denver based soulful jazz band, struck the perfect chords to match the mood of the festival. With Mervine on trumpet, Dru Heller on drums, Tom Amend on the organ, and Alicia Straka performing vocals while on accordion, the quartet created a France-inspired sound that was the perfect pairing with enjoying wine out in the park.

The Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival is presented by Ned To Go, a local website that supports local businesses and is sponsored by Eldora and Homes by Jackie Jones of Re/Max Alliance. Two dollars from each purchased ticket for the Jazz & Wine Festival was donated to the Nederland Area Seniors Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to assisting senior citizens in enhancing their quality of life through recreation, socialization, and outreach programs.

All available tickets were purchased and the event sold out.

The skies opened up more than midway through the festival; at about 4:30 p.m. the rain fell fast and heavy onto Chipeta Park. Festival goers put on their ponchos and took out their umbrellas, with many taking refuge under the provided coverage as well as under vendor tents.

“Get to know your neighbors and local winemakers more intimately,” lead organizer of the Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival Stephanie Andelman joked on the Eldora stage before presenting the next musical act.

The Noah Bless Quintet hit the stage and got the crowd dancing in the rain, starting with their classical rendition of “Singing in the Rain” and playing right up to the end.

The festival continued onwards even though the rain chased a good number of people away from the park and sent them flooding into local restaurants.

Despite the rain locals found the Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival to be a great success, as did the participating vendors. Hopefully this becomes an annual tradition in Nederland and serves as a successful example for other new festivals and special events to follow.