A couple of bottles for Thursday’s tasting. If you have distribution in Nebraska and want to either send bottles there or use sample bottles already there, please have your distributor set those aside. Matt Brown will coordinate pick up. If you want to ship wines, please send them directly to Matt Brown at V Mertz.

2-4 bottles

You’ll want at least 2 bottles or a magnum per course.

Amouse-Bouche: Sweet Corn & Ramp Custard; pickled mustard seed, ramp oil, crispy prosciutto dust. Notes: texture is silky & smooth, very light; very friendly with whites.

Salad Course: Spring Garden Patch Salad: Little Gem lettcure cups & spring herbs, whipped chèvre, pickled radish, fresh peas, puffed wild rice, rye crumb, lemon-chive vinaigrette. Notes: fork & knife salad with lots of crunch; because of the chèvre, think acid forward or sweet.

Soup Course: Morel Mushroom Agnolotti in Light Chicken Consommé: Thyme, ramp chiffonade, aged parmesan. Notes: Course is very wine friendly and flexible; with richness of Consommé think brighter/vibrant reds; may want freshness/acidity of Pinot Noir; tasted with Chardonnay, if you select a white, you’ll want it to blanket the tongue.

Main Course: Red Wine Braised Beef Short Rib (Pressed & Glazed): Spring onion soubise, glazed baby carrots, crispy potato pavé, cherry balsamic veal reduction. Notes: we asked for less acidity in the reduction. Chef will remove balsamic but will keep cherry. Wines should be prepared to have a lift from the acidity of the cherry reduction.

Dessert Course: Rhubarb & Honey Cheesecake with oat crumble, poached rhubarb ribbons, vanilla bean crème fraiche. Notes: Very light and fluffy; taste leans more towards honey. Feel free to revisit any previous wines and do not worry about pairing the perfect wine. Guests have enjoyed wine for several hours and may lean toward drinking something you’ve already poured from an earlier course versus a new wine. If you have a dessert wine, please feel free to pour it. 

1-2 bottles or a magnum. This wine should be unique and that doesn’t get poured during the regular tasting.

Approximately 12 bottles. Many vintners bring a couple of different wines  to pour during the event.

New to this year! The most consistent feedback from our attendees is that they want to buy the wine you are pouring! Please choose 12 bottles to be sold at the boutique. They can all be the same wine if you want to showcase one or you can break it up. 

Event: Industry Pour

Location: The Mirror Room at Le Bouillon

Parking: Street parking; it’s also a 0.5 mile walk from the Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District

Time: 12pm-3pm; Set-up will start at 12pm and the doors open approximately at 1pm.

Dress: Business causal or or slightly elevated (think polished, professional attire)

Details: In response to your feedback, we’ve added the Industry Pour event this year. This inaugural event will welcome local restaurants, bars, country clubs, and distriutors with the goal of connecting you with new customers and industry relationships.

Event: Vintner & Court of Master Sommeliers Reception

Location: Mon Càve; just below Le Bouillon

Parking: Street parking; it’s also a 0.5 mile walk from the Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District

Time: 6pm-8pm

Dress: Business causal or or slightly elevated (think polished, professional attire)

Details: The Vintner Reception is our way of saying thank you to the winemakers who make vinNEBRASKA possible. Enjoy drinks and appetizers while networking with fellow participants and industry professionals, including members of the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Event: Tour of Completely Kids

Location: meet in the Omaha Marriott lobby; transportation will be provided

Time: 10am-12pm

Dress: Casual

Details: This is an optional event. It gives you the opportunity to see the good work that Completely Kids does in our community and why we are raising funds for them.

Event: Vintner Reception and Gourmet Dinner

Location: Tasting hour (aka Vintner Reception) will be in the prefunction area of the ballroom/meeting area. Dinner will occur in the main ballroom. Everything will be located on floor 2 of the Marriott.

Schedule:

4:00pm: Mandatory meeting at the large white marble table next to the elevators in the pre-function area on floor 2. You will be signing the poster frame and the bottles of wine designated for the commemorative package auctioned on both Friday & Saturday night

4:45pm: Set up at your pouring tables

5:30pm: Tasting hour

6:45pm: First call for dinner

7:00pm: Five Course Gourmet Dinner begins

Dress: Business professional; think polished, professional attire. Many attendees will be dressed in business professional or cocktail attire.

Details: The Vintner Reception and Gourmet Dinner is an intimate, seated dining experience designed to give winemakers meaningful one-on-one time with guets at their table while showcasing their wines. With a smaller audienec of approximately 200-250 attendees, this five-course dinner allows each vintner to thoughtfully pair their wines with each course.

Guests in attendance are invited by the sponsors who make vinNEBRASKA possible, creating a highly engaged and supportive audience. The evening will include a brief program to welcome guests, highlight Completely KIDS, and host a short raise-the-paddle. The majority of the night is dedicated to the dining experience, conversation, and the wines themselves.

Event: Grand Wine Tasting, Dinner & Auction

Location: Tasting will be in the prefunction area of the ballroom/meeting area. Dinner will occur in the main ballroom. Everything will be located on floor 2 of the Marriott.

Schedule:

3:00pm: Mandatory meeting at the large white marble table next to the elevators in the pre-function area on floor 2. 

3:30pm: Set up at your pouring tables

4:00pm: VIP tasting hour (includes passed appetizers)

5:00pm: General wine tasting

7:00pm: Dinner & Auction begins

Dress: Elevated business casual to cocktail attire. This evening is less formal than Friday night, and a variety of attire is expected.

Details: Friday night is designed to be intimate and relationship-focused, while Saturday night is where the energy really ramps up. This is your opportunity to showcase your winery and actively promote your auction lot. You will be seated at a sponsored table, with a different sponsor than Friday night. You are welcome to bring bottles from the tasting to your table; however, you are not required to pour your wines.

After a brief program, we’ll move straight into the live auction. Greg Quiroga returns as our auctioneer and does an outstanding job driving excitement and maximizing the value of each lot. While the auction generally lasts approximately two hours, seasoned vintners know that a unique, well-presented lot can spark a bidding frenzy and keep the room buzzing.