A comparative tasting of coffees - and lots of

A comparative tasting of coffees - and lots of water - at a major vine event? Yes, participants at the Oasis Vineyards Spring Festival in the Blue Ridge foothills on Saturday, May 2, wUl taste several different types of coffees and compare ( them. They will also have an opportunity to learn the differences among often confusing kinds of • cheeses. Not the usual fare for a gala wine festival. But participants will taste a number of wines also.

The comparative tasting of coffees brewed from several different “gourmet” beans will be the final event in Spring Fest, the third annual May festival at Oasis Vineyard near Hume. Oasis events coordinator Corinne Salahi called the coffee tasting “responsibility in wine tasting” and said she hopes “everybody will take a half hour or so after their last sip of wine to comparison taste several different coffees before driving home.” Mrs. Salahi said: "The caffeine might help a little to offset the effects of food and wine, but more important is the amount of time that people will devote to tasting and discussing the coffees after they have finished their wine. Time is important.”

A full range of Oasis wines, including those that have recently won medals in national and regional competitions, will be available at the festival. Mrs. Salahi pointed out that wine makers from California and Europe, as well as wine writers, consider most of the Mid-Atlantic region wines to be similar to their European counterparts, and not like California wines. “Our Cabernet Sauvignon is generally regarded like a French Bordeaux, rather than a Napa or Sonoma California wine,” she said, adding, “Oasis Chardonnay is light and balanced along the lines of a French white Burgundy or Macon wine, rather than a more assertive California Chardonnay.” Those