UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Wine Studio (LCWS) is hosting a wine tasting event featuring wines from Red Lava Vineyards with Kristi Lawson, and artist reception with paintings by Cris Qualiana on Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8.

The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
 
The $15 ($12/per person for studio club members) wine sampler and appetizers by Fresh and Bangin’ Eatery will showcase the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc with an arugula salad with candied nuts, goat cheese and a honey-pear vinaigrette, 2011 Syrah with eggplant ratatouille with tatziki drizzle, 2013 Syrah with Hummus and Chicken Sharma on a Pita Chip, and the 2013 Tempranillo with smoked tri-tip crostini with harissa sauce.

Bud and Kristi Lawson created Red Lava Vineyards together when they founded their first vineyard location in 1998.

Initially their focus was on the Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc grape varietals, but they found that the Tempranillo varietal thrived in the Red Hills just as grandly and they enjoyed a rapidly growing fan base for their Red Lava wines.

Kristi Lawson hails from generations of wine enthusiasts. Her Uncle "Shine" was known for “fortifying the families” during Prohibition, and she was told that he might have done a little jail time.

She grew up in the Napa Valley in an environment where a small amount of red wine with Sunday supper was traditional and not considered illegal.

Her family tree includes ancestors from the wine growing regions of France and Germany, and her foray into sensory wine evaluation classes led to a keen ability to "smell" rock and dirt for classification, consistent with the minerality of Red Lava Vineyards and their wines.

Bud Lawson passed away in August 2015. He stoically and persistently fought against a rare cancer (mantle cell lymphoma) and refused to let it keep him from his passion of farming grapes and producing their Red Lava wines. He was on his tractor working and enjoyed his purpose, family and friends right up until the day his life stopped.

Bud Lawson knew soil and even had a knack for divining water for wells. From many generations of farmers, he began his informal training as a child through observation and involvement with his family on their farm in Arizona. He served in the US Air Force and was a member of Local 3 Operating Engineers for 60 years.

Through his career as a land surveyor and work with construction companies he increased his knowledge, and concentrated his efforts on developing the unique characteristics of the soil in his vineyard and the alchemy of Red Lava wines. Kristi Lawson will be presenting her new wine releases this year at our receptions.

The protean and kaleidoscopic style of artist, Cris Qualiana, blends the humorous, whimsical, ethereal and cutting-edge, offering an invitation into worlds both strange and familiar. Early artistic prowess and promise led to a commission, at age twelve, to paint portraits of the Shah of Iran's family.

Impassioned curiosity and an insatiable wanderlust have been at the heart of Qualiana’s "travel education."

She took a brief foray into the world of music, managing several bands and touring internationally, pit-stopping in Los Angeles to create and direct subsidiaries for Epitaph Records (the largest independent record label in the world) promoting over fifty bands.

She designed promotional projects, ad campaigns, videos, and numerous record covers that can be found in music stores around the globe. While living on the road on tour, the World became her classroom. Hotel rooms doubled as studios.

The people and places she encountered – distinctive scents, sights, sounds and flavors-filled her sketch-books. And she met herself, again and again, in various incarnations, through her painting and drawing. Qualiana's artwork, paintings and illustrations have been continuously exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris.

On May 7, 2012, Qualiana woke up unable to use her right arm and hand. Terrifying for anyone and devastating to Qualiana as an artist. A spinal tap confirmed that she has multiple sclerosis. Further tests revealed that her brain and spine were covered with lesions. She is unable to work any job according to her doctors. Regardless, she continues to create Art on a daily basis.

Lake County Wine Studio is a gallery for display and sale of art and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County. Artists’ shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.
 
The gallery is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake. The hours of business September through May is Thursday to Monday from 1 to 7 p.m., and Friday from 1 to 8 p.m.

The Qualiana art exhibit will be on display for the full month of October.

For more information call Lake County Wine Studio at 707-275-8030 or 707-293-8752.

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