Lincolnville is going Hollywood.
This year’s VinFest at Cellardoor Winery will feature a Grauman’s Chinese Theater- and Hollywood-themed dinner dance on Friday night, followed the next day by a series of foodie films and an old-fashioned “I Love Lucy”-style grape stomping.
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Overlooking it all will be a huge Hollywood-style sign in the hills overlooking the festival that will spell out “Lincolnville” in 20-foot high letters. Bettina Doulton, owner of the winery, got permission from a neighboring landowner to install the 90-foot-long sign, which is sure to be seen for miles.
The dinner dance in the vineyard, which includes a performance by R&B singer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, has been sold out for more than a month. But there’s still plenty of fun scheduled for Saturday in the stunning vineyard located just outside of Camden.
The grape stomping happens at noon and 3:30 Saturday, and has become one of the more popular events at VinFest, with stompers coming out even in the rain to channel their inner Lucy and Ethel.
It’s recommended that stompers wear pants that are easy to roll up to knee length. The mushed grapes won’t actually be used to make wine, so if the thought of stinky bare feet touching your pinot noir grosses you out, no need to worry.
Besides, they’re using Concord grapes.
“Each person has their own little barrel tub filled with Concord grapes to squish,” says Denise Archambeau, spokesperson for the winery. “So it is messy, because we do use red grapes. That’s half the fun.”
Other activities include a lesson in pairing wines with chocolates and cooking demonstrations by Christina Sidoti of Paolina’s Way in Camden, Lisa Sojka of Prism Cafe in Rockport and Kerry Altieri of Cafe Miranda in Rockland.
A home wine-making competition open to anyone will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. The judges will be winery assistant Christina Peet; Joel Stein, who conducts the winery’s home wine-making classes; and Jasie Costigan, who coordinates events and handles wholesale orders for the winery.
Three food-related movies will be shown throughout the day on a big screen set up in the vineyard. “Ratatouille” (2007), an animated film about a rat who wants to be a chef, will be shown at 11 a.m. “Chocolat” (2000), about a chocolatier whose creations change the lives of the repressed residents of a French village, will be shown at 1 p.m. Later in the afternoon, at 3 p.m., there will be a screening of “Tortilla Soup” (2001), about a Mexican-American master chef who has lost his taste for food.
Riverfront BBQ & Grill will be providing a barbecue lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
When VinFest debuted in 2008, it was free, but the winery now charges $10, payable at the gate or in advance at brownpapertickets.com. Archambeau says the barbecue lunch alone is worth the price of admission.
“The second year we had it, it was still a free event, and we had almost 5,000 people in one day in the vineyard,” she said. “Between 1,500 and 2,000 is really what we can do, not only comfortably for the space that we have, but also to make sure guests get the best experience possible.”
Another big change: Gone are the hot air balloons and the big Ferris wheel of past VinFests. This year, instead of a carnival atmosphere, the focus is on food and wine.
If you feel like staying over another night, you can take in part of the Camden International Film Festival, which is being held the same weekend. (See Page E14 for the scoop.)
The film festival closes Sunday night with a toast, reception and “Campfire Stories” in the vineyard, followed by a movie screening that is free and open to the public.
“Campfire Stories” begins at 6:30 p.m. and features filmmakers and their stars swapping tales of “the scene that got away, or the best moments they never filmed.”
The film, “Convento” (2010), begins at 7:30 p.m., and will be projected onto a large screen in the vineyard.
And that, as they say, is a wrap.
Staff Writer Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at:
mgoad@pressherald.com
Twitter: MeredithGoad
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