Wine with heart: Olympic Cellars in Washington State is a small winery with a big heart. The winery, which is owned by three women, turns out a brand known as Working Girl Wines. Earlier this month, one of the winery’s owners was in Asheville visiting the Fine Wine Trading Company’s trade show at the Haywood Park Hotel and sharing some samples. Not only are the wines — which carry names like Go Girl Red, Rose the Riveter and Working Girl White — tasty and fairly priced, but you can swill them knowing that 2 percent of the company’s profits go straight to Gynocare, which provides free diagnostic testing and treatment for low-income women who are at risk for ovarian cancer and other diseases. (There’s also a Handyman Red for the men). Working Girl Wines are available locally at Greenlife Grocery for $12.99. Go ahead girl, have a glass and relax for a good cause.
Westfest calling: Westfest, West Asheville’s annual community celebration, is back for another year of fun, food and entertainment. The June 10 event is presented by Asheville Parks and Recreation and the West Asheville Business Association. The festival’s coordinators say that now is the time for restaurants, vendors, businesses and nonprofit groups alike to reserve a booth at the festival. Booth fees for food vendors are $100, which includes both power and water. Nonfood vendors and other businesses will be charged $75 for a booth without power and water, and nonprofits get the best deal at $60 a booth. For vendor registration forms, visit www.ashevillewestfest.org online, the West Asheville Community Center at 970 Haywood Road, or Deluxe Retro-Modern at 602 Haywood Road. Registrations are due by April 12.
Honor roll: The A-B Tech Hot Food Team recently won the Southeast Regional Junior Hot Food competition in Savannah, securing the team’s place in the national competition in Philadelphia this July. “It was awesome,” pastry-arts instructor and team coach Charles deVries said of the students’ performance. “I felt the team was really well-organized and happy. They kept a steady pace. They got a lot of comments about them being a machine because of the precision and organization.” Culinary teams from A-B Tech won regional competitions in 1997 and 2003, receiving silver medals at the national level those years, making the A-B Tech team one of the top four nationally. This year’s team members are Jason Huang, Nell Flemer, Mark Hutchins, Adam Cole, Matt Gruber and Marla Leblow.
— Mackensy Lunsford
