Festival Vintner

Winemaker Peter Figge and his wines will be featured at the Preview Dinner on Friday, April 11. Figge is the owner of Figge Cellars located just six miles from the Pacific Ocean on the south facing slopes of Carmel Valley. He will share his experiences starting a California winery and will present his four wines with a menu specially prepared for the evening.

“When I was asked by my distributor and St. Ambrose to participate I said ‘yes’ to try and give back to the community,” Figge said. “It’s a fun way to return to the area and for a good cause.”

The mastermind behind this new and quickly growing winery has many ties to the Quad City area. Born in Davenport, Figge lived in the Quad Cities before moving to Kansas City when he was eight. His grandfather VO Figge was the president and CEO of Davenport Bank and Trust. His grandmother Elizabeth Kahl-Figge was a big supporter of the Kahl Home, a nursing facility in Davenport. The Figge family also has a strong connection to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport as some of the artwork housed in the museum is from family collections.

Figge Cellars is dedicated to producing small lot production wines from Monterey County. The first release was a 2005 pinot noir that comes from three rows within the Paraiso Vineyard. This wine will be paired with pan seared pepper encrusted tenderloin of beef with chevre in a red wine reduction sauce and roast breast of duck laced with lingonberry chutney at the dinner.

These wines are small in production when compared to other California wineries. Only 1800 cases of Figge Cellars pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah are available in four states—one of them is Iowa.

The Preview Dinner will begin with a wine reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and a Figge wine presentation at 7:30 p.m. Complimenting Peter Figge and his wines will be a gourmet meal, a live auction and ballroom dancing.

Tickets are $125 and include a ticket to the May 17 Wine Festival on the St. Ambrose University campus. Table sponsorships are also available.

Nearly $250,000 has been raised by Quad City wine lovers in the past six years for student scholarships at St. Ambrose University. The Preview Dinner is one of three events organized by a community, volunteer-driven committee. This year’s chairs for the Preview Dinner are Dr. Nidal and Sana ’95 Harb