A plan for winey dads

Pontchartrain Vineyard’s annual open-air concert series features one final performance this weekend, and it’s a great outing for wine lovers, blues fans or anyone who digs a good picnic. Larry Garner will play on the vineyard’s lush grounds on Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during the last Jazz’n the Vines event of the season. At $10 a head, it’s an affordable route to live music in inspired surroundings.

Pontchartrain Vineyards is the state’s only producer of traditional bunch grape wines (as opposed to muscadine or other fruit wines), and its goal since 1992 has been to convince doubters that the state has the chops to produce fine wines that complement regional cuisine — humidity and insects be damned. Breaking the fruit wine stereotype hasn’t been easy, but the vineyard has earned acclaim for its solid selections. Some of its wines have won national awards and been featured on menus throughout good New Orleans restaurants. Chef John Besh has featured the 2006 Le Trolley, a medium bodied blanc du bois, in past wine dinners.

For Jazz’n the Vines, the winery advises patrons to bring a flashlight, an umbrella, lawn chair and an optional picnic dinner (sandwiches are available for purchase). Don’t bring beer, wine or alcohol because the fruits of the vineyard’s hard work will be on sale, and what better place to drink them than from whence they sprang.

Pontchartrain Vineyards is at 81250 Hwy. 1082 (Old Military Road) about 15 minutes from downtown Covington. Its wines are sold in wine shops and independent grocery stores in Baton Rouge and throughout the state. For more information, pontchartrainvineyards.com.