It was nine years ago that China Tresemer, Nate Ready, and I bought a school bus on eBay. We named her ‘Bella’, converted her into a kitchen, and set her beside the rows of crops at Cure Organic Farm for our first Meadow Lark Farm Dinner.
 
After our first season together, Nate and China moved to Oregon. Their goal was to find a patch of land and continue to explore the ways in which food and wine can draw connections between people and place. Several years
of hard work have now come to fruition: Hiyu, a ‘wine farm’ that is
home to a tightly-knit community of people working toward a
shared goal, as well as to Guinea hogs and Dexter cows that graze
among the vines.
 
In their own words: “We believe in connecting people to the land.
Guided by nature and inspired by ideas from biodynamic farming and permaculture, we care for 30 acres of hillside in the Hood River Valley.
We tend vines, raise animals, garden, cook and make wine to reveal an experience of place.”

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I am delighted to welcome China and Nate back on board Bella, to prepare a Meadow Lark Farm Dinner in the same spot that hosted our first dinner together. And they will bring with them their first release of wine crafted under their Smock Shop Band label.
 
Please note that there will be an additional, fixed charge for wine for this dinner. Here, we will diverge from our usual format, in which guests have a choice of quantity and price range of wines. Instead, the wine for this dinner will be exclusively from Smockshop Band or Hiyu, and bundled into a single package. A wine charge ($tbd) will be applied to each guest.