King Estate Wins "Best Savory Bite" at Chefs’ Night Out
This year’s annual Chefs’ Night Out proved, again, to be a successful fundraiser for FOOD for Lane County, with 100% of the ticket sales going directly to local hunger efforts. This gathering showcases all of your favorite Eugene restaurants, caterers, wineries and microbreweries under one roof. They offered samples of snack-sized bites of food, beverage, and dessert. King Estate offered tiny sandwiches made with Lamb Belly Bacon on Local Swiss Gougere with Green Apple, an assorted Charcuterie Plate with Saucisson Sec, Smoked Duck Breast Speck, Pork and Black Truffle Paté, and Espresso Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Spiced Donut. We also offered a variety of King Estate wine to pair.
Congratulations to all the winners: Best Overall Bite – Marché Restaurant. Best Presentation/Hospitality – Sweet Life. Best Savory Bite – King Estate Winery. Best Vegetarian Bite – Govinda’s. Best Sweet Bite – Red Wagon Creamery.
King Estate Hosts Food for Lane County's Empty Bowls Dinner & Auction
On the evening of October 13th, King Estate Winery hosted Food for Lane County’s 9th Annual Empty Bowls Dinner and Auction. Over 300 people attended the event, which raised more than $250,000 to directly fight hunger in Lane County, a record for the event. Ed and Jodee King were the events chairs, working closely with the FFLC board and event committee to put this fantastic evening together. All 8 of the prior Empty Bowls dinners were hosted at the FFLC warehouse, and this 9th annual event marked the first time it had been hosted at an offsite facility. Last year King Estate was honored to send our culinary team and ingredients from our estate to the FFLC warehouse, and this year Ed & Jodee were delighted to invite all of the Empty Bowls guests and FFLC staff to the estate. The evening began with the video introduction we made (see below), and a silent auction with drinks and appetizers, followed by a 5-course dinner with wine pairings and a live auction. You can also check out the video we put together for the event last year, which includes interviews from the farmers and ranchers from which King Estate sourced ingredients for the dinner.
King Estate Wins Best Savory Bite at FFLC's Chefs' Night Out 2012
The 2012 Chef’s Night Out brought together Lane County’s finest restaurants, wineries, and microbreweries to benefit Food for Lane County at the Hult Center in Eugene, OR. Chefs’ Night Out has become one of, if not the premiere Lane County food and wine event, and King Estate is proud to have once again been the title sponsor for the event for the fourth year in a row.
Rescued & Rehabilitated, A Red-tailed Hawk Returns to King Estate
Last September, King Estate vineyard workers noticed an injured Red-tailed Hawk on the estate. Volunteers from the Cascades Raptor Center quickly rescued the bird, which had an infected foot caused by a prey bite. Four months and one amputated toe later, the hawk proved that it was well enough to return home to King Estate where it and other birds of prey play a vital role providing natural pest control. Owls, hawks, and other raptors thrive on our 1,033 certified organic acres because there is no chance of poisoning through the food chain, and there is plenty of room to roam. King Estate Winery and Eugene’s Cascades Raptor Center are proud to hold a unique partnership that allows orphaned and rehabilitated birds of prey a second shot at life in the wild world.
King Estate Caters the 8th Annual FOOD for Lane County Empty Bowls Dinner & Auction
This year, King Estate had the pleasure of catering the 8th Annual FOOD for Lane County Empty Bowls Dinner & Auction which took place Saturday evening, October 1, in the FOOD for Lane County warehouse. Storage docks that normally hold boxes of food were transformed into a harvest fair complete with shops replete with colorful awnings and stocked with auction items for all to see and bid on. A live auction was conducted in between dinner courses in the dining area, where guests had the chance to win trips to Hawaii and Mexico, Oregon sunstone jewelry, season passes to the Bach Festival, and lots of other exciting packages. Watch the video below that played before the meal to get a closer look at the 5 course menu King Estate prepared and meet some of the farmers that supplied ingredients.
VIDEO: King Estate Sponsors FOOD for Lane County's 2011 Chefs' Night Out Benefit
FOOD for Lane County’s annual Chefs’ Night Out fundraiser took place at the Hult Center in downtown Eugene on April 5, 2011. King Estate Winery has been the Title Sponsor of the event for the last three years.
The best restaurants, wineries, and breweries in Eugene donated their time and products to create a memorable evening full of delicious food and drink. All money earned from ticket sales to the event went directly to FOOD for Lane County.
Helping Oregon Environmental Council Protect Children from Toxics
In September 2010, King Estate made a matching pledge to Oregon Environmental Council in an effort to raise money to support their work protecting Oregonian’s from environmental toxics. Our $10,000 challenge helped OEC raise an additional $20,000 in contributions.
These combined donations make up $30,000 that will help fund OEC’s efforts to ban BPA from children’s products and fund other initiatives. We at King Estate hope it might help the critical efforts to raise awareness of toxic chemicals in our environment, and inspire others to take action.
Click here to learn how you can support OEC.
The following interview is taken from Oregon Environmental Council’s community profiles. You can view it on OEC’s website at this link.
It’s Your Oregon: Ed King
“ ‘It’s Your Oregon’ means ‘It’s Your Responsibility,’” says Ed King, CEO and founder of King Estate Winery. Ed believes that every Oregonian has a responsibility to be a steward of Oregon’s environment.
“There have been people who have come before us who have protected our quality of life here, and there are people who will come after us,” says Ed. “Oregon belongs to each and every one of us, and we have a responsibility to protect the ecology and the environment to the best of our abilities.”
BCS Championship Ticket Donation Raises $12,400 to Fight Hunger
Leading up to the BCS National Championship game between the Auburn Tigers and the Oregon Ducks, King Estate donated a pair of tickets to FOOD for Lane County. The tickets were for two prime seats located in Section 108, Row 6 directly on the 50 yard line just behind the Oregon sideline.
“Ed King and King Estate Winery provide FOOD for Lane County with a great deal of support and are always looking for creative ways to help the organization alleviate hunger in Lane County. The donation of these two BCS Championship tickets should raise significant funds to help distribute food to those in need. We are grateful for King Estate’s ongoing support and their many generous donations.”
- Beverlee Hughes, Executive Director, FOOD for Lane County
FOOD for Lane County put the donated tickets with a face value of $690 up for auction on eBay where frenzied bidding took the price to over $5,000 within a matter of minutes. The auction ended just a couple of days before the game with a closing bid of $11,400. Representatives from King Estate were on hand at FOOD for Lane County to help facilitate payment and congratulate the winning bidder, Mr. David Stevanovski. When Mr. Stevanovski learned of all the good his money would do to alleviate hunger in our community, he generously upped the ante and donated another $1,000 above and beyond his $11,400 bid.
King Estate named 'Business of the Year' by Eugene Chamber of Commerce
The following is a press release from the Eugene Chamber of commerce, exactly as it appeared.
The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce has named King Estate Winery as this year’s recipient of its Business of the Year award. Along with this announcement, the chamber revealed the finalists for its seventh annual Emerald Awards. Emerald Award winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Hult Center on Tuesday, October 5, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
A selection committee of Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce members reviewed 58 nominations before announcing the Business of the Year winner and Emerald Award finalists. The committee chose 12 Emerald Award finalists across four categories: community caring, environmental values, growth and innovation. The Business of the Year award is given to one business that excels in all four categories.
“King Estate was named 2010 Business of the Year because of its focus on the triple bottom line of sustainability—financial, social and the environment,” says Dave Hauser, chamber president. “King Estate truly demonstrates an outstanding contribution to the community in each of these ways.”