Wine, dine and auction for ATP

Alpine Theatre Project’s third annual Whitefish Wine Auction for the Arts takes place Aug. 10 to 12, featuring a casual wine tasting, food and wine pairings in private residences around Flathead Valley, and a gala and wine auction at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. All proceeds benefit ATP’s professional and educational arts programs.

Featured wineries are Melville Vineyards, a family owned and operated estate winery founded in 1989 in Santa Barbara, California; Battuello Vineyards, founded in 1909 in the Napa Valley by Matteo Battuello and his wife, Serafina, who immigrated to California from Northern Italy; and Foley Food and Wine Society, a collection of outstanding wineries in California, the Pacific Northwest, New Zealand, France, and Argentina.

Owner William Foley has had a number of businesses in the area, including controlling ownership of Whitefish Mountain Resort and Glacier Restaurant Group, which includes MacKenzie River Pizza, Craggy Range, Latitude48 and Ciao Mambo.

Featured chefs include Andy Blanton, owner and executive chef of Café Kandahar at Whitefish Mountain Resort and four-time finalist in the James Beard Foundation’s best chef in the Northwest region; Chef Earl James Reynolds, executive chef at Stone Hill Kitchens in Bigfork who studied at the Seattle Central Culinary Academy; and Chef Christian Moreno of Swift Creek Café in Whitefish who earned his degree from the top French pastry program, “Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie” in France.

Chef Earl James Reynolds is a Whitefish native who left a career as a painter to attend . After turns in well-known restaurants in the Northwest, Mr.Reynolds was named Executive Chef of Stone Hill Kitchen and Bar in Bigfork.

The Whitefish Wine Auction for the Arts includes three events:

• Aug. 10 — UnWINEd, a wine tasting event at Grouse Mountain Lodge where the featured wineries pair their wines with passed hors d'oeuvres and guide tastings

• Aug. 11 — Vintner Dinners in private homes in Kalispell and Whitefish prepared by celebrity chefs and paired with the featured wines

• Aug. 12 — Gala and auction at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.

Tickets are available online at atpwhitefish.org/wineauction.