Capulet et Montagues in Livermore Valley

Singers were transported on the new Ruby Hill Wine Tour Bus.

Singers from the recently concluded fall Livermore Valley Opera (LVO) production of Roméo et Juliette took their days off during the busy rehearsal weeks, and were given the royal treatment at some of our Livermore Valley wineries, including : Les Chênes, La Rochelle, Concannon Vineyards, Occasio, Ruby Hill Winery, and Nottingham Cellars, the provider of our opening night gala wine.

It was a special treat to take a behind the scenes tour of Concannon Vineyards with it's state-of-the-art bottling line, and now one of the largest wineries in California. Small and medium-sized wineries were on the tour to give our visiting artists the "full flavor" of our valley appellation.

L to R: Bernardo, Norman and Christian.

After all this local education, and since it was in the middle of harvest season, singers were invited to join the fun and help pick, weigh and measure the "brix" at the Norman and Stephanie Petermeier’s home vineyard, Villa per Dué. Norman is the enologist at Ruby Hill Winery and Stephanie is a member of the Livermore Valley Opera board of directors, and is the event chair of the upcoming LVO 20th Anniversary Celebration on January, 28, 2012.

You can see that Montague (Christian Reinert who was Romeo) and Capulet (Bernardo Bermudez) are getting along just fine offstage enjoying the process of making wine.

Please visit our Facebook page for more photos of this fun time!