I watched the partial eclipse from a Broad Ripple garden wearing my protective glasses from a California winery. The marketing savvy folks at Gallo sent them a month before the solar event as part of the roll out of the latest vintage of one of its popular Apothic brand wines, Apothic Dark.

Smart. The glasses. The gimmick. And the wine. It's bold and juicy with notes of blueberry, mulberry and a tasty touch of mocha. Under 10 bucks and widely available. My fellow nature lovers and I didn't let a few clouds rain on our partial eclipse event, though we DID get rained on moments after it ended. Nor are we afraid of the dark as we look forward to 2024 when Indianapolis will be in the path of totality. No need to age the Apothic Dark that long though. Drink it now.

Another new Apothic label is Crush. This one offers up red fruit-cherry, current and raspberry with a touch of vanilla in a long silky finish.

Hundreds of California wine fans partied with a purpose on August 20th. The evening of wine, food and music raised money for the Gennesaret Clinics which offer free medical and dental services to thousands of Marion county men, women and children experiencing homelessness. I poured 5 wines at my table, all fresh and affordable, and from the crowds response, very good. They included the lush Whitehall Lane Merlot, the bold Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red Lot 66, the spicy dry Gundlach Bundschu Gewurztraminer and two easy drinkers from Fess Parker Winery, its Pinot Noir and off dry Riesling. Broad Ripple's Cork+Cracker took orders and gave back a percentage of sales to the non profit.

Alice and Jeanette of Perk Up Cafe promise Claus' sausage, Brotgarten pretzel buns, Bier brewery Kolsch and German wines, along with their usual Sunday KaffeeKlatsch desserts when they celebrate their annual German Oktoberfest on two Sunday afternoons in September, the 17th and 24th, 2017.