Over 250 people packed the Mystic Theater in downtown Petaluma on Saturday night for the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance Winter Wine Soiree. Growers, winemakers, old friends of the Petaluma Gap and dozens of newly minted members sipped and swirled their way around 13 different tasting stations of of  variety of cool climate wines made with Petaluma Gap-grown grapes.

Two bottles of lauded Sonoma County winemaking duo, Kosta Browne’s highly coveted 2009 Sonoma Coast Gap’s Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir were raffled off to lucky winners able to snag the very generously donated, otherwise hard to obtain super-vintage.

The bustling crowd enjoyed a tremendous suppertime soiree spread of ahi tuna, pork chops, salmon, local cheeses and fresh salads before dancing the night away to the excellent English beat of our favorite ska-style band, The Hoovers. Ex-Pats Petaluman Bill Sell and fellow British front man Paul Whiting have been bashing out their unmistakable beat for the past 30 years, having toured extensively with the likes of Madness, The Police, Squeeze, Level 42, Bronski Beat and more in the band’s early days in the 80s.

The boys have still got everything it takes to fill the dance floor with a fun-loving crowd at the Mystic – delivering a terrific show that incorporated plentiful new material, with trademark great lyrics and refreshing infusions of folk, reggae and punk.

Petaluman Larry Gonzales (drums and percussion)brings born-and-bred Bay Area soul to the stage in the Hoovers line-up. Larry studied music with Michael Carabello, one of the founding members of Santana and, as with Welshman of the band, James Manning (Bass, Vocals, Keyboards), has an extensive background in live band performances.

If you’re a ska music fan and haven’t yet seen the Hoovers live, don’t miss their next show in the Petaluma area, to be announced soon. We’ll keep you posted.