Nation's Capital Assemblage & Thomas Jefferson Harvest Dinner The Nation’s Capital Chapter of the Knights of the Vine held its 33rd Assemblage in conjunction with our Thomas Jefferson Harvest Dinner at the Walsh Family Vineyard, in beautiful Purcellville, Virginia. For the past two years, we have combined these two events. The first Thomas Jefferson Harvest Dinner was held at the Kennedy Center in 1988. This year we were honored to host the Grand Commander and Master Lady, Buddy and Trish Hagner at our event. The greeting wine was a Shea Rosé of Pinot Noir from Oregon. Why you ask is an Oregon wine featured at a Virginia KOV event? Thomas Jefferson himself, sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the expedition to the Pacific Ocean after the Louisiana Purchase. As you well know, the expedition ended in Oregon. We cherish our friends in the Oregon Wine Brotherhood and we sa‑ lute your Willamette Valley Pinots and their connection to Thomas Jefferson.
By Claire Cuccio 18
The Assemblage was called to order by Master Heralder Walter Rachele. The cadre filed in led by Master Com‑ mander Ken Haapala. The guests were all happy to be together as this was our only event of the year and we had much to catch up on. We inducted two new Knights into the organization, Mr. Ray Herras and Mr. Kevin Henry. Mr. Herras was the principal among candidates and performed the rites of initiation on behalf of the class of 2021. Mr. Herras is an Information Technology professional for the Depart‑ ment of Defense and Mr. Henry is an Investment Ad‑ visor and Financial Planner. They both love wine, good food and good company and were warmly welcomed into our KOV family. With the business and pleasantries out of the way, it was time to celebrate. Our Chef, Austin Schlener, is an ex‑ perienced chef, skilled in menu engineering and private dining. He is currently the chef and owner of Migrant Table through which he executes the perfect farm to
The Arbor
