Editorial: De-vine day that defines our region

The stage is being set up for the Mission Concert. Photo/Paul Taylor

It's the Bay's Super Bowl.

Months of rubbing the lamp and finally the genie appears amid sunshine in a Church Rd paddock.

This golden day in February is where everything that's good about the region materialises as the adored Mission Concert.

Vines, wine, sunshine and the unabashed boast that we do big events outdoors because we can. The clement weather says so.

That theory has, of course, been blown out of the water on the odd occasion, but the fact we back ourselves that this won't happen is cause for celebration. It's an event that redefines al-fresco.

Much of the magic stems from the venue's proximity to the oldest winery in the country. The red-brick buildings and rolling contours hold a cache of history that adds a nice sensibility to the occasion.

I'm told in the late 1890s the first grapes were planted on the "southern spur" and terraced areas - now the venue of this Saturday's concert. Needless to say, there's some irony picturing the Marist missionaries toiling with sacramental wine grapes on the very spot Rod Stewart twice rhetorically asked: "Do ya think I'm Sexy?"

Anyway, after having sung the concert's praises for 182 words, I'd best admit I've never been to a Mission Concert. Shameful, yes. While I'd be partial to drinking in the sun, listening to music and imbibing the Mission's unique amenity, none of the acts have lured me.

But you needn't bite the doughnut to know it's sweet. This event, even if some of us are still waiting for the right billing, reminds us why we chose to live here.

So until the day the stars align and the likes of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen or Mick Jagger and his crew step out on the Greenmeadows stage, I'll continue to romance the concert by proxy.