EDIBLE: Carmel Valley to get a dramatic new wine-tasting combo-property led by Joyce Vineyards.

Santa Cruz-based food truck Holopono dished seaweed salads and shrimp tacos in the Salinas sun. Tasty Solutions added barbecue and quinoa to the plate. Singer-songwriter CaseyFrazier plucked originals and a little Willie Nelson from the back of a big flatbed truck/stage. Alvarado Street Brewery Buzz Light Beer sprang from taps poking out a wine barrel. Cornhole bean bags flew. Locals from across the county sat on hay bales and sipped wine from stemless parking-lot-safe plastic glasses. Tastings of some of Joyce Vineyards’ best stuff – Rosés, Chardonnays, various Pinots and dry Rieslings – flowed at two custom tasting stations among the barrels at the winery’s brand-new venue for swirling and sipping.

A good 250 people showed up for the venue’s debut celebration, despite the fact it happened at an strange spot to encounter wine-tasting, namely an industrial strip on Dayton Street in Salinas. That’s also where Alvarado Street has added a tasting bar in its own production facility (and an ASB beer garden in the parking lot isn’t far off).

But something else altogether heralds bigger news for the Joyce brand, and the Carmel Valley wine-tasting community over Laureles Grade, where Joyce’s original wine-tasting room sits, albeit it not for too long in its existing space.

Young newlyweds Russell and Charlotte Joyce – along with her parents Ray and Liza Beshoff and sisters Rachel and Meagan – are closing escrow on the sizable Jan de Luz garden-fountain-patio super store across from the Bernardus tasting room. They have ambitious – and fun – plans to turn it into a wine-loving venue unlike any in the area.

Outgoing eponymous owner de Luz started as a cabinet maker and fabric weaver in his native Basque region of France before building a chain of retail outlets there around hand-woven linens. He eventually moved to California with his family before starting an import business for French antiques. His Carmel Valley Jan de Luz property is a trip, partly because of the proliferation of statues and elaborate stone fountains – a giant boar, a cherub angel, a pair of large lions, a hand-carved bull head among the finds – that cost tens of thousands of dollars. He also has outposts in Carmel-by-the Sea (Dolores between Ocean and Seventh) and Napa (Main Street in St. Helena). On a tasty edible note, his team pours samples of hisOlive Oil No. 13 – grown with fruit from his grove of Arbequina olive trees at his Carmel Valley home – at each location. He believes growing up on a farm where his family grew much of its own food, made wine, and pressed olive oil programmed him at an early age.

“When you have a piece of land, you never leave it open,” he writes on his website. “You grow something; you use it.”

At the 1 E. Carmel Valley Road property that’s changing hands as part of a multi-million dollar deal, big coastal live oaks arc over expansive patios. Mature palm trees provide contrasting shapes. Three separate buildings enjoy peaked roofs and angular windows.

The Joyces want to develop three different but related – and decidedly epicurean – businesses in those spaces.

The first you encounter from the entrance, the valley’s original dairy house, will be a wine bar with what Russell calls a “country-chic” vibe and a large bubbly-wine-beer selection befitting a bigger city.

“My wife and I have been talking about doing something in the village where the culture’s been picking up,” he says, “but there’s still no place that’s between wine tasting rooms and restaurants besides the old Running Iron Saloon – which we enjoy – but we wanted something classy and in between.”

They’re thinking small plates of charcuterie and cheese and a couple of Joyce wines, but primarily a wide range of other potables.

Joyce’s relocated tasting room will occupy another of the three buildings, nearly 3,000 square feet’s worth by itself.

The final space is slotted to go to another as-yet-undetermined purveyor – or purveyors – who click with the food-and-wine culture-to-be of the multidimensional property.

The ample patios connecting the three structures will ultimately enjoy fire pits, multiple bocce ball courts and other games, lounge areas and outdoor bars. Russell’s already sizing up the back delivery yard as large enough to fit five food trucks. De Luz will remain in place for another two months and the build-out will start in earnest come November.

“A one-stop shop to stay, sip some wine, enjoy a picnic,” Russell says. “A playground for adults.”

~ Quickbites ~

• Pastability’s (771-8670), from the same family behind Gino’s, has opened its fast casual concept at 11 Acacia St. in Salinas with grab-and-go pastas.
• Tricycle Pizza opens 3pm Thursday, July 21, at Lighthouse and David Avenue in New Monterey. Introductory hours are noon-9:30pm Saturday-Sunday and 3-9pm Wednesday-Thursday.
• Two big Carmel chef moves: Brad Briske is leaving la Balena at the peak of his popularity to start his own place in Santa Cruz, where he’s lived and worked for years. Brian Kearnsis leaving La Bicyclette to replace departed Ken McDonald at Quail Lodge.
• Cibo Restaurant (649-8151) had one of the better happy hours going ($3-$7 food, $3 well drinks, beer and wine 4-7pm daily). Now its “Happier Hours” capitalize on the new sidewalk patio with DJs for that time window every Saturday.
• Rich Tanguay is moving on from his winemaking at Heller Organic Estate next month. More on the new gig soon.
• Cost Plus World Market in Seaside is going for a liquor license.
• Ted Balestreri was just appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
• Organic pioneers Earthbound Farms sold from one conglomerate to another.
• The Wharf Marketplace (649-1116) hosts a summer party ($25) 11am-3pm Saturday, July 30, featuring local food purveyors, local beer and wine vendors, corn hole, barbecue and live music.
• Hyatt Carmel Highlands celebrates its 99th birthday Thursday, July 28, with a private Champagne toast/ribbon-cutting on the new outdoor deck.
• Intriguing developments are happening at Post Ranch and Sierra Mar (667-2800). Get those on the blog.
• Exec Chef Matt Beaudin of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is now raising sheep to harvest milk (and resulting cheese), and (eventually) meat.
• Nielsen Bros. Market in Carmel (624-6441) does a free tasting/showdown of American and French Champagnes 4-6pm Thursday, July 21.
• Rumi: “Either bring me wine or leave me alone.”