Thornton Winery Champagne Jazz: Richard Marx

Thornton Winery, 32575 Rancho California Rd, Temecula. May 23rd. Richard Marx at the Champagne Jazz Series — the outdoor concert format that Thornton Winery has been perfecting since 1988, in a vineyard setting that makes the whole evening feel like the specific California life that wine country is trying to be.

The Champagne Jazz Series puts artists on an outdoor stage in the middle of Temecula wine country, with the vineyard visible from every seat and the Rancho California hills holding the sound in the early evening. Richard Marx — whose catalog runs from "Endless Summer Nights" to "Right Here Waiting" to the ballads that lived on every mixtape of a certain era — brings exactly the material that works in this setting. It is not a small thing to hear a song you know completely, performed live, with the sun going down over the vines.

thorntonwine.com for ticket details and the Champagne Jazz Series schedule. May 23rd. The outdoor setting means arrive early enough to find your space before the show. Wine tasting runs before the concert. The dinner option pairs with the experience if you're making a full evening of wine country at its best version of itself.