California Beaches Blog

It’s the time of year to celebrate wines from some of the finest places on the California coast. The main event at the Vintners’ Festival is held at River Park in Lompoc on Saturday April 17th from 1 to 4pm. The festival features the wines of 130+ members of the Association, live and lively music, a silent auction and wine country cuisine by the area’s finest chefs. Various wineries also open their doors to this special event with their own festivities.

Cost of the festival: $75; $85 at event (tickets: sbcountywines.com)

Some highlights include:

• Alere
  from 5pm Late Nights in the Barrel Room
  Indulge in wines by the glass, library wines, and bottle service all night long. Live music from 8pm - 11pm.
• Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards
  from 11am Open House Day in the Country
  Celebrate Thekla and Richard Sanford’s 40 years of winemaking in the Santa Rita Hills and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day! Wine, food and music!!
• Ampelos Cellars
  from 10am Open House
  Winery tasting of the latest vintages and some special wines pulled out of the library.
• Andrew Murray
  from 11am Annual Spring Open House
  Annual Spring Release Open House and taste of new releases. We will have special discounts during the day and we will be providing light hors d’oeuvres and live music by Owen Plant.
• Babcock
  from 9am Open House
  Come taste the full spectrum of Babcock wines and enjoy light hors d’ oeuvres. All current Premier and Terroir Exclusives wines will be available to taste along with our annual Futures barrel tasting and sales! Don’t miss this once a year mega event!
• Babcock
  from 1pm VIP Cellar Tasting
  What could be better than experiencing the entire line-up of Babcock wines during our Open House Event? Having great food matched with great wine! This year we are pleased to present a menu created specially for our V.I.P. Guests by the Far Western Tavern of Guadalupe.
• Bedford Winery
  from 11am Open House at Winery Tasting Room
  Taste new releases and old favorites along with delectible edibles.
• Brander
  from 12 noon Open House
  Join a courtyard for traditional Brander BBQ, Music and special wines.
• Buttonwood Farm
  from 10am 2000- 10 years and counting
  Taste the difference ten years in the cellar makes at this horizontal tasting of five Buttonwood wines from the 2000 vintage. Under the Buttonwood trees in the beautiful tasting room garden, you can help evaluate the wines as well as pair each wine with one of 5 different cheeses. Seating is limited to 30.
• Cambria
  from 10am Open House
  Come enjoy Cambria’s award winning Pinots and Chards along with complimentary appetizers, live music, and barrel samples.
• Casa Cassara
  from 2pm Open House
  We will have artisan cheeses, gourmet refreshments, and Winemaker, John Krska will be on hand to visit and answer questions.
• Consilience
  from 11am Bonus Pours!
  In addition to our standard line up we will be featuring additional wines typically not poured in the tasting room due to extremely small availability. Stop by and try these rare finds!
• Foley Estates
  from 10am Chuckwagon Brunch
  Try a themed Chuckwagon brunch on your way out to the Festival.
• Foxen
  from 11am Open House
  Please stop by the new solar-powered FOXEN Winery, and the original “Shack” where you will taste the current line up, library wines for sale and snack on light hors d’ oeuvres.
• Foxen
  from 6pm Winemaker Dinner at Alisal Guest Ranch
  oin Dick, Jenny, Billy and Becky at this annual dinner to celebrate the Vintners Festival! Fun evening of delectable dining, Foxen wines and dancing….always a great time! Please call FOXEN to make a reservation at 805.937.4251
• Imagine
  from 10am Art Exhibition and Demonstration
  Imagine Wine includes in their Vintner’s weekend activities, an Art Exhibition and Demonstration of Scott Semple’s monumental ceramics at our Santa Ynez tasting room and fine art gallery. Come watch Scott create a truly amazing 5 foot tall work of art on his potter’s wheel, and indulge in tastes of Imagine Wine while browsing Scott’s work and that of other local artists for sale in the gallery.
• Ken Brown Wines
  from 11am Open House
  Taste older library wines and current relases with Ken and Deborah Brown while enjoying tasty nibbles and conversations about the vineyards, wines, appellations and the history of Santa Barbara winegrowing.
• Kenneth Volk Vineyards
  from 10:30am Open House
  Kenneth Volk Vineyards is hosting an Open House featuring one of the most extensive portfolios of wine on the central coast. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served.
• Lafond
  from 10am Open House
  Lafond Winery Annual Vintners’ Festival Weekend Open House - come sample new releases from one of the first vineyards planted in the Sta. Rita Hills. Wines will be served alongside cheeses, breads, spreads, and our famous Taco Stand.
• Longoria Wines
  from 11am Open House
  We will be pouring our new newest releases - 2009 Pinot Grigio & 2008 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido - and we’ll offer special discounts all weekend.
• Longoria Wines
  from 6:30pm Winemaker Dinner at The Ballard Inn
  We are once again excited to announce a Winemaker Dinner at the Ballard Inn Restaurant. Chef Budi Kazali’s award winning French Asian cuisine will be paired with a selection of Rick’s wines. Seating is very limited. For more information and reservations please call the restaurant: 805-688-7770
• Lucas & Lewellen
  from 6pm Wine & Cheese Pairing
  After the Vintners’ Festival, meet back at the Lucas & Lewellen Tasting Room for live music, wine specials, and our annual Vintners’ Festival Wine & Cheese Pairings. No RSVP required.
• Lucas & Lewellen
  from 6pm Annual Vintners’ Weekend Winemaker Dinner
  Join Louis Lucas, Royce Lewellen, and Winemaker Megan McGrath Gates after the festival for Lucas & Lewellen’s annual winemaker dinner, featuring five courses of Chef Mini DalFuoco’s cuisine paired with Lucas & Lewellen wines. Phone The Petersen Inn directly at 1.800.321.8985 for reservations.
• Mandolina
  from 6pm Cal-Ital Wines and Italian Cheese!
  After the Festival, meet back at the Mandolina Tasting Room for live classic jazz, wine specials, and our annual Vintners’ Festival Cal-Ital & Cheese Pairing. No RSVP required.
• Mandolina
  from 6pm Wine, Cheese & Live Music
  Join the Mandolina Tasting Room after the festival for live music by Almazul, wine specials, a special wine brownie tasting, and annual Vintners’ Festival Wine and Cheese Pairings. No RSVP required.
• Melville
  from 10am 2009 Inox & Viognier Release Party
  Please join in for the release of the first of our two whites from the 2009 harvest. Emphasizing their freshness and vibrancy, the stainless steel chardonnay and the opulently aromatic viognier will be showcased in our tasting room. Light hors d’oeuvres, selections of artisan cheese and our Lynn Sigafoos’ baked goods will be served throughout the weekend. Extended hours (10am-4pm) beginning Friday. No reservations necessary.
• Palmina
  from 10am Library Tasting
  Steve and Chrystal will once again go through the Palmina library and open up older white and red wines. Wines will be available for tasting and purchase while supplies last. Come visit to see how our wines blossom with proper bottle aging!
• Rideau
  from 11.30am Creole Open House
  Join in a Creole style BBQ! Iris’ famous fried chicken, red beans & rice with andouille sausage, our award winning wines and music! Bring your lawn chair or blankets and spend the day!
• Riverbench
  from 10am Sparkling Wine Tasting
  As a special treat, our weekend tasting menu will include a taste of our newly released 2008 Cork Jumper Sparkling Wine! At 118 cases, this wine is never on the tasting list- don’t miss a chance to try it with some delicious California cheese pairings.
• Santa Barbara Winery
  from 6pm Everything California Wine and Cheese Pairing
  Thought all good cheeses had to come from France? Join the barrel room to taste through a selection of cheeses produced in California and pair them with the wines of Santa Barbara Winery. Kathryn and Michael from C’est Cheese will be on hand to walk through the pairing. We’ll learn the importance of buying local while discovering what California has to offer. (Cancellations must be made one week prior to event for full refund. Space is limited so don’t miss out.)
• Tre Anelli
  from 11am Bonus Pours!
  In addition to our standard line up we will be featuring additional wines typically not poured in the tasting room due to extremely small availability. Stop by and try these rare finds!