Wining in Santa Barbara...World of Pinot Noir...

The Goddess of Wine was very happy to be able to attend the annual World of Pinot Noir, held this year for the first time at the Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara. WOPN has been considered the crème de la crème of single varietal events for several years, and I have always wanted to go. Some background from the website:

"Our mission is to bring Pinot Noir producers from the most exceptional and unique regions in the world together with Pinot Noir enthusiasts for a weekend of celebration and education on the shores of California's beautiful Central Coast.

Our annual event takes place at the beginning of March and includes two days of in-depth Tasting seminars and excursions, Grand Tastings, a Burgundy seminar and tasting and gourmet, locally-influenced lunches and dinners. These extraordinary food and wine extravaganzas will be hosted by participating wineries and feature an outstanding panel of sommeliers from across the U.S.

The World of Pinot Noir was established in 2001 by a small but dedicated group of winemakers from California’s South Central Coast. We are a non-profit 501 (c) (6) trade organization."

Send in the Clones...Chardonnay - Part 2...

Part 2 of the Chardonnay Symposium, where the Goddess of Wine and her trusty acolyte, JD, taste a whole lotta Chardonnay...

After a fascinating morning listening to winemakers discuss Chardonnay clones, we downed the tasty box lunch provided as part of the event (turkey sandwiches with an apple and a cookie - and plenty of water), and got on the bus for the trip to Byron Winery and the Grand Tasting. Once there, we picked up our tasting glasses and got started.

The wineries included Alta Maria ~ Au Bon Climat ~ Baileyana ~ Bien Nacido Vineyards ~ Bridlewood Estate Winery ~ Byron Winery ~ Cambria Winery ~ Chamisal Vineyards ~ Chanin Wine Company ~ Conway Family Wines/Deap Sea ~ Costa de Oro Winery ~ Cottonwood Canyon Winery ~ Deovlet Wines ~ Dierberg Vineyard ~ Eberle Winery ~ Edna Valley Vineyard ~ Falcone Family Vineyards ~ Fess Parker Winery ~ Fontes & Phillips Wines ~ Foxen ~ Gainey Vineyard ~ Hartford Family Winery ~ J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines ~ J. Wilkes Wines ~ Jonata ~ Ken Brown Wines ~ Kenneth Volk Vineyards ~ La Fenetre Wines ~ Laetitia Vineyard & Winery ~ Landmark Vineyards ~ Lucia’s Wine Co ~ Merry Edwards Winery ~ Migration from Duckhorn Wine Company ~ Niven Family Wine Estates ~ Old Town Market, Orcutt ~ Patz & Hall ~ Presqu’ile Winery ~ Qupé Wine Cellars ~ Rancho Sisquoc ~ Riverbench Vineyard & Winery ~ Rusack Vineyards ~ Sanford Winery ~ Sierra Madre Vineyard ~ Solomon Hills Vineyards ~ Talley Vineyards ~ Thomas Fogerty Winery & Vineyard ~ Toretti’s Family Vineyard ~ Wente Vineyards ~ William James Cellars