Getting ready to jump...with wine...

I've been stacking up drafts of posts lately. 

Haven't finished the write-ups of the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Key to the Wine Country, or the delicious Wines of Naoussa at Faith and Flower. 

Haven't put the finishing touches on the Wineaux of the Goddess July taste of Slovenian wines, and most of all, haven't put together my thoughts about the engrossing and exhausting 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference.

Usually I can crank out a weekly post, while balancing my day job and extracurricular activities, but I'm stuck right now.

Santa Barbara Vintners Launches Key to Wine Country

Exclusive wine & food weekends in Santa Barbara Wine Country June 20-22 & December 6-8

BUELLTON, CA – The Santa Barbara Vintners is pleased to announce the dates and schedule of events for its new Key to Wine Country Experience Weekends June 20-22 and December 6-8, 2014.  These three day wine and food weekends throughout Santa Barbara Wine Country are a wine lover’s opportunity to unlock exclusive experiences and events at over thirty wineries and vineyards. The weekends are similar to passport programs, but more limited, exclusive, and hands-on. Keys are $100 per person per weekend and are limited to 500 sold. Complete details can be found at sbcountywines.com.

Wining with the Santa Barbara County Vintners...

The Goddess and JD got to attend the SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS SPRING WEEKEND that took place from April 10 - 13, 2014. We were only there on Saturday, the 12th, but many happy wine lovers were able to attend wine maker lunches and dinners, winery and tasting room open houses, vineyard walks, a golf tournament, a Farm-to-Table picnic and concert event, and the annual Vintners Festival Grand Tasting where over 100 member wineries gathered to present and sell their wines.  

The new location, at Buellton's River View Park, was delightful, and the weather cooperated brilliantly, with a cool, cloudy morning clearing to perfect blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. This event is HUGE. Besides the overwhelming number of wineries and their excellent wines, local restaurants provided delectable offerings of special foods, snacks and confections. Throw in an art show, a sensory demonstration from Allan Hancock College and the Relevé drone flying over the event taking pictures - there was something for everyone!

Miscellaneous wining...ZAP & Family Winemakers & some random thoughts...

In January, JD and I went north for ZAP - the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers 4-day event. Well, we didn't go for four days, we went for the Grand Tasting. It was immense - over 200 wineries all pouring Zinfandel from all over the world.

Some wineries, like Ian Blackburn's Beekeeper Cellars, poured one wine; others poured anywhere from 3 to 9 wines - all Zins! We were grateful to have been included as media, so that we were able to enter the tasting at 10 a.m., and we still tasted only a fraction of the wines by the time we left at 3:30 p.m. There were writers who reported within 24 - 48 hours that they had tasted hundreds of wines. By my reckoning, we tasted the fruits of around 40 wineries, so maybe we tasted 80 - 100 wines.

It was fascinating to taste the regional differences among all those Zins. I discovered that if I'm going to just sip a Zin, I want Zin from Paso Robles or Lodi, but if I'm going to pair it with food, I want a Zin from Dry Creek. I also realized - well, I knew this already - that I would rather taste fewer wines and have a bit more quality time with the winemakers to get the inside story about their passion and process.

VINTNERS WILL CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF THE 2012 VINTAGE

“Showcasing the Region’s Diversity… Annual Festival to be held in Santa Ynez Valley”
 

SANTA YNEZ, CA – The 100+ members of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association will herald the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new vintage at their 30th annual Vintners’ Festival on April 21, 2012.
 

The Festival will return to the Santa Ynez Valley on the pastoral grounds of “The Carranza”. “As the festival has grown over the past 30 years, we look for venues that not only will accommodate all of our vintners and guests, but that also showcase the stunning countryside that makes Santa Barbara County one of the most beautiful locations on earth”, states Jim Fiolek, Executive Director of the Association. “We’re excited about holding the Festival at “The Carranza”, a meadow tucked into a valley created by Zaca Creek as it leaves Foxen Canyon. We strive to move our venue to different areas every few years to allow our guests to see firsthand the many microclimates that support growing a diverse assortment of grape varieties.” The Carranza is located on Zaca Station Road between The Firestone Vineyards and Highway 154, northwest of Los Olivos, California.

Random wining...

Every time I complain that I don't have enough time to write about all my wine adventures, it just sounds like bragging...but JD and I have been all over the place!

8/20 - Showed some support for SSH at a small tasting of mostly local wines at J. Hamilton Wines (actually at The Plug Nickel) in Westlake Village, about whom there will be a separate post. Got to spend a bit of quality time chatting with noted winemaker, Norm Stafford, whose 2006 Humaliwo Ventureno blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc was full of chocolate and spice. Norm was the winemaker/consultant for several of the wineries there that day, and it was interesting to see how he dealt with different grapes and styles of wine.