Wine is the Opening Act: New Series for Hollywood Bowl Goers is Free

by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 7/20/17

Caroline Styne at the Hollywood Bowl (credit: Paul Devlin, Sodexo)

For many Hollywood Bowl concert goers this summer, a new wine series is like music to their ears.

As of late July, visitors to what is one of the hottest concert venues in L.A. are getting a chance to sip before they sit. The Wednesday Winemaker Series features upscale, hand-crafted wines poured by the people who made them, and it’s complimentary. A few weeks ago, for example, guests tasted Ojai Vineyard wines poured by winemaker Fabien Castel and boutique international selections by Garber & Co.’s Sandy Garber before the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a cavalcade of guests paid tribute to Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.

“I feature wines at that are made by artisan domestic and international producers that are fairly small production and that grow their grapes with attention to environmental sustainability,” says Caroline Styne, the four-time James Beard Restaurateur of the Year nominee who handpicked all the wines featured this summer. “This winemaker series allows me to bring the winemakers themselves to the Bowl, to interact with our ticket holders and bring our guests more deeply into the wine experience. It definitely makes the wine life at the Bowl more intimate and individualized.”

The Hollywood Bowl (photo courtesy of Travelzoo)

The series is the latest chapter in what’s been a culinary renaissance at the Hollywood Bowl – a revolution of gourmet proportions led by Styne and her business partner, celeb chef and James Beard Award winner Suzanne Goin. The pair took over the Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine project last year, and foodies have flocked to the Bowl ever since as much for the fare as for the music.

Goin and Styne are a draw in and of themselves, to be sure; the pair has been an L.A. gastronomic powerhouse ever since they launched their flagship restaurant, Lucques, in 1998. But at the Bowl, the proof is in the pudding, and the two have total creative control over the more than a dozen food and wine concepts that are now an integral part of the Hollywood Bowl experience. They run two restaurants, including the backyard, where al fresco dining is fueled by two wood-burning grills and a menu of summer salads, grilled meats and seafood and an extensive raw bar. At The Wine Bar at a.o.c., artisanal charcuterie and farmers’ plates are matched with an impressive wine list curated by Styne.

the backyard at The Hollywood Bowl (photo courtesy the L.A. Phil)

Also on the Bowl menu for Goin and Styne: Supper in Your Seats, pre-order and customizable three-course dinners that visitors can enjoy at their box seats; Lucques at the Circle, full service dining for upper-tier subscribers; Kitchen 22, made-to-order American standards like burgers and sandwiches; Buzz McCoy’s Marketplace and Sushi, a west-of-stage option featuring grab-and-go sandwiches and salads along with premium sushi; and a slew of street food kiosks that specialize in everything from BBQ, tacos and pizza to gourmet snacks like popcorn and nachos. Goin and Styne are also charged with the popular picnic pre-orders and the brand new  Plaza Marketplace inside the renovated Box Office Plaza, with options like rotisserie chicken, barbecued beef brisket, cheese plates, craft beers and wines.

Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine is part of a 10-year contract with Goin and Styne that ends in 2025 and is a joint partnership with the L.A. Philharmonic Association and the corporate services company, Sodexo Sports & Leisure.
 

This "Moroccan Feast" is available from the Supper in Your Seats menu (credit: Dylan + Jeni)

The Wednesday Winemaker Series is another perk for concert goers, but also a boon for winemakers. Sure, with the Bowl’s seating capacity of about 17,000, they could have plenty of pouring to do. But this puts them before a captive audience that trends toward the sophisticated, toward spending more on products they love and toward appreciating artists. And for the mostly Santa Barbara-based winemakers featured this summer, it also connects them with the holy grail of drive market consumers: Angelenos.

Gray Hartley will pour at the Bowl Aug. 30 (credit: Bob Dickey)

“I happen to feel that some of the most exciting domestic wine development is happening in Santa Barbara and along the Central Coast,” Styne told me this week. “There are a number of talented people really making their mark in that area and making really fantastic wines. I think that a lot of people here in Los Angeles are taking notice of this and are excited about supporting local winemakers.  And yes, these people also happen to be super lovely humans and their wines are some of my personal favorites!”

The Wednesday Winemaker Series continues through September 13th. Santa Barbara-inspired highlights include: Chad Melville of Melville Winery pouring ahead of a concert by Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington on Aug. 23; Gray Hartley of Hitching Post Wines sharing his wines before jazz greats Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and Lake Street Dive take the stage on Aug. 30; and Black Sheep Finds, the masterminds behind the Sta. Rita Hill's Hocus Pocus and Holus Bolus labels, pouring before a star-studded jazz tribute to Quincy Jones on Sep. 6.

Winemakers pour and mingle with guests at the Plaza Marketplace from 5-7pm, with concerts beginning at 8pm. Featured wines are also poured at the bar in front of Kitchen 22.

For more information on how Goin and Styne have transformed dining at the Hollywood Bowl, visit hollywoodbowl/foodandwine.

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Viva El Vino: Downtown Santa Barbara Wineries for Fiesta Visitors

by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
photos by Bob Dickey
story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 8/3/17

If you’re one of the thousands who’ve descended on Santa Barbara for Fiesta this week, you probably already know – this is a wine lover’s haven. The wines coming out of here are some of the best in all of California. And, between margaritas, the opportunities to savor them abound.

Downtown is home to a handful of working wineries, too – small but fully equipped facilities where grapes are crushed, put in barrel and transformed into wine over many months and years. Following are three winery destinations not to miss, which offer the chance not only to sip the afternoon away but to meet the guys who make the wines face to face. These should really be a teaser, though – motivation to discover the vineyards and estates that grow the world class grapes that birth these wines. They’re only about 40 minutes up the coast, over those mountains that cradle this lovely city, in towns with names like Los Olivos, Los Alamos and Santa Ynez. They’re well worth extending your stay here well after Old Spanish Days are over, especially since, with grape harvest already underway, the vines are at their most spectacular now.


Drake Whitcraft

Or come back. Even after the parades end, the music stops and the mercados close, Santa Barbara – and its wine culture – remains one of the California’s destination gems.

Whitcraft Winery
You’ll find history here. The late Chris Whitcraft could be considered one of the founding fathers of the Santa Barbara wine industry and his son, Drake, continues the tradition today. There’s an obsession here with remaining hands-off and allowing the grapes to show off. No pumping, no fining, no filtering, no enzymes, no watering the wine down. Foot stomping. Gravity racking. Whole cluster fermentation. A lot of fancy terms that, instead of me wasting words defining here, Drake would be happy to showcase for you in person. Bottom line: you’ll find some of the area’s most exciting pinots, chardonnays and syrahs here, along with a bevy of lesser known varieties (ever had gamay?). The tasting room is steps from the ocean. And when you go, say hi to Terra, the winery dog. Whitcraft Winery, 36-A S. Calle Cesar Chavez. 805-730-1680. Whitcraftwinery.com.



Dave Potter (my pic)

Potek Winery
Dave Potter made a name for himself first with Municipal Winemakers, the hip and affordable label that pours inside a converted dive shop in the Funk Zone; the bar here is open late on weekends. With Potek, Potter pays homage to his Romanian great-grandfather, whose name was changed from Potek to Potter when he landed on Ellis Island 100 years ago. The winery is inside a slick new complex called The Mill, near Santa Barbara’s eastside, where Potter cranks out high-end wines from extra special vineyards. The single-vineyard pinots are awesome, and the Rhone selections – grenache and syrah – are among the area’s very best. Tasting here is a sophisticated yet approachable experience. Take a bottle of Sta. Rita Hills bubbly with you, if it’s not sold out. Potek Winery, 406 Haley Street #1.  805-770-5105. Potek.com.

Ryan and Jessica Carr

Carr Winery
Ryan Carr was managing some of the area’s top vineyards before he turned to making wine, so the guy knows grapes. His wines are consistently good, all made from grapes that Carr grows himself, and crafted with a knack for reflecting a sense of place. The portfolio here is diverse, showcasing the diversity of microclimates in this area that generate a wide range of quality wines, including cabernet franc, pinot noir and grenache. The space itself is cool – a round 1940s quonset hut anchored by a wrap-around bar that’s surrounded by towering barrels. Wine aside, this winery has become a social hot spot, regularly hosting live music events. Carr Winery, 414 N. Salsipuedes St. 805-965-7985. Carrwinery.com.

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BREAKING: Santa Barbara's Wine Grape Harvest is Underway

by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
August 4, 2017


Doug Margerum, right, and his team

Winemaker Doug Margeum announced Thursday, August 3rd, that the 2017 wine grape harvest in Santa Barbara has begun.

"Low yields and a very steep rocky section at McGinley Vineyard resulted in perfectly ripe sauvignon blanc grapes," he tells me. McGinley Vineyard is in the Happy Canyon AVA, in the dependably warm eastern stretches of the Santa Ynez Valley.

"It's about the same time as harvest has been the last few years."


Norm Yost and Cooper

The crew at the Margeum winemaking facility in  Buellton, including winemaker Michael Miroballi and assistant winemaker Lucas Meisinger, toasted harvest's inception with bubbles, sipping on Billecart-Salmon Rosé, as they've done for the last 17 harvests.

Other winemakers will be following suit soon enough.

Flying Goat Cellars' Norm Yost, along with wife Kathleen and their dog Cooper, have been scoping out grapes at Bien Nacido Vineyard, which barely escaped the fast-moving Alamo Fire last month.

Yost expects to "pull the trigger" on pinot noir cone 115 next week -- grapes he'll use for his popular lineup of sparkling wines.


Willson Family Vineyards pinot

"We find no evidence of smoke taint," Yost's team announced in an email blast this week. "Bright acid and racy cherry flavors are expressed early in the fruit this vintage."

In Carpinteria, my friend and budding vintner Tyler Willson plans on picking his pinot noir next Tuesday. His lovely Willson Family Vineyard, located in Shepard Mesa, is planted to one acre of pinot noir, and the wine is made by Fabien Castel, assistant winemaker at Ojai Vineyards.

More to come, cheers!

For more wine, food and travel news, follow me on Twitter and Instagram!


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