Vintners Festival 2.0: Wineries to Host New and Improved Weekend Event

By Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo

Photos by Bob Dickey and Kirk Irwin

(published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 2/27/14)

This is not your grandfather’s Vintners Festival.

The annual springtime, wine-fueled weekend has been drawing thousands of consumers for more than 30 years.  It’s sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, which recently rebranded itself as Santa Barbara Vintners.  And, to acknowledge a changing demographic and an inevitable need to reinvent as a means to stay fresh, it’s getting a dramatic makeover. 

“Our goal was to take it beyond a three-hour consumer tasting and, instead, create four days of unique wine country events,” says Morgen McLaughlin, the Vintners’ executive director.  “We wanted to present programs that capture the essence of Santa Barbara, as well.”

Hitching Post II's Frank and Bob Ostini, Vintners Fest 2013 (Kirk Irwin)

This year’s “Spring Weekend” is scheduled for April 10-13 at various locations throughout the county.  The landmark Saturday afternoon tasting will take place at a new location – the sprawling River View Park in Buellton – and will feature more than 120 wineries and food purveyors.  But the new ancillary events on surrounding dates are designed with wow factor in mind, too, including a golf tournament with Sideways author Rex Pickett, a high-profile educational seminar series and a closing wine picnic and concert.

Much of what’s new and exciting about this historic wine affair has to do with the Vintners’ new partnership with Relevé Unlimited.  The locally based, full-service destination management company beat out several other professional event planners to land a five-year contract that includes production of myriad consumer-focused wine events, including the newly-imagined Spring Weekend.  This is the first time the vintners group has brought on a third party event producer.

“I realized that if we’re going to continue to be successful, we needed to partner with a company that specializes in event management and execution,” says McLaughlin, whose first day on the job as head of the local vintners group was last year’s Vintners Festival tasting.  “It’s a way to position ourselves to be successful for the next 20 years.”

Relevé, owned by Diane and Fleet Hamilton, has been in event planning business for more than 20 years.  With a physical office inside Bacara Resort, it works with many local properties to design unique experiences for consumers attending meetings and incentive programs in the Santa Barbara area.  This year, it’s putting its money where its mouth is, by funding all of the events that surround Saturday’s main tasting event.

“We love to see all the enthusiasm that’s building in the community,” says Mrs. Hamilton, who admits early sales are outpacing last year, thus far.  “But now we have the uphill road to make sure all tickets sell.”

Winemaker Ryan Carr and wife Jessica, Vintners Fest 2013 (Bob Dickey)

The four-day fete begins Thursday, April 10^th, with an all-day golf tournament ($190) at Sandpiper in Goleta, hosted by Sideways author Rex Pickett (2014 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Oscar-winning film based on the book).  Popular food trucks like Georgia’s Smokehouse and the Burger Bus will fuel players as local wineries quench their thirst throughout the course.  That evening, consumers have two opening night dining event options: a sunset sail wine dinner from the Santa Barbara Harbor aboard the famous Channel Cat catamaran ($200) or a Sta. Rita Hills wine dinner at Industrial Eats in Buellton ($175).

Friday, April 11^th, will see the premiere Wine Education Seminar Series ($250), a group of vintner-led classes that focus on sparkling wine, a comparison of Santa Barbara County’s five AVAs, a vertical wine tasting and a comparison of wines produced by different winemakers but from the same source – the legendary Bien Nacido Vineyard.  The 9am-3pm event at Hotel Corque in Solvang will be moderated by Clos Pepe winemaker Wes Hagen and include a wine luncheon prepared by Root 246 Restaurant.

The Qupe table, Vintners Fest 2013 (Bob Dickey)

Five properties, including Hilliard Bruce and Refugio Ranch, will be hosting vintner-led vineyard hikes Friday (all from 1-3pm and $80) with food and wine stations throughout the trek.  And Friday night will offer consumers a pair of choices, too: Buellton Bodegas, a custom production facility that houses popular labels like Casa Dumetz and Dragonette, will host a barrel toasting and barrel tasting event ($100) while the waterfront Rotunda at the Fess Parker DoubleTree Hotel in Santa Barbara will host a multi-course dinner featuring only 90+-point Santa Barbara wines ($150, $175 with Champagne reception).

Naturally, the signature event on Saturday, April 12^th, will be the three-hour consumer event at River View Park ($85).  It’s been re-branded the “Grand Tasting” this year, to quell the party vibe it may have developed over the last few years and to better highlight the rare opportunity this is to taste wines by every one of the Vintners’ 100-plus members.  It’s been expanded to include an Art Walk and a Farmers Market Pavilion.  And for the first time ever – and this is huge for consumers – wines will be available for purchase on the spot. 

The Carhartt Vineyards table, Vintners Fest 2013 (Bob Dickey)

“This has been taboo for a long time,” admits Mr. Hamilton, who worked closely with the state’s department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to get special retail licensing.  “But now consumers can taste and buy what they like all day long.”  Volunteers armed with iPads will take virtual orders throughout the afternoon, which will then be packaged at an onsite warehouse and even loaded into cars as visitors leave.  A major convenience for consumers doubles as a major financial boon for wineries.

Saturday will also see special events at wineries like Zaca Mesa, Brander and Lucas & Lewellen.  The Ballard Inn will host a dinner with winemaker Rick Longoria ($125).  And Grassini Vineyards in Happy Canyon will host the weekend’s signature culinary event: a lakeside feast among the vines featuring some of Santa Barbara’s more cultish labels, including the event’s only chance to taste through the very limited-production Sea Smoke wines ($275).

The weekend’s closer takes place Sunday, April 13^th at Fess Parker Winery – a farm to table picnic on the sprawling grounds along Foxen Canyon Road and live music by Jamestown Revival, the buzzed-about folk- and blues-music ensemble that played Conan O’Brien’s late night TV show just last month. 

Au Bon Climat and Kalyra will also host special open house and tour events on Sunday.

Through already heightened media outreach this year, organizers expect the weekend to draw 5000 visitors from all over the country, especially the coveted consumer market of L.A.

For tickets and more information on what is poised to become one of the very best wine events in the industry, check out www.sbvintnersweekend.com.  

Appetizers, Vintners Fest 2013 (Bob Dickey)

Pinot-Palooza: Major Wine Event Makes Move to Santa Barbara

By Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
Photos by Bob Dickey, wineguydotcom@yahoo.com 
(published in the Santa Barbara News-Press 2/13/14)

One of the most significant wine events in the state has just made a strategic move: it’s coming to the South Coast.

The World of Pinot Noir – or WOPN for short – has been drawing an impressive roster of wine experts, and a growing number of consumers, for the last 13 years.  But drawing them to Shell Beach, a lovely coastal stretch in San Luis Obispo County.  And while the region is well known for producing world class wines, including pinot noir, “it was time for a change,” says winemaker Norm Yost.

Yost is this year’s elected President of the WOPN Board, and a remarkable pinot producer in his own right.  His Flying Goat Cellars label, based in Lompoc, produces some 2500 cases of sell-out pinot noir a year; pinot from the Santa Maria Valley and the Sta. Rita Hills also feature prominently in some of his sparkling wines, like the Goat Bubbles Rosé and the Goat Bubbles Blanc de Noir. 

The thirsty crowd at WOPN

Like hundreds of people from Santa Barbara County, and from counties to the south, Yost has always made the yearly pinot pilgrimage to Shell Beach eagerly.  But 2014 required WOPN, which represents producers in both SLO and Santa Barbara Counties, to be “new and different,” Yost told me this week.  “There are multiple events we need to compete with now, which means we needed to shake things up a bit.  Plus, our demographic is further south, so being closer to L.A., and being closer to a bigger airport, made sense.  And hey: it’s the 10-year anniversary of Sideways, so we thought, ‘Let’s take it to Santa Barbara!’”

WOPN descends on the deluxe Bacara Resort & Spa in just over two weeks – February 28^th and March 1st – with the intent to highlight pinot noir’s personality and potential through seminars, tastings and exclusive dinners. The Bacara pick was strategic and smart; it is, easily, one of the most desirable event venues in the county, with its ample space, modern amenities and sweeping ocean views (something that’s already become synonymous with the WOPN wine tasting experience).  It also allows a critical customer base from markets like Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to make the logistical decision to attend much more easily.

To be sure, the Bacara move paid off quickly.  “For the first time, we offered a few VIP packages early on – with full access, like the Platinum Pass at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival -- and they went over huge, sold out right away,” says Yost. 

Legendary pinot noir maker Richard Sanford at WOPN

Many of the weekend’s high-profile events are already sold out, too, like a seminar dubbed “Parallels of the 47^th Parallel,” comparing pinots from two regions that share a latitude – Oregon and Burgundy – but that are made a world apart.  Tickets to a pair of VIP dinners inside Bacara’s Miro Restaurant wine cellar – one pouring stars from Burgundy and one showcasing Santa Barbara County’s cultish Sea Smoke Cellars – are also gone.

But a handful of experiences still have openings, including the Grand Tastings on Friday and Saturday, which are a must for any WOPN newbie.  These sprawling affairs will feature more than 100 pinot producers from around the world, and a totally different lineup of pourers each day.  This is an unprecedented chance to taste some of the very best pinots in the world – celebrated renditions from our own backyard, of course – wineries like Presqu’ile, Sawyer-Lindquist, Bien Nacido, Au Bon Climat, Hitching Post, Paul Lato, Foxen – as well as from regions like British Columbia, New York’s Finger Lakes, New Zealand, Spain and Chile.  Both afternoon tastings will take over Bacara’s Grand Ballroom and sea-view terraces, and tickets are $110; an extra $15 gets you early admission, which does allow for better one-on-one with the winemakers.

There are also a few seats left for the “Hollywood & the Vine” Seminar, a four-hour experience slated for 10am Saturday that will explore pinot’s starring role on the silver screen.  High-profile industry hits like Oscar-winning Sideways and the recent SOMM documentary will be discussed by panelists led by Sunset Magazine wine editor Sara Schneider.  A multi-course luncheon by Chef (and renowned pinot noir maker) Frank Ostini from Buellton’s Hitching Post II  -- a veritable set for many memorable Sideways scenes – will follow.  Ticket are $130.

(By the way: guests of either Grand Tasting will have free access to Bacara’s high-tech, 211-seat Screening Room, which will be playing Sideways and SOMM back to back throughout the weekend – a chance to step back from the crowd for all or just a few minutes of each film.)

The seminars usually sell out at WOPN

For an expert take on the marriage between pinot noir and food, the Gala Dinner on Saturday night will kick off with a bounty of pinot-driven sparkling wine producers and then feature myriad gourmet food stations paired with classic pinot noir from around the world.  Guests will mingle with local chefs and winemakers from producers like Babcock Winery, Miner Wines, Saintsbury, Hahn Estate and New Zealand Winegrowers.  This feast starts at 7pm and tickets are $165.

Of course, WOPN’s new venue this year will allow a lot of us – for the first time – to make the decision to attend just one, or a couple, or all of the featured events.  And transportation to and from Bacara has gotten extra attention this year, too, with a handful of Goleta hotels offering shuttle service and the new app-based car pickup service, Uber, offering a $25 discount on your first ride (you’ll need to register with the promo code “pinot” at uber.

For more information, a full lineup of participants and tickets, log on to WOPN.

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Vintners Score: Auction Sets $1 Million Record

By Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
Photos by Amy Graves, Getty Images

The numbers just came in and the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation has done it: they’ve met their ambitious $1 million fundraising goal -- and set a brand new event record -- at the 2014 Santa Barbara Wine Auction.

The Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, hosted the extravaganza on February 22nd at Bacara Resort & Spa, which offered a spectacular backdrop for a night attended by the industry’s who’s who and marked by once-in-a-lifetime lifestyle packages that generated thrilling bidder battles.

Emcee (and The Bachelor host) Chris Harrison and Santa Barbara vintner (and former Bachelor) Andrew Firestone

Emcee Chris Harrison and my lovely wife, Renee (credit: Me)

Winemaker Sonja Magdevski and actor Emilio Estevez

Actress Jane Lynch

Lisa Babcock and winemaker Brian Babcock

Presqu'ile vintners Amanda and Matt Murphy

Firestone, Me, Harrison (credit: my lovely wife)

Rick and Diana Longoria of Longoria Wines were honored as Pioneer Vintners and Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines (including local vineyards Byron and Cambria) was recognized as a Distinguished Vintner.   

Chris Harrison, host of ABC’s The Bachelor, emceed and celeb attendees included actors Jane Lynch, Emilio Estevez, Shiri Appleby, Joanna Kerns and Susan Sullivan, as well as former Bachelor and Santa Barbara vintner Andrew Firestone.  

The biennial auction started in 2000 and has now raised well more than $3 million for Goleta-based Direct Relief, which famously leverages its partner network to turn every donated dollar into $30 of medicines and medical supplies.  Outreach is global, earmarked for needy families from Santa Barbara County and each of the 50 states to disaster-ravaged communities around the world.  Learn more at at www.directrelief.org. 

The next Santa Barbara Wine Auction will take place in 2016.

The red carpet at the 2014 Santa Barbara Wine Auction

Sold! High-Profile Wine Auction to Benefit Direct Relief

By Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
(published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 2/15/14)

The bar’s been raised as high as the stakes: a record-setting $1 million.

Organizers of the upcoming Santa Barbara Wine Auction say a sell-out crowd should help them reach an ambitious goal at what’s become one of the country’s premier culinary fundraisers.  “It’s definitely one of the most prestigious parties in town,” admits Frank Ostini, President of the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation, the fete’s organizer and the philanthropic arm of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association.  “There’s a strong urge to hang out with the vintners, but it’s also about Direct Relief.”

Set for Saturday, February 22^nd, from 5pm at Bacara Resort, this now eight biennial event has benefitted the Goleta-based charity since day one.  In fact, when the Foundation hosted the premier auction in 2000, the $125,000 raised that year allowed the nonprofit to meet a six-figure fiscal shortfall, and to remain solvent.  Direct Relief’s portfolio of giving is legendary within the charities industry, notably leveraging relationships with pharmaceutical and shipping companies to translate every donated dollar to approximately $30 in medicines and services that are distributed locally, domestically and around the world. 

“Do the math,” says Mr. Ostini.  “We’ve raised $2 million with our auctions so far and are hoping to raise another million this year.  That’s $90 million worth of goods and services distributed all over the world.  It just makes us feel good.”

Winemaking duo Steve Clifton and Greg Brewer at the 2012 Santa Barbara Wine Auction (credit: Isaac Hernandez)

Famously, the Santa Barbara Wine Auction has done that – it has met and even surpassed monetary goals every time – by focusing on the wow factor.  The dial is cranked up to spectacular.  And the energy among the bidders is fierce, thanks to auction lots that are, really, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Among the star attractions on this year’s live auction roster:

• The Sideways 10-Year Reunion: On the 10^th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film that helped put Santa Barbara pinot noir on the map, Chef Frank Ostini is hosting a multi-course dinner at his famous Hitching Post II restaurant in Buellton, which was featured prominently in the movie.  Wines featured in the film (and mostly unavailable now), like the 2001 Hitching Post pinot noir, will be poured.  Key players from the movie will be there to share moviemaking memories, including director Alexander Payne and actress Virginia Madsen.  And guests take home a limited-edition commemorative Sideways Reunion wine, a joint effort by Mr. Ostini and Au Bon Climat winemaker Jim Clendenen.  Tables of 10 to this dinner will go to the five highest bidders.

• A Blending Weekend with Beckmen and Qupe: These two Santa Barbara wine powerhouses farm their wine grapes biodynamically and are offering this unique lot as a weekend to remember for four.  Two nights at the Beckmen Vineyard Estate Cottage in the Santa Ynez Valley includes meals at Bell Street Farms, the gourmet Qupe/Au Bon Climat winery kitchen and the Hitching Post II.  But the clincher here is the opportunity to blend your own barrel of wine – 264 bottles.  And mastering the blend makes the winner an instant star, since the wine will then be featured at the 2016 Santa Barbara Wine Auction.

• VIP Catalina Island Getaway: Ballard Canyon’s Rusack wine label has stirred up quite the buzz with its ambitious winemaking project on Santa Catalina Island.  This lot whisks four people to Long Beach to board a private helicopter for the famous island 26 miles across the sea.  Two nights’ deluxe accommodations come with most meals, a zip line experience and a private Hummer tour of the exclusive Rusack Santa Catalina Vineyards.  The parting gift is a case of the chardonnay, pinot noir and zinfandel made under this coveted label. 

• Luxury Mexican Escape: The award-winning Esperanza Resort is, easily, one of the most desirable properties in Cabo San Lucas.  This auction item locks in a week-long getaway here for eight, with accommodations in a magnificent four-bedroom, 5000-square-foot Ocean View Villa, complete with full-time butler service and access to the resort’s private beach, infinity pool and daily yoga classes.

And the awe-inspiring list goes on, with options to win Skybox seats to an April bout between the Lakers and the Clippers at Staples Center, a week-long culinary extravaganza in Nantucket and VIP seats to the Project Runway Season 13 Finale, live at New York’s Lincoln Center (an experience that includes airfare, hotel stays, makeup and hairstyling sessions before the event and a meet-and-greet with show star Heidi Klum).

Bidders need not be present to wine, actually.  Absentee bidding forms can be downloaded from the event’s web site -- www.sbwineauction.com -- and are due February 19^th.

Dozens of silent auction items – also one-of-a-kind wine- and lifestyle-driven experiences – will also be up for grabs.

And the brio continues on the floor, with Chris Harrison, host of TV’s popular The Bachelor, taking on emcee duties (local vintner Andrew Firestone, one of the original bachelors on the show, will also be there) and star chefs Vinny Totolo and Jon Shook, the celebrated duo behind hot L.A. eats like Animal and Son of a Gun, matching Santa Barbara’s best wines throughout the night.

The event’s move to Bacara Resort this year allows for a bigger capacity crowd – close to 600 people; the 2012 Auction took place at Four Seasons The Biltmore Resort’s Coral Casino and was emceed by actor and Montecito resident Billy Baldwin.

Thomas Tighe, President and CEO of Direct Relief (left) with "Glee" actress Jane Lynch and Billy Baldwin, actor and emcee of the 2012 Santa Barbara Wine Auction (credit: Mark Semegen)

“This is the biggest event that we put on, and we’re thrilled with the auction items this year,” says Hannah Rael, media relations associate at Direct Relief.  The group was established locally in 1948 and has done outreach in the form of medical supplies and services to need people in 70 countries.  Its biggest international project currently is a response to Typhoon Haiyan, which struck The Philippines in early November and left more than 6200 people dead and millions homeless.  Three months in, Direct Relief has made 20 deliveries – 120 tons of medicines worth more than $10 million.

Its domestic efforts have grown dramatically, too, especially recently.  So much so, that the organization tinkered with its name last year – Direct Relief International became Direct Relief – to better mirror its locally-driven efforts.  The group is currently the only nonprofit in the United States licensed to distribute pharmaceuticals in all 50 states.  And when Ms. Rael spoke with me last Friday, volunteer teams inside the S. La Patera Lane warehouse were shipping out dental kits for families in need throughout Santa Barbara County.

Proceeds from this year’s auction are specifically earmarked for maternal and child health projects around the world, “to pay for safe births, emergency obstetric care and midwives,” says Ms. Rael.  “It costs $25 to help ensure a safe birth [in third world countries], so raising a million dollars will equal quite a few healthy moms and babies.”

And “that’s why our work with this auction is so important,” adds Mr. Ostini.  “Leveraging relationships with their partners, and in the intelligent way that Direct Relief does it – they’ve done so well with the money we raise.”

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