This is it! April 19 through 21 is one of the best weekends of the year to visit Santa Barbara County’s more than 100 wineries because it’s Vintners’ Festival weekend, a time for wineries to open their doors, debut new releases, and make their winemakers available to the public.
This year, the main event, Saturday afternoon’s Vintners’ Fest grand tasting, returns to the historic Mission Santa Inés in Solvang.
It all started there in 1983 when, under the leadership of Bob Lindquist and Deborah Brown, 17 wineries held their first wine tasting festival to raise enough funds to print a wine tasting map so visitors could find the wineries.
Three decades later, the area has blossomed into a world-class wine region offering a plethora of outstanding events for out-of-towners and locals, such as weekends like this.
Some people will spend the whole weekend hopping from a winemaker dinner to a vineyard walk to the grand tasting to a grand opening.
“We try to produce a festival that enlightens the mind as well as lightens the spirit of those who attend,” said Jim Fiolek, the recently retired director of the county vintners’ association.
This year, the options are fantastic—and nearly every event gets you up close and personal with the actual winemaker.
Here is a look at several events that caught my eye:
• Join revered winemaker Bryan Babcock at his Sta. Rita Hills winery for the grand opening of what might be the “grooviest tasting room in Santa Barbara County.”
“We have transformed the room into a tasting lounge environment that is very cool,” Babcock wrote on his website.
His annual “Feast for the Senses” open house is on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out Babcock’s new retro lounge, taste current wine releases and barrel samples, and grab some featured wine offerings.
• There will be a winemaker’s luncheon catered by Fresco Valley Café on Saturday. Go to babcockwinery.com or call 736-1455 for lunch reservations. The winery is located at 5175 E. Highway 246, Lompoc.
• “Let the good times roll,” beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Rideau Vineyard, is where every day is Mardi Gras. New Orleans native and proprietor Iris Rideau will prepare Cajun/Creole cuisine paired with Rhone-inspired wines and live jazz, funk, and blues. Check out rideauvineyard.com. Rideau is located at 1562 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang.
• Visit Brander Winery’s Saturday open house from noon to 4 p.m. for an afternoon at the lovely estate located at 2401 Refugio Road, Los Olivos. Enjoy traditional Argentine barbecue, live music from flamenco guitarist Chris Fossek, and special wine tastings. Founder/winemaker Fred Brander is a Buenos Aires native. Go to brander.com for more information.
• Wine meets beer at Barrelworks in Buellton Saturday evening as Curtis Winery teams up with Firestone Walker Brewing Company at the inaugural “In the Barrel Room.”
• Meet the winemakers and beermakers and enjoy small dishes paired with both Curtis wines and rare, barrel-aged beer from Barrelworks. Buy tickets at Curtiswinery.com.
• Head to Los Alamos where the entire town will be celebrating its Third Saturday Evening Stroll Party from 4 to 8 p.m. All the shops, restaurants, and tasting rooms like Bedford and Casa Dumetz stay open late, and there will be an artisan farmers market.
• Start Sunday morning off with a stroll among the vines at Stolpman Vineyard in Ballard Canyon led by Tom and Pete Stolpman. A tasting of new Stolpman wine releases and a boxed picnic lunch will follow the 11 a.m. educational walk. Visit stolpmanvineyards.com for tickets.
• Cool off at Cold Heaven Cellars in Buellton with Morgan Clendenen’s “Sundaes on Sunday” spring open house featuring goat cheese ice cream paired with late harvest Viognier. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
• Au Bon Climat, Qupé, and Verdad open their winery doors to the public only two days a year. One such day is Sunday, April 21, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet the winemakers, Jim Clendenen and Bob and Louisa Lindquist, and sample dozens of wines while surrounded by the iconic Bien Nacido Vineyard. The cost is $20 per person. The winery is located at 4665 Santa Maria Mesa Road, Santa Maria. Call 937-9801 for more information.
• Clos Pepe opens its winery on Sunday offering a rare opportunity with respected winemaker/wine educator Wes Hagen.
“We are pouring 2010 sparkling wine and all our current releases (and some library wines!),” Hagen wrote in an e-mail to the Sun. “And I will be personally leading barrel tasting of the 2012s at noon, 1 and 2 p.m.”
Clos Pepe’s Sunday open house hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $10 per person. The winery is at 1273 W. Laurel Ave., Lompoc. Go online at clospepe.com.
• Also on Sunday, Flying Goat Cellars launches a “bubbles bar” in its tasting room at the Lompoc Wine Ghetto; the first sparkling wine bar in Santa Barbara County Goat Bubbles sparkling wines are among the best in the county. Taste a flight of all four during the grand opening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1520 E. Chestnut Court, Unit A. With sabre in hand, winemaker Norm Yost will demonstrate the art of sabrage and discuss the winemaking process.
• While at the Wine Ghetto, drop by Fiddlehead Cellars. Winemaker Kathy Joseph always has fun up her sleeve. Fiddlehead’s open house is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or a neophyte, go have a wine adventure in Santa Barbara County the weekend of April 19 through 21!
Many of the winemaker dinners and smaller private events are sold out already. For a complete listing of Vintners’ Fest events, go to sbcountywines.com.
Sun food and wine writer Wendy Thies Sell hopes to see you there! Contact her at wthies@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 18-25, 2013.
