Buellton winemaker Richard Sanford is the first Central Coast resident ever named to the California Vintners Hall of Fame.
The Culinary Institute of America has announced it will induct six top wine industry leaders at the sixth annual hall of fame ceremony in February 2012.
Sanford founded Sanford Winery and Alma Rosa Winery and planted the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard in the now red-hot Santa Rita Hills appellation east of Lompoc, essentially discovering and founding one of the most prestigious wine regions in the nation.
“He had a vision that perhaps no one else had and part of that vision was …a refusal to compromise,” said Jim Fiolek, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association, who has known Sanford for 40 years.
Sanford’s vision was shaped during his college years after a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.
“It was a great healing experience for me after the war, frankly, I met my wife-to-be, Thekla, at the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard, so it’s been an almost spiritual journey as well for me,” said Sanford.
Read more about his journey to the hall of fame and how his experience as a naval officer allowed him to find success in the vastly different wine business—in the Nov. 3 Sun.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2011.