03/28 MORGEN MCLAUGHLIN, SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS, SB VINTNERS SPRING WEEKEND, DOUG TIMEWELL, TOUCAN WINES, 27TH ANNUAL CULINARY EVENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINEMASTERS

MORGEN MCLAUGHLIN - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS - SB VINTNERS SPRING WEEKEND APRIL 21-24

SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS SPRING WEEKEND
APRIL 21 - 24, 2016

FESTIVAL  GRAND  TASTING
SATURDAY,  APRIL 23
RIVER  VIEW  PARK, BUELLTON

VINTNERS  VISA
The Vintners' Visa gives you one complimentary wine tasting at 12 different wineries throughout Santa Barbara County. The Visa lasts for the entire Spring Weekend starting on Thursday, April 21 - Sunday, April 24, 2016

VINTNERS  FESTIVAL
The Festival showcases over 100 Santa Barbara County wineries along with some of the best local food from restaurants, catering companies, and gourmet food creators in addition to music, art and related wine country vendors.

EVENT  CALENDAR
There are plenty of fun and exciting events taking place over the Spring Weekend. Check out winery open houses, special wine maker dinners or lunches, vineyard hikes, and more. Events will be added to the calendar at sbvintnersweekend.com

ABOUT SB COUNTY VINTNERS ASSOCIATION
The Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association is a non-profit organization (501c6) founded in 1983 to support and promote Santa Barbara County as a premium wine producing and wine grape growing region. The Vintners’ Association produces festivals, seminars, and wine tastings as well as providing information to consumers and the wine and travel media.

Through the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Foundation, the Association contributes to the community through local charitable, art and educational and scholarship organizations with proceeds from its various events, such as Santa Barbara Wine Auction, held every other year and benefitting Direct Relief International, and silent auctions at all the Association’s festivals.

ABOUT MORGEN MCLAUGHLIN: 
Morgen has been deeply involved in the wine and tourism industries since childhood through her family's various projects on the East Coast and Colorado.  Wanting to follow her own path outside of wine, Morgen graduated from Boston College with degrees in English and Secondary Education.  As she prepared to enroll in Graduate School, she was pulled back into the family wine business as the General Manager and eventual Co-owner of McLaughlin Vineyards.  After twelve years at the winery and diversifying the business into special events, direct to consumer initiatives and ag-tourism projects, she left to become the President and CEO of Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association in Corning, New York.  Morgen led the organization and region through six and a half years of tremendous growth and national and international visibility.  Morgen lives in Santa Barbara County with her husband (a fellow wine professional) and three sons. She currently serves on the Visit Santa Barbara Board of Directors, Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation Board of Directors, Santa Barbara County Agriculture Advisory

WWW.SBCOUNTYWINES.COM 
WWW.SBVINTNERSWEEKEND.COM


DOUG TIMEWELL –WINEMAKER AND GROWER, TOUCAN WINES - 27TH ANNUAL CULINARY EVENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINEMASTERS

$75 off if anyone uses the promo code “CRN2016”

Toucan Wines is a tiny estate micro-winery, where we produce hand-crafted, estate grown, premium Zinfandel and Petite Sirah wines in the Arroyo Grande Valley. Our limited production of estate wines from our 3½ estate vineyardtotal less than 300 cases per year.

AWARD WINNING AND HAND CRAFTED

Small by any standard, our micro-winery is focused onquality - it’s our limited production and attention to detail that set our wines apart. Our winery and estate vineyard, located next to our family home, produces full-bodied and richly flavored wines taking full advantage of what our old-clone vines and our microclimate have to offer.

Our vines, grafted from the 1923 planting of the highly regarded Benito Dusi vineyard, thrive by producing intensely colored and flavorful fruit in our microclimate of warm-to-hot days and cool nights. We marry this fabulous fruit with both traditional and modern winemaking on ascale that makes us one of the smallest wineries and estate vineyards in California.

ABOUT THE 27TH ANNUAL CULINARY EVENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINEMASTERS
Saturday, May 14th, 2016 6PM
at Warner Bros., “Midwest Street”

A wine tasting extraordinaire and spectacular hors d’oeuvres dinner benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. One of WINE SPECTATOR’S “TOP TEN U.S. CHARITY WINE AUCTIONS” will be held on the “Midwest Street” backlot at Warner Bros.

The California Winemasters is a perennial Wine Spectator Top 10 Charity Wine Auction set for May 14, 2016 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.  This extraordinary event showcases 50 international chefs and 75 of California’s Finest Wineries.  “Winemasters” has raised nearly $29 million in support of the mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The CF Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle.  It’s focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF and ultimately, to find a cure. The Foundation’s drug development success has been recognized by Harvard Business School and by publications such as Forbes, Discover Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Make your reservations NOW for this wine tasting extraordinaire and spectacular hors d’oeuves dinner!

WWW.TOUCANWINES.COM

03/14 BEN PAPAPIETRO, PAPAPIETRO PERRY WINERY, PASSPORT TO DRY CREEK VALLEY, AVERYL DUNN, WASHINGTON STATE WINE, TASTE WASHINGTON

BEN PAPAPIETRO - OWNER/WINEMAKER, PAPAPIETRO PERRY WINERY - PASSPORT TO DRY CREEK VALLEY (APRIL 23-24)

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS...
Our toolkit for success contained a garage, good friends, some old equipment, great enthusiasm, a burning passion for wine and a lot of humor. With those tools, some incredible Sonoma County grapes and the love and patience of our family and friends, we built Papapietro Perry Winery, one vintage at a time. We were also younger, our hair was darker, we might have been a tad thinner and the wine was still a work in progress. Enjoy this journey into our past.

VINEYARDS
Wine starts in the vineyard. Being passionate about our wines, we meticulously locate the best Pinot Noir and Zinfandel vineyards available. We know only superb vineyard sources allow us to produce the kind of wines we wants to drink and share with the world. Years of experience have led to the careful selection of these vineyards.
• Campbell RanchOpen or Close
• Charles VineyardOpen or Close
• Leras Family VineyardsOpen or Close
• Mukaida - Peters VineyardOpen or Close
• Nunes VineyardOpen or Close
• Peters Vineyard

WINEMAKING
When asked what style of wine we make, the response is always ‘great wines’.  After we’ve all laughed, the real answer emerges. After almost 30 years of winemaking, we still firmly believe in a minimalist approach—allowing the wine to express itself and reflect the growing season through the nuances that appear from vintage to vintage. For this to happen and to produce those ‘great wines’, it is vital to pay attention to every detail; carefully attending to every step of the winemaking process, yet always with a light hand. We don’t over-extract or over-oak our wines. We give the wines the fermentation and aging environments that allow them to become exceptional—so we can smell and taste what the fruit has to offer us.

Consistency is another element to our style. We cold-soak all the grapes for two to four days before fermenting, use the same cultured yeast and same type of François Frères barrels for 11-12 months of oak aging for our Pinot Noirs and 12-17 months for our Zinfandels. Our vineyard and clonal designates are all kept separate throughout the winemaking and aging process.  Midway through the aging process (usually around Spring) we taste through the barrels and blend the wines together to make the vineyard and Clonal designate wines.  Our winemaking team tastes through the wine in the barrels in order to determine which blend of clones and or vineyards allows the best flavors and nuances to show through.

What varies from year to year is how the growing season affects the flavor profile of the grapes. Our goal is to let the grapes speak through the finished wine. Those vintage differences are a piece of the charm in both winemaking and wine drinking.

BIOGRAPHY
A complex man with simple pleasures, high standards and soulful values.  Wine has always been a part of Ben's life. A native San Franciscan of Italian descent, Ben grew up with wine as part of every family meal and gathering. His grandpa made his own red wine blend in the basement, where Ben listened and learned. Ben's heritage and love for wine always beckoned. The passion caught fire in his early twenties as he explored wines from around the world—Bordeaux and an occasional high-end California Cabernet. But the wines that really turned Ben’s head were Burgundies from 1956 and '57. Seduced by those captivating aromas and elegant nuances, Ben volunteered to work during harvest at a friend's Sonoma County winery specializing in Pinot Noir. There he honed his craft and never looked back. During his 37-year career with the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, Ben met future partner Bruce Perry. Through their common passions—cooking and wine—they became fast friends.

Today, the Papapietro Perry cellar is simply a more elaborate version of Ben’s garage where he started making wine more than 25 years ago. "Authentic, not pretentious," says Ben. "Confident, but not too serious. Humble. The winery is an extension of my home and personal hospitality." Maybe that is why one corner of the cellar is dedicated to a makeshift kitchen where family favorites are prepared for the staff, and the occasional lucky friend who drops by at lunchtime. In Ben's words, "cooking and wine are indistinguishable." He simply cannot imagine one without the other.When Ben isn't in the cellar or the kitchen, he and his wife Yolanda like to travel and pour Papapietro Perry wines wherever they land. Yolanda joined the family business in 2009 handling distributor relations and enjoys pouring with Ben at events. When they're not traveling, Ben and Yolanda enjoy spending time with their two grandsons.

PASSPORT TO DRY CREEK VALLEY
Date - April 23 & 24, 2016
Time - 11:00 - 4:30
Location - Throughout Dry Creek Valley

WWW.DRYCREEKVALLEY.ORG

One of the premier events of the year!  Join us here at the winery for Passport to Dry Creek Valley as we celebrate New Orleans style transforming the winery into our very own jazz fest! Feast on Duck, Wild Mushroom & Andouille Sausage Gumbo over dirty rice, so delicious!! And it pairs amazingly with all of our Pinots and Zins. Something new this year for us.....we will be having an intimate Lunch with the Winemaker on Friday, April 22, tickets available at the same link as the general tickets.

WWW.PAPAPIETRO-PERRY.COM


AVERYL DUNN - COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, WASHINGTON STATE WINE –  TASTE WASHINGTON 

The Washington State Wine Commission represents every licensed winery and every wine grape grower in Washington State. Guided by an appointed board, the Commission provides a marketing platform to raise positive awareness of the Washington State wine industry and generate greater demand for its wines. Funded almost entirely by the industry - through assessments based on grape and wine sales - the Commission is a state government agency, established by the legislature in 1987.

MISSION STATEMENT
On behalf of the state of Washington and its wineries and growers, the mission of the Washington State Wine Commission is to raise awareness and demand for Washington State wine through marketing and education while supporting viticulture and enology research to drive industry growth.

TASTE WASHINGTON WINE MONTH
March 1, 2016 - March 31, 2016

Taste Washington Wine Month in March is an annual celebration of Washington State's award winning industry. Check out the promotions happening at participating restaurants, wine shops, winery tasting rooms, and hotels on the website. And don't forget, the culmination of Taste Washington Wine Month is Taste Washington - happening over four days, March 31st - April 3rd, 2016. Buy tickets or find a list of participating wineries, restaurants and exhibitors at tastewashington.org

ABOUT TASTE WASHINGTON
March 31-April 3, 2016

Each spring, thousands of wine and food-lovers gather in Seattle for Taste Washington, the nation’s largest single-region wine and food event. Taste Washington brings together over 225 wineries, 70 restaurants and 60 culinary exhibitors from across the region for the ultimate four-day experience.
The result of a continued partnership between Visit Seattle and the Washington State Wine Commission, Taste Washington will celebrate its 19th year March 31-April 3, 2016. Mark your calendar for this year’s expanded lineup featuring the Red & White Party, Taste Washington on the Farm, The New Vintage, Educational Seminars and the much-anticipated Grand Tasting.

WASHINGTONWINE.ORG  

TASTEWASHINGTON.ORG

03/07 MICHAEL MIROBALLI, MARGERUM WINE COMPANY, SHANE SOLDINGER, SILVER TRIDENT WINERY

MICHAEL MIROBALLI – WINEMAKER, MARGERUM WINE COMPANY 

DOUG MARGERUM SIGNS LONG-TERM LEASE ON HONEA VINEYARDS: VINEYARD TO BE DEDICATED TO RHÔNE VARIETALS
 
Margerum Wine Company has signed a long-term lease with Honea Vineyards for Margerum’s Rhône varietals wine production.  The vineyard will be grafted to Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Counoise and will be the primary source for Margerum’s well know M5 red wine blend.  Additionally, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and Picpoul Blanc will be grafted for a new Margerum wine, the M5 white Rhône varietal blend.  The hillside will be planted to Syrah and Viognier for a co-fermented Syrah to be added to Margerum’s single vineyard Syrah program.

Honea Vineyards is located in the newly designated Los Olivos District AVA in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Purchased in 2002, Honea Vineyards consists of 40 acres at 2201Alamo Pintado Road, the major wine country road running between the wine center town of Los Olivos and the Danish town of Solvang.  The acreage is divided between limestone hillsides and gravelly alluvial flatlands with three prominent hills leading up from the flat land along Alamo Pintado creek. Twenty acres have been planted in grapes and two in olive trees.

Margerum Wine Company creates handcrafted wines using only the highest quality grapes. Margerum makes wines that are indicative of the place where they are grown – wines that have individual characteristics, personality and that are made naturally.  The scale of production is kept at a level where they are touched and known; wine is raised to the bottle – the antithesis of mass production. The standards of quality are measured by Margerum’s criteria – not by external sources.  Margerum makes wines the founder and winemakers personally enjoy – some to drink young, all for the table, and others for long aging in cool cellars for the children to enjoy.

Margerum wines are made at a state-of-the-art winery located in the Santa Ynez Valley on Industrial Way in Buellton, California.  In addition to M5 (a Rhône varietal red blend), Margerum primarily produces vineyard Syrahs, a co-fermented Syrah called ÜBER, and SYBARITE Sauvignon Blanc. Margerum works with the top vineyards in Santa Barbara County to produce small lots of premium wines.

Trade
Margerum Wine Company produces limited quantities of wines made from grapes grown at the top vineyards from around Santa Barbara. We carefully select the vineyards with meticulous attention to detail in all factors influencing the ultimate quality of the wines, including pruning, soil, climate, and farming methods. Our valleys, which run east to west, is ideally situated to grow grapes that produce a higher acid wines with lower alcohols, fine textures, deep concentration and the capacity to age.From the cold valleys of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA which experience wind, fog, and low temperatures to the cool micro-climate of Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA where mid-morning fog lifts to sunshine and summertime temperatures in the low to mid-nineties, our  region allows us to produce wines unlike any other area in the world.

WWW.MARGERUMWINECOMPANY.COM


SHANE SOLDINGER – VP OF SALES, SILVER TRIDENT WINERY

HOSPITALITY:
Open seven days noon to 7:00 p.m.; reservations requested only for groups larger than six; tasting includes a minimum of four wines; cost per person is $25.00. Upstairs loft room available for special events.

WINE CLUB:
The Flagship Club offers members guaranteed allocations of the winery’s limited-release wines as well as complimentary tastings at the winery’s Tasting Home, as well as invitations to members-only special events and release parties. Most unusual member benefit is 15% discount on all Ralph Lauren Home purchases at the Tasting Home.

UNIQUE:
Silver Trident Tasting Home offers the wine country visitor something that’s truly never been done before. Elevating the traditional tasting room to a new level of luxury, the Tasting Home is furnished with Ralph Lauren Home products in the manner of a tasteful and elegant residential estate. Guests may enjoy the distinguished Silver Trident wines as they browse through the Home. The Tasting Home consists of a living room, dining room and library showcasing the furniture, floor coverings, lighting and tabletop accents from the Ralph Lauren Home collection. Everything from the chandeliers overhead to the carpets underfoot, from teak, silver and leather serving trays to crystal wine goblets - as well as the wines - is available for purchase. Alongside the wide range of Ralph Lauren Home products is a thoughtfully curated collection of antiques, books and artwork sourced from around the world.

THE NAME:
The winery’s name is a tribute to the owners’ long-standing affiliation with cruise ships. Bob Binder is the founder of Silver Trident Winery and also the co-founder of Oceania Cruises, a luxury cruise line which has partnered on projects with The Wine Spectator, Lalique, Bon Appétit Magazine and Ralph Lauren Home. The Culinary Director for Oceania Cruises is Jacques Pépin; the line is regarded as serving the finest cuisine at sea. The winery’s co-founder is Swiss-born Walter Jost, an accomplished advertising and media executive.

BIO:
Shane was bit by the ‘vino bug’ at an early age and claims that he was weaned on wine by his oenophile parents as a kid growing up in Chicago. After completing his second tax season as a young CPA in the ‘Windy City’, Shane moved to the Napa Valley to follow his passions and begin a career in the wine industry. An opportunity to work the 2000 harvest at Cosentino Winery eventually grew into a GM position. In 2011 Shane earned his sommelier certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers while working at Oenotri in Napa, recognized as one of the best Italian restaurants in the country by Food & Wine magazine. While there, Shane created one of the first successful restaurant based Direct to Consumer wine programs in the country, and in 2013 he became the Director of Sales and Marketing for Crocker & Starr Wines, one of the finest Cabernet Franc producers in the world. Shane is the newest member of The Silver Trident Winery team, joining Bob, Walter and Kari as the Vice President of Sales.

In addition to his passion for all things wine, Shane is an accomplished musician and songwriter. He has traveled the country with a rock n roll band, licensed songs for film and has shared the stage with some of the music industry’s top songwriters and performers. You can find Shane at The Silver Trident Home in Yountville, playing locally with his band, The Silverado Pickups, and enjoying Northern California with his family and their dog, Keith Richards.

WWW.SILVERTRIDENTWINERY.COM