On Wednesday, March 8, more than a dozen of Santa Barbara County’s women winemakers will gather around tables in solidarity and camaraderie to celebrate International Women’s Day with wine, cuisine and good company.
The evening runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at K’Syrah Catering & Events’ new venue, 478 4th Place in downtown Solvang.
Tickets, at $75 each, are all-inclusive and available via https://womenwinemakersdinner.eventbrite.com
Only 75 tickets will be sold, which guarantees attendees and intimate evening with winemakers and chefs.
The evening will benefit the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County.
The dozen-plus female winemakers will be joined by some of the Santa Ynez Valley’s most inventive female chefs, who are creating a five-to-seven course meal to pair with their colleagues’ wines.
Among the wineries participating as of today are Buttonwood, Cambria, Casa Dumetz, Cebada, Dreamcote, Fiddlehead, Harrison-Clark, Kitá, La Montagne, Lepiane, Lumen, Nagy, Rideau, Rusack, Sanford, Story of Soil and William James Cellars. Additional wineries are expected to join up in coming weeks.
Creating the menu will be Chef Pink of Bacon & Brine, Chef Brooke of the Union Hotel, Cheese monger Janelle McAtamney and Baker Amy Dixon of The Baker’s Table.
While the national percentage of female winemakers is about 10 percent, Santa Barbara has a much higher rate of women winemakers — nearly double the national average.
Despite its reputation as a glamorous and romantic industry, winemaking is hard, dirty work.
A typical day during harvest requires rising before the sun, hauling wine hoses and wrangling barrels in the cellar, all the while utilizing sensory skills to craft balanced and elegant wines.
At day’s end, winemakers swap boots and jeans for business attire and hit the road to sell their wares across the nation Many women winemakers accomplish all of this while raising families and staying active within their communities.
“International Women’s Day has traditionally focused on labor and work conditions,” said participating winemaker Karen Steinwachs, general manager/winemaker at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard, and the owner/winemaker of Seagrape Wine Company.
She anticipates that the March 8 dinner will be “a kinder and gentler protest” against the current administration.
The theme for the 2017 International Women’s Day is “Be Bold for Change,” according to the website.
“During these turbulent political times, we believe people can come together if we simply sit down at a table with wine and a meal,” said Kathy Joseph, owner and winemaker at Fiddlehead Cellars. “
The beneficiary, the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County, a giving circle whereby individuals combine money and/or time so that they can have a bigger impact on the causes most important to them – more so than they would by donating individually.
Since its inception in 2007, the organization has given an average $104,000 back to the community every year, according to its website.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated since 1911.
Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for www.centralcoastwinepress.com