Annual Wine & Fire weekend to honor, grace the Sta. Rita Hills growing region

Wine & Fire, the annual celebration of both vineyards and winemakers in Santa Barbara County's Sta. Rita Hills appellation, will take place Friday through Sunday, Aug. 17, 18 and 19 at several vineyard and winery sites.

While the Saturday morning seminar has sold out, some tickets for that evening's Grand Tasting at La Purisima Mission remain available, Clos Pepe winemaker and Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance (SRHWA) board member Wes Hagen noted in a Facebook post today (Friday, Aug. 10).

The SRHWA, comprised of the winemakers and vineyards within the 31,000-acre AVA, sponsors the weekend.

Sta. Rita Hills' claim to fame are the chardonnay and pinot noir grapevines that thrive on the cooler, marine layer-laden air that flows eastward up the bed of the Santa Ynez River and keeps temperatures cool (although this week, a high pressure front has pulled rank over the fog).

Locations for Wine & Fire's various events range from Kathy Joseph's Fiddlestix Vineyards on Santa Rosa Road, to La Purisima Mission and two wine-based eateries, Avant Tapas & Wine in Buellton, and D'Vine Wine Bar in Lompoc.

Barbara Satterfield, executive director of the SRHWA, urges those hoping to attend to purchase tickets quickly, as selected events have sold in during prior years, and likely will again. Sales of combination-event are limited to 250, according to staritahills.com.

Prices: Fee of $175 per person includes chardonnay and pinot noir seminar panels Saturday morning, lunch and evening Grand Tasting at La Purisima Mission, plus a VIP passport for two-day use at selected wineries and tasting rooms; combo ticket of $150 per person includes morning panels, lunch and VIP passport; and combo ticket of $100 per person includes Grand Tasting and VIP passport.

(The VIP Passport ticket will not be sold separately, organizers said).

Designated Driver tickets for the Grand Tasting are $50 per person.

During Saturday's seminars at Fiddlestix Vineyard, 10 winemakers who use grapes from the region will debate the merits of fruit that, they vow, flourishes in the foggy, windy and cool weather that is the Santa Rita and La Purisima hills' claim to fame.

Winemaker panelists are matched by grape varietal and include Bryan Babcock (Babcock); Dan Kessler (Kessler-Haak); Wes Hagen (Clos Pepe); Steve Fennell (Sanford) and Nikki Nelson (Liquid Farm) for chardonnay, and Ken Brown (Ken Brown); Frank Ostini (Hitching Post Wines); Peter Cargasacchi (Cargasacchi and Point Conception); Adam Lee (Siduri) and Deborah Hall (Gypsy Canyon) for pinot noir.

Josh Raynolds of Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar will moderate the panel for the second year in a row.

During the 2011 seminar, panelist Hagen voiced what many believe makes the Sta. Rita Hills AVA so special: "We're something different. We're not the Santa Ynez Valley, and we're not the Santa Maria Valley."

He urged those in attendance at Alma Rosa Winery to look east, then west, and feel the difference between the two directions. "The Pacific Ocean to the west fights with the summer heat to the east," creating one of the most unique geological regions in California, he said.

Events by day:

Friday opens with simultaneous two wine receptions — a large format and library tasting at Avant Tapas & Wine in Buellton and wine and tapas at D'Vine Wine Bar in Lompoc. Both events are from 6 to 9 p.m.

— Large Format and Library Wine Tasting, Avant Tapas & Wine, 35 Industrial Way, Buellton (688-4742). Pre-paid Wine & Fire attendees pay $15; others $20. Food available for additional fee; tickets sold at door.

— Tastes & Tapas, D'Vine Wine Bar, 107 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc (735-8771). Included in the $30 admittance cost will be tapas from D'Vine.

Saturday

Saturday's panel seminar, "The Fire Within," starts at 10 a.m. at the iconic Fiddlestix Vineyard barn, located in the vineyard at mile marker 7.28 Santa Rosa Rd., Lompoc. Barbecue lunch catered by the Hitching Post II restaurant to follow.

Grand Tasting, 5 to 8 p.m., La Purisima Mission, La Purisima Mission Rd., Lompoc. The mission's courtyard will once again host more than 25 local wineries as the sun sets. Included will be appetizers from Hitching Post II, Avant, D'Vine, Babe Farms, Alvin's Chili, Floriano's and Rooney's Irish Pub.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

VIP Passport tasting available at participating Sta. Rita Hills' wineries throughout the weekend.

Visit http://www.staritahills.com/events.html for details.

Information and tickets:

Tickets and more details: www.staritahills.com, or info@staritahills.com

Copyright centralcoastwinepress.com

The Ghetto's New Vineland Bread Company offers local bread subscription

New Vineland Bread, located in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, will next week launch its long-anticipated bread subscription with a 12-week session. Beginning June 6, fresh loaves of bread will be available to members who join the June-through-August session, said Melissa Sorongon, co-owner of New Vineland Bread with her husband, New Vineland/Piedrassasi winemaker Sashi Moorman and Peter and Amy Pastan of Washington, D.C.

Moorman also is consulting winemaker for Evening Land Vineyards, Sandhi Wines and Stolpman Vineyards.

Peter Pastan is chef and owner of Two Amys Pizzeria and Obelisk, both in Washington, D.C., and Amy Pastan is a longtime writer, editor and book producer.

The New Vineland Bread subscription will operate like a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program: participants will pay to "join" for at least one session and receive a set number of loaves each week.

The owners are limiting membership to the first 50 who join, Sorongon explained, but will create a waiting list for latecomers, or those who wish to retrieve the breads from a different location, such as the Santa Ynez Valley or Santa Barbara.

Members active in the summer session get first dibs on continuing with the fall session before it is opened to those on the waiting list, she noted.

The breads available each week will be the choice of baker Kate Heller, "so folks won't know what they get until they come to the bakery," Sorongon said.

Heller's efforts currently include the Durum, Franciscan (whole wheat), Fifty-Fifty (spelt and fresh-milled wheat) and Walnut (with vin santo) loaves, Sorongon said.

New Vineland recently began selling bread and olive oil at the Ojai Farmers Market (Sundays), and once the company harvests its first locally-grown wheat early this fall, it will also participate in Santa Barbara County Farmers Markets, she said.

Subscription information: Choices: Family (small) two loaves, one small and one large, for $145 per session, or Family (large), two large loaves, for $180. No bread service Wednesday, July 4. Member pickup will be Wednesdays between 4 and 6 p.m. at the New Vineland/Piedrasassi winery/tasting room/bakery, 1501 E. Chestnut Ave., at the western edge of the Lompoc Ghetto.

Information: www.newvineland.com, or info@newvineland.com, (805) 736-6784.

Buellton's inaugural Brew Fest a sell-out hit

The first Buellton Brew Fest, which launched the Santa Ynez Valley's "Craft Beer Week" on Saturday, May 12, at River Park, was a sell-out hit, organizers said. The one-day Brew Fest sold 1,000 tickets, said Holly Todd, director of the Buellton Beer Fest, who described the festival as one that "not only showcased some of the best craft brews in the state, but the amazing beers provided locally. We are already looking forward to May 2013," next year's event, she said.

The Buellton Beer Fest included 22 breweries, among them local brewers Figueroa Mountain, Firestone, Solvang Brewing and Tap It. Others from the region, and California, were San Diego's Stone Brewing Company, Mendocino Brewing Company, Blue Moon, Island Brewing Company, Sam Adams and many more.

Buellton-based Avant Tapas & Wine Bar provided lunch to all attendees, while the Chef’s Touch of Solvang provided free samples of its beer chili, and Doc Bernstein’s was on hand with a Guinness ice cream, Todd noted.

For more details, as well as photos from the recent festival, visit www.buelltonbrewfest.com

Bell Street Farm adds breakfast to menu

Bell Street Farm, the restaurant and market that has called Los Alamos home for less than one year, on Friday, March 30, debuted its new breakfast menu, said owner Jamie Gluck. "We have had incredible response to our new business, but diners have been telling us they would like the option of breakfast," he said.

Among the new entrees and items are a porchetta hash that Gluck created from Bell Street's signature rotisserie pork. The breakfast menu will also include soft boiled eggs served with toasted ciabatta, baked eggs (in cream and herbs with pepato cheese), and morning charcuterie and cheese.

In addition, chef Evan Klein bakes granola, scones and croissants.

Bell Street Farm's hours and days remain the same: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Monday. Breakfast will be available from 10 a.m. to noon on those days.

Bell Street's market showcases picnic baskets and accessories for assembling portable meals to accompany a day of wine tasting.

Information, menus and reviews: bellstreetfarm.com and Facebook/bellstreetfarm. Location: 406 Bell St., Los Alamos; 344-4609.