Beckmen Purisima Mountain Vineyard in Ballard Canyon Santa Barbara

Key to Wine Country – An exclusive weekend in Santa Barbara

May 27, 2014 Posted by Robin Renken Beckmen Vineyard, CA, Clos Pepe, Key to Wine Country, Santa Barbara County, Terrior, Vineyard's and Winery's, Wine and Food Pairings, Wine Events, Wine Makers, Wine Making, Wine Tasting No Comments

If you follow this blog, you know that we are in love with Santa Barbara Wine Country. We had the great pleasure of attending the Vintners Spring Weekend in April where we met many of the local winemakers, sampled wines and saw some beautiful wineries.

Well the Santa Barbara Vintners are at it again. Coming up on June 20th-22nd they will have their “Key to Wine Country” Event. This is a weekend of exclusive experiences for a limited number of people. You purchase your “Key” and then may attend your choice of over 40 different events over the course of the weekend. The events run from Complimentary tastings at a tasting room to Vineyard Walks with winemakers to farm to table lunches with wine pairings, to seminars on tasting or horseback rides through the vineyard! Some events have an additional fee for lunch or dinner. This event will allow you to meet winemakers, and get a behind the scenes look at the vineyards and wineries of Santa Barbara County.

He is just a sampling of the options:

A Winery Tour, Reserve Tasting and Picnic Lunch at Beckmen Vineyards, on Friday June 20th at 11 am, where you tour the Beckmen Vineyards winery and barrel room with winemaker Neil Redmond followed by a pond-side Reserve tasting and picnic lunch hosted by Bell Street Farm.

Beckmen Vineyards

A Farm-toTable event with Buttonwood Farm Winery on Sunday, June 22nd from 11-2. Winemaker Karen Steinwachs will take you on a farm tour and vineyard hike, followed by a farm-to-table cooking demo and lunch with wine pairings by Pascale Beale, local chef and cookbook author which includes lunch, pairings and the Salade cookbook.

Buttonwood Farm

Mise en Scene – Storytelling through the Casa Dumetz Wine Lens. on Friday June 20th from 12-5. Winemaker Sonja Magdevski will take you on an intimate tour of the various vineyards where Casa Dumetz sources its fruit. Anthropologist Bryan Bass will discuss the “terroir” and you will taste the wines that were made from the different locations. Lunch, snacks and wine will be served throughout the day.

Casa Dumetz wine, Grand Tasting

Clos Pepe Estate will have Barrel Tastings on Sunday June 22nd at 11, 12:30 and 2 pm with wines from Clos Pepe, Axis Mundi and Lindley Wines. Winemaker Wes Hagen will be on hand to educate you on wine, soil, and who knows what else!

Clos Pepe barrel tasting

Cold Heaven Cellars will have a Rhone Scent-ual Experience on Saturday and Sunday from 2-5, where they will lead you through an in-depth sensory seminar of Viognier & Syrah.

Cold Heaven, Grand Tasting

Larner Vineyard & Winery will host a Wine Dinner on Friday June 20th from 6-9 at the Ballard Inn, as well as a Wine & The Artisan event on Saturday June 21 from 6 to 9pm at their Los Olivos tasting room, where you can taste their wines, enjoy artisinal products and see works by featured artists!

Larner Tasting Room

Presqu’ile Winery will have a “Taste through the Vineyard” on Saturday and Sunday from 11-1. This unique event will allow you to taste through the wines of 3 different producers using the fruit from the same vineyard. Presqu’ile winemaker Dieter Cronje, Storm winemaker Ernst Storm, Luminesce winemaker Kevin Law and Labyrinth winemaker Ariki Hill will showcase their wines, all from Presqu’ile vineyards.