The Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance Are All Fired Up About the AVA’s 10th Anniversary Celebration
The members of the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the appellation at “Wine & Fire”, an event spanning the weekend of August 12-14, 2011. “We thought a pre-harvest celebration of the vineyards, wines and people of this unique winegrowing region would be a great time to celebrate our tenth anniversary”, noted Kurt Ammann of Dierberg Vineyards and Chairperson of the Alliance. “The vines will be laden with grapes, and both winemakers and growers will be in that heightened state of just-before-harvest excitement. We’ll definitely be all fired up to celebrate!”
The celebration will begin with welcome receptions and tastings on Friday, August 12th in locations on both the eastern and western boundaries of the region. Saturday morning will feature an in-depth tasting of the people and wines of the past decade, and a look into the future of the Sta. Rita Hills. The Saturday morning seminar will be held at Rancho El Jabalí, Richard and Thekla Sanford’s heritage vineyard. Panelists will include pioneers and upcoming winemakers, who will each select wines that they believe are their best representation of the appellation, a vineyard designate and/or a vintage during the past ten years. Saturday evening will bring together all of the members of the Alliance with an evening wine reception in the courtyard of the historic La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, situated on the outskirts of the Sta. Rita Hills Appellation. The stunning grounds and historic buildings lend an exquisite setting to an evening of camaraderie, fine wines and fire-grilled foods. Member vintners and winemakers will all be on hand to present their latest releases under the majestic oaks of the Mission.
A weekend passport is also included, providing VIP access to wineries and tasting rooms of Alliance members, each of who are pulling out all the stops for visitors. Guests will have a full range of events to choose from throughout the weekend as members of the Winegrowers Alliance present open houses, focused tastings and winery events. A full listing of winery events will be posted on the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance website as they are planned.
In order to continue the mission of Wine and Fire as an intimate event where guests, growers, winemakers and vintners are able to better get to know each other, ticket sales will be limited. Tickets for the First-Decade Seminar at El Jabalí, which also includes the weekend passport are $150. Tickets for the Passport plus Saturday evening Grand Tasting at the La Purisima Mission are $100 per person. An all-inclusive combination ticket for Saturday and Sunday is available for $175. Tickets are on sale on the Sta. Rita Hills website, and will be available on a first-come, first served basis. The website can be found at www.staritahills.com . For additional information, please contact info@staritahils.com.
