California Wine Festival Returns to Santa Barbara – July 19-20

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Santa Barbara, CA (June 4, 2024) — California Wine Festival, Southern California’s revered wine festival event producer, announces the return to its homebase of Santa Barbara for two days of coastal tasting events on Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20. Guests will be able to sample pours from California’s top winemaking regions, paired with gourmet bites from many of Santa Barbara’s fan-favorite restaurants while experiencing lifestyle exhibitors and live entertainment amid the ocean breeze.

Friday evening kicks off with a Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting, the ultimate experience for wine connoisseurs. With breathtaking views of the shimmering Pacific Ocean at dusk, the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort will host this must-attend event for wine lovers. A “first sip” welcome reception from “Sparkling Wine Sponsor”, Brick Barn Wine Estates commences the evening of sampling rare and vintage reserve wines. Guests will also be offered tasting room exclusives and limited-production wines hailing from vineyards based in California’s most revered wine producing regions. Delicious hot and cold appetizers will pair with the world-class wines. 

Throughout Friday evening, guests will have the ability to participate in a silent auction, bidding on highly-sought after items such as exotic wines, tasting tours and dining certificates. Proceeds from this auction will benefit The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, whose mission is to end hunger, increase food security and transform the health of Santa Barbara County residents through good nutrition for all. 

“We are elated to host this year’s Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort,” said Emily Kaufmann, Executive Director, California Wine Festival. “This new venue will provide guests with stunning views of the ocean at sundown while they discover rare and vintage wines that they’ve never been exposed to. That’s why these events exist: to unite wine enthusiasts together and expand on their wine knowledge while getting out of their comfort zones in what they’d typically drink.”

The wine tasting extravaganza continues with a Beachside Wine Festival taking place at the oceanside section of Chase Palm Park on Saturday, July 20. The seaside afternoon event will allow guests to improve upon their culinary education and exploration through one-on-one conversations and tastings with culinary and wine talent descending upon Santa Barbara from the Golden State’s most distinguished wineries and local restaurants. Attendees will have access to hundreds of premium California wines and regional craft brews. Fine wines can be paired with mouth-watering bites from the many food purveyors present.

Top-tier restaurants from Santa Barbara and beyond serving delectable appetizers to accompany the festival’s exquisite wine selections include: 

• aficio22
• Aquamar California Rolls
• Arteseans Scallops & Four Star Seafood
• Barbareño
• CHZ GUY, Gourmet Cheese Master/Coastal Specialty Foods
• Divine Bake House
• Finch & Fork
• Gino Angelini Authentic Italian Sauces
• Goufrais Southern California – Cocoa Confection
• Icelandic Glacial
• Kerrygold
• McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams
• p.o.p. candy co.
• Santa Barbara WoodFire Catering
• Savory Bites
• SiSi Cakes
• Waterloo Sparkling Water

The VIP Pavilion, presented by revolutionary cookware brand, HexClad will feature serving stations showcasing cooking demos and offering delectable bites from top-level chefs. Serving stations will include demos by Coast Range x Eric Greenspan/New School Cheese, Chef Miles Robbins, who will be previewing his new burger concept, soon to debut in Montecito, David Schoen of Rice Browns, Zoya from Fysh Foods, and Finch & Fork. The VIP Pavilion will also boast a selection of reserve-level wines as well as craft brews and special oceanview seating.

One-of-a-kind to Santa Barbara’s festival is the “Best Tri-Tip in the 805” BBQ competition, sponsored by Traeger. Upon entering the festival grounds, all guests are eligible to vote for a top contender. Attendees will be able to taste juicy tri-tip steak samples by skilled chefs from esteemed local restaurants. Restaurant contenders will include: Barbareño, Best BBQ, Big G’s Barbecue, Santa Barbara Woodfire Catering & Solvang Brewing Company.

The festival highlights rare and reserve vintages as well as well-known bottles from California’s best vineyards based in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Temecula and beyond. Notable wineries attending include: 

• 3 Steves Winery
• Adobe Road Winery
• Akash Winery & Vineyards
• Austin Hope Winery 
• Bernardus Winery 
• Brick Barn Wine Estate 
• Caliza Winery
• Cuda Ridge Wines
• Dana V. Wines
• Darcie Kent Estate Winery
• Double Bond Wine
• Dry Creek Vineyard
• EHRET Winery
• End of the Day Wines
• Enriquez Estate Wines
• Garre Vineyard & Winery
• Goldschmidt Vineyards 
• Hawk and Horse Vineyards 
• Head High Wines
• Kessler-Haak Vineyard & Wines
• Kubani Wines
• Livermore Valley Wine Community
• Lloyd Cellars
• Macchia Wines
• McGrail Vineyards and Winery
• Miner Family Wines
• Mizel Estate Wines
• Navarro Vineyards
• Pasmosa Sangria
• Quench + Temper
• Rombauer Vineyards
• Santa Rita Hills Wine Alliance
• Scarlett Wines
• Scheid Family Wines
• Stiekema Wine Co.
• Tehachapi Winery
• Tomi Cellars
• Visit Tri-Valley
• Wente Vineyards
• Wine Guy & Wine Gal
• Zialena Winery

Select sponsors will be hosting interactive activations which guests will be able to partake in during the Beachside Wine Festival. Guests can check out the newest BMW vehicles, “Official Water Sponsor”, Icelandic Glacial will keep all attendees hydrated in between sips of wine. The Tate Group will provide festival attendees with keepsake bottle stoppers. A signature of each festival, each guest receives a 16 oz. keepsake wine glass displaying the California Wine Festival logo, as well as the logos of supporting sponsor, The Point Market, and “Official Bank Sponsor”, Pacific Premier Bank. 

Live entertainment will provide the perfect ambiance and vibes to a carefree weekend enjoying coastal California living. Friday’s Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting will feature soulful, acoustic melodies from former American Idol finalist, Adam Lasher. Saturday’s Beachside Wine Festival will feature Upstream, SoCal’s premier live reggae, calypso, soca and steel drum band.

California Wine Festival is a 21+ event. Tickets are available for pre-sale here. For more information, please visit CalifoniaWineFestival.com. 

ABOUT CALIFORNIA WINE FESTIVAL: 

California Wine Festival celebrates the fine wines and culinary offerings of California. A nationally recognized event series, California Wine Festival aims to bring attention to the beautiful wines, foods, and landscapes of California. Founded in 2004 in Santa Barbara, California Wine Festival is proud to be one of the largest outdoor wine festivals in the state. Striving to be a green event producer, 90% of the waste from the festivals was diverted from the landfill in 2023. A for-profit organization whose mission includes giving back, California Wine Festival has helped raise awareness and funds for local California charities including the Foodbank of Santa Barbara, Surfrider Foundation, and more. CaliforniaWineFestival.com