Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival April 19th 2008 Lompoc, California

Our Wine Trail has taken us all over the country and we have had the

pleasure of sampling some of the best regional wines.

Santa Barbara County, California is like a home away from home for us. Santa Barbara county has over 200 years of winemaking history and has emerged as a world class wine region over the last 30 years. Within Santa Barbara County there are three distinct appellations: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, and Sta. Rita Hills. In addition, the Los Alamos Valley region, between the Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. Less than half of the grapes grown in Santa Barbara County are used by local vintners, with the balance exported to wineries outside the area.

We have spoken to many of the orginal winemakers in the area and they explained the east-west orientation of the coastal mountains forms valleys that open directly to the Pacific Ocean. This unique topography allows the flow of fog and ocean breezes to shape microclimates that are perfect for the cultivation of classic grape varietals and world class wines.

In our opinion, this area produces some of the best Pinot Noir and Syrah we have tasted. These two varietals produced in this area really stand out for us. They are very distint and unlike many that we had had from around the world. Every year the Vintner's Association has a festival to show off the local wineries. We attended the festival last year and will return for this years event.

The Santa Barbara Festival gives you the opportunity to meet vintners, taste their wines, and enjoy great food and music in a festive outdoor environment. The 2008 Vintners’ Festival will be held from 1 to 4pm on April 19th, 2008 and will once again be celebrated at River Park in Lompoc, Ca . The festival itself is on Saturday but many people make a weekend out of it as there are many events and winemaker dinners to attend during this time.

The festival will feature the wines of over 100 members of the Association, live music, a silent auction and cuisine by the area’s finest chefs. There are several ticket packages you can purchase from the association. The best deal is the Vintners' Visa- that gives you a four-day pass to twelve tasting rooms for $35 per person. The festival tickets are $75 per person but you can purchase a combo ticket for $100.00 per person so you can attend all of the activities.

In addition to the Festival , many wineries make a great effort to welcome, entertain and even educate the festival attendees. There are winemakers dinners, winery tours, library wine tastings, barrel tastings, and the smaller wineries that are by appointment only, are open to the public.

This is a great opportuity to spend a long weekend enjoying great scenery and world class wines. This is one event that you will keep coming back to over and over again.

For our readers and customers who won't be able to attend , we promise you won't miss too much. Vino Las Vegas will be in Lompoc and the surrounding area to cover this event. We will have video interviews with winemakers and vineyard owners as well as speaking with some of the attendees for their impressions of the event. We also plan to bring you reports, pictures, and
video from the surrounding area as well as searching for some great wines from smaller wineries
you may not have heard about. Mark your calendar and purchase your tickets for this wonderful event. For more infromation about the event and to purchase tickets you can go the link t0 the right of the page or find them at www.sbcountywines.com.