100+ Wines, Local Chefs and Purveyors, Bubbles Bar, Rare Wine Auction
Santa Lucia Highlands, Calif.—Tickets are now on sale for the Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans 16th Sun, Wind & Wine Festival, Saturday, May 18, from 11 am to 2:30 pm at Mer Soleil Winery in Salinas.
The Sun, Wind & Wine Festival is back for its 16th event with a strolling wine tasting through the barrel cellar of Mer Soleil Winery, not normally open to the public. Festival guests will enjoy limited-release Santa Lucia Highlands wines poured by the vintners themselves.
Local chefs and food purveyors bring Monterey Peninsula flavor with gourmet small bites and plates from Rancho Cielo Drummond Culinary Academy, Chef Tim Wood at Woody’s at the Airport, Chefs Palette Spice Rubs, and many more. Artisan food producers include local favorites Schoch Family Farmstead with their locally crafted cheeses, Zio Brand Sausage, and more. A bubbles bar featuring sparkling wines, reserved VIP tables, and a rare wine auction adds to the event experience.
Participating wineries include Bernardus, Bruliam Wines, Caraccioli Cellars, Cattleya Wines, Clarice Wine Company, CRU Winery, Hahn Estates, J. Lohr, Joyce Wine Co., KORi Wines, Luli, Mansfield-Dunne, McIntyre Vineyards, Mer Soleil, Miner Family Wines, Morgan Winery, Odonata, Pessagno, Pisoni Family Vineyards, Puma Road, Rombauer Vineyards, ROAR Wines, Sarah’s Vineyard, Scheid, Talbott Vineyards, Testarossa, Tondre, Tudor Wines, Wrath and more.
A portion of proceeds benefit Rancho Cielo Youth Campus and travel scholarships for diverse wine professional candidates attending educational visits to the region. Live music and other surprises round out the afternoon.
Sun, Wind & Wine Festival tickets range from $150-200 with VIP reserved seating tables from $1099 to $1839. Transportation tickets from Monterey are also available. Mer Soleil Winery is located at 1290 River Road, Salinas, California. Tickets and more information can be found online https://www.santaluciahighlands.com/events/wine-festival/ or by email at info@santaluciahighlands.com.
About the Santa Lucia Highlands
The Santa Lucia Highlands is one of the crown jewels of California viticulture, growing and producing some of the state’s best cool climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The narrow 18-mile-long appellation encompasses 5,700 acres of prime vineyards, planted on the elevated terraces of the Santa Lucia Mountain range near Monterey Bay. The region’s unique winegrowing character was established in 1991 and recognized with official A.V.A. status in 1992. Formed in 2005, the Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans is a not-for-profit association of vineyards and wineries that grow grapes in the S.L.H. or use the appellation’s fruit to craft their vintage releases. The group’s online home is SantaLuciaHighlands.com
