Fourth Annual “Women Winemakers Celebration: A Toast to Women in Wine and Food” Expands to Larger Venue of Roblar Farm, in Santa Ynez, California; Event to Benefit the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County
January 29, 2020 – Santa Ynez Valley, CA – On Sunday, March 8, 2020, in celebration of International Women’s Day, the fourth annual Women Winemakers Celebration showcasing the winemaking talents of two dozen Santa Barbara County women winemakers, will be held in the Santa Ynez Valley wine country destination of Santa Ynez, California. The charitable event, which runs in its entirety from 11:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Roblar Farm (www.RoblarWinery.com/Roblar-Farms) will, for the fourth year, benefit the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County. Tickets to the March 8 event are currently on sale, at womenwinemakers2020.eventbrite.com.
The growth of the Women Winemakers Celebration as an event has prompted the event team to move the bash to a different venue, and the Sunday occurrence of March 8 in 2020, has morphed the celebration into a daytime happening: an alfresco brunch gathering complete with a pre-meal wine tasting reception. Ticketed separately, the wine tasting reception portion of the day (11:00 AM to 12:30 PM) will boast 20+ Santa Barbara County women winemakers who will be on-hand to pour tastes of their wines and talk with event guests, as passed appetizers make their way around the crowd.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide since 1909, with a focus on working women’s achievements and issues. In a working environment which sees about 10% of the global wine industry as female lead winemakers, Karen Steinwachs, co-founder of the annual Women Winemakers Celebration, said, “Santa Barbara County not only sees a much higher percentage of women winemakers than most regions in the world – with nearly double the average – but 2020 also marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, making this event, and this year, that much more special.”
The March 8 event will bring together a varied sampling of the County’s female winemakers in a show of support for each other, and other working women, world-wide; those who toil and labor while honing and elevating their craft in their workplace, while also balancing work-lives with family and community service.
Participating winemakers and wineries confirmed to date include Karen Steinwachs, Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard and Seagrape Wine Company; Lane Tanner, Lumen Wines; Kathy Joseph, Fiddlehead Cellars; Brooke Carhartt, Carhartt Vineyard and Winery; Clarissa Nagy, C. Nagy Wines; Sonja Magdevski, Casa Dumetz Wines; Alison Thomson, Lepiane Wines; Brit Zotovich, Dreamcôte Wine Co.; Helen Falcone, Falcone Family Vineyards; Marisa Clendenen Matela, Bevela Wines; Tara Gomez, Kitá Wines; Mireia Taribó and Tara Gomez, Camins 2 Dreams; Sandra Newman, Cebada Wine; McKenna Giardine, E11even Wines; Gretchen Voelcker, Luna Hart Wines; Laura Roach, Loubud Wines; Dana Volk, Dana V. Wines; Jessica Gasca, Story of Soil; Angela Osborne, A Tribute To Grace Wine Company; Wynne Solomon, Peake Ranch Winery; Rachel Silkowski DeAscentiis, Say When Wine; Anna Clifford, Jill DelaRiva Russell and Denise Shurtleff, Cambria Wines (all additional participating winemakers/wineries, TBA).
The approximately-two-dozen female winemakers will be joined at the March 8 event by some of the Santa Ynez Valley’s leading culinary ladies, the latter of which are collaborating to create a four-course, sit-down brunch to pair with a selection of their winemaker colleagues’ wines.
Chef Brooke Stockwell, Executive Chef for Gleason Family Vineyards, will be joined “in the kitchen” by other female culinary talent, such as baker Amy Dixon (The Baker’s Table, Santa Ynez); Chef Cynthia Miranda and Alicia Valencia (The Lucky Hen Larder, Santa Ynez); Chef Golzar Barrera of the Santa Ynez Valley’s All Purpose Flower; Theo Stephan (Los Olivos’ Global Gardens); the ladies from Sass Catering and Pattibakes (Buellton); Joy and Taylor, owners of Solvang Spice Merchant; Leyla Williams and the team at Solvang’s Good Seed Coffee Boutique; Missy Morales of Lompoc’s Sweet Baking Co.; and Chef Robin Reynolds of the Dunn School, in Los Olivos.
A VIP-level ticket for this year’s event, called the “Full Feast” ticket, will include both the tasting reception and the seated brunch, where guests will be treated to wine pairings by, and conversation with, a more intimate representation of some of Santa Barbara County’s female winemakers: Karen Steinwachs, Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard; Clarissa Nagy, C. Nagy Wines; Brooke Carhartt, Carhartt Vineyard and Winery; Sandra Newman, Cebada Wine; McKenna Giardine, E11even Wines; Gretchen Voelcker, Luna Hart Wines; Jessica Gasca, Story of Soil; and Wynne Solomon, Peake Ranch Winery. Additional women winemakers featured during the tasting reception, will also be joining guests at brunch.
Proceeds from the March 8 event will benefit the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County, a giving circle where individuals combine their money and/or time so that they can have a bigger impact on the causes most important to them, than they would by individually donating. Since 2007, the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County has sown into the community an average of $81,000 per year; these funds go to organizations serving women, children, the arts and the community.
Tickets for the March 8 event are available at womenwinemakers2020.eventbrite.com. Tasting Reception Tickets (11:00 AM-12:30 PM), which include appetizers and wine tastings, are $50.00 per person (plus tax and on-line processing fees). “Full Feast” Tickets (11:00 AM-3:00 PM), which include the tasting reception and the seated, four-course brunch with wine pairings, are $125.00 per person (plus tax and on-line processing fees; “Full Feast”-level ticket seating is limited, advance ticket purchase is required).
The March 8 Women Winemakers
For more information about the March 8 Women Winemakers Celebration, please contact Anna Ferguson-Sparks, Stiletto Marketing, at 1.877.327.2656 or info@stilettomarketing.com.
