At Judy Adams’ ranch in Solvang, her dairy cow, Dolly, lifted her head over a fence and, with a prompt from Adams, “kissed” my nose.
But this is Adams’ story, so I’ll come back to Dolly and the rest of Adams’ four-legged companions.
Adams, who founded a business hauling wine grapes from vineyards to wineries in the mid-1970s, will receive the Cape & Crown Award from the Women Winemakers & Culinarians Foundation’s “Denim & Diamonds” fundraising dinner April 11 at the “Buellhouse” at Buellton’s Zaca Creek Tavern.
For tickets and more information, visit sbwomenwinemakers.com/wwcf-events/.
Having worked for decades behind the scenes in the wine industry, Adams said she’s “surprised, pleased and honored” by the upcoming recognition.
She’s known throughout the Central Coast industry for her humble attitude, and being kind, helpful and prompt.
Adams, 78, still lives on the 10 acres of land that she and her late husband, Dick, signed to purchase on their wedding day in 1967.
“It was just a blank field then,” she said.
Today, Adams resides in her family’s ranch-style home on Alamo Pintado Road; her daughter, son-in-law and Adams’ grandchildren reside in two newer homes built behind the original home. Along with Dolly and another cow and one goat, Adams owns one miniature horse and boards several others. Rudy and Rowdy are protective but friendly dogs, and Rascal and Jasper the barn cats.
Well before the Central Coast’s wine industry grew to what it is now, she and Dick started a dairy milk business.
“We started that with three dairy cows, and delivered fresh milk to 25 customers,” she said.
Adams savors the memories of her Santa Ynez childhood: She was raised on and around ranches farmed by two pioneering families, the Davidges and Bettencourts. Her grandparents were caretakers on the Davidge ranch, where she rode horses.
“I grew up on the Davidge property .. I, my daughter and granddaughter were all married there.”
Adams said she relishes having grown up with the times and history of the region.
Her parents traveled for business, and trusted her grandparents to raise her in the country, which was Adams’ choice.
“I’m not a city person,” she said.
The Bettencourts had dairy cows on their land on North Refugio Road near the Santa Ynez River, site of the Kalyra Winery vineyard. As the cost to feed her dairy cows rose, Adams asked the Bettencourts to sell her grain at cost.
Given Adams’ connections cultivated by having grown up in the valley, selling milk eventually segued into the business of transporting feed.
What started as the couple feeding their own livestock, which by then included sheep and 10 to 12 red Angus cattle (“we had the first Red Angus in the valley”), slowly turned into Adams helping other local ranching families secure feed. The couple soon founded A + B Feed and managed it together.
“We ran it like Avon,” she recalled. “We’d call all our feed customers once a month (for orders) and deliver the next week.”
They never advertised; all of their customers found them by word of mouth.
As they raised their family, Dick Adams worked for Union Oil, and the couple managed feed orders during the day. More and more vineyards began to replace the sprawling horse breeding/training facilities that dotted the Santa Ynez Valley.
From Santa Barbara County’s earliest vineyards — Firestone, Nielsen and Mosby vineyards — came Bien Nacido, Foxen, Gainey, Rancho Sisquoc and many more.
Adams, with a one-ton pickup truck and flatbed trailer for the feed business, saw another opportunity to do what she does best — help her neighbors and friends.
At the height of her grape-hauling business, Adams had nine contracted drivers, and transported as far and wide as the Napa Valley and San Diego, she said. Even though hers was a local company, “we paid the same costs as the big guys, had class A driver’s licensing and took drug tests.”
Today, Adams limits her hauls from mostly Ojai to Paso Robles and in between, and favors working with the winemakers she’s known for years. She still handles dispatch for her crew of drivers.
I asked Adams what advice she’d give someone with a new business hauling grapes. “Follow all the rules,” especially regarding pull weight. “Don’t haul seven tons of grapes with a five-ton truck.” Also, be honest with your customers, and watch your time.
Be sure to enjoy yourself, she continued, adding, “Grape people have been wonderful to work with.”
In addition to Adams’ Cape & Crown Award on Saturday, the WWCF’s recognition called Winds Beneath Our Wings celebrates the often-unsung women who work behind the scenes to make winemakers and chefs. They are the sous chefs, assistant winemakers or tasting room managers who help shape the world of food and wine.
A video celebrating the 2025 Winds awardees can be viewed here sbwomenwinemakers.com/winds/.
Wings awardees this year are Megan Bravo, wine club manager, Melville Winery; Barbara Perneel, lead decorator, Solvang Bakery; Emily Byram, events director, Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation and Vintners Association; and Carina Crowder, assistant winemaker, Margerum Wine Co.
Proceeds from ticket sales for April 11 will fund the Winds Beneath Our Wings initiative and upcoming mentorship and scholarship programs.
Bell’s Daisy Ryan a Finalist in James Beard Foundation’s ‘Best Chef, California’
On March 31, chef Daisy Ryan, owner of Bell’s in Los Alamos with her husband, Greg Ryan, was named one of five finalists in the category of Best Chef, California by the 2026 James Beard Foundation.
Ryan was a nominee in the same category in 2023, and a semifinalist for Best Restauranteur in 2025. Among her previous honors are Best New Chef from Food & Wine Magazine in 2020.
Bell’s has been awarded a Michelin star for five years running.
The Restaurant and Chef Awards by the James Beard Foundation have turned the nation’s top restaurant and bar professionals into icons in the culinary industry.
The four other finalists are Dave Beran of Seline, Santa Monica; Harrison Cheney, Sons & Daughters, San Francisco; Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu, Sun Moon Studio, Oakland; and Kwang Uh, Baroo, Los Angeles.
The winners will be feted in a June 15 ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.