From Santa Barbara County across the nation to New York, friends and colleagues of local winemaker Seth Kunin were devastated Sunday by the news that he had succumbed to a heart attack.
Kunin was 50.
His wife, Magan Eng, posted on Kunin’s Facebook page that her husband died Saturday night.
“It is with great sadness that I let all of you know that Seth suffered a heart attack last night in his sleep. We will share information of a memorial service in celebration of his life soon,” Eng wrote. The couple has a daughter, Phoebe, 8.
I likely only met Kunin in passing, but have savored his wines and was well aware of his prominence in the regional and national wine industry.
By all accounts, via personal comments to me and those made on social media, Kunin, a native of New York City, was a beloved family man and winemaker who wound his way to Santa Barbara via Los Angeles, where he had attended UCLA with the goal of becoming a physician.
But a job in the restaurant industry pointed him to Santa Barbara, where segued into wine sales at Santa Barbara’s iconic Wine Cask.
Another longtime local winemaker, Rick Longoria, recalled hiring Kunin as a harvest intern during one of the latter’s first years in wine production, when Longoria made wines for Gainey Vineyard.
“With (his) background in wine retail, I didn’t expect him to have such a good command of lab work and wine production in general,” Longoria told me. “That was my first glimpse of Seth becoming a talented and innovative winemaker.”
Longoria and others voiced appreciation for Kunin’s efforts at “bringing the sommelier community to the Santa Barbara wine region” to showcase its wines and people behind them.”
Perhaps most importantly, Kunin was a “warm and engaging person, and a devoted husband and father,” Longoria said. “Our community has lost a talented winemaker, and a tireless champion of Santa Barbara County wines.”
Cold Heaven winemaker/owner Morgan Clendenen, a longtime friend of Kunin, also praised him as “a loving family man and general all-around good guy.”
Kunin was an ideal ambassador for the Santa Barbara region, Clendenen noted.
“He knew every single aspect of the wine industry and he came in contact with so many people from every strata of this business. His passing is an unbearable loss to his friends and huge loss to the wine community not only in Santa Barbara but the world,” Clendenen said.
Kunin and Eng’s Kunin Wines tasting room in the Funk Zone was one of the first when it opened in 2008.
Thursday evening, David Cecchini, owner/chef of Cecco Ristorante in Solvang and a colleague of Kunin’s from the Wine Cask days, will make his friend the focus of the restaurant’s weekly wine event.
Visit the Facebook event page for more information.
On Facebook, Cecchini wrote that the event will pour Kunin wines in honor of Kunin, a past co-worker and old friend.
“It’s a sad time for our local wine community losing such a beloved friend to many,” he wrote.
“Please come by and enjoy some of Seth’s wine while toasting and celebrating his memory. This event is free of charge. Feel free to bring a bottle to share but it is not expected or required.”
Here’s to you, Seth Kunin. Thank you for the wines and the recognition you brought to our winemaking community.
— Laurie Jervis blogs about wine at www.centralcoastwinepress.com, tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.