While the Santa Barbara County Women Winemakers traditionally hosts an in-person event on March 8 — International Women’s Day — this fall, organizers also opted for a holiday season virtual raffle to benefit the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
The three-tiered raffle opened Nov. 25, and tickets will remain available until Friday. The winners will be announced Dec. 13. Click here for tickets.
The county’s Foodbank continues to aid in much-needed food distribution to county residents in large part because of economic losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants of the Women Winemakers Celebration have donated bottles of wine to the drawing, as well as tickets for future tasting experiences. The Women Winemakers Celebration brings together a varied sampling of Santa Barbara County’s female winemakers in a show of support for one another as well as other working women the world over.
“The holidays and winter months are normally a difficult time for those we serve. This year, the economic impact of COVID-19 has created a drastic increase in need,” said Laurel Alcantar, the Foodbank’s senior development manager. “The Foodbank has steadily doubled the amount of food we distribute in a typical year. We are truly grateful to the Women Winemakers for putting this together, and for helping us ensure that everyone in our community has access to healthy food this holiday season.”
The raffle includes three levels of tickets. Prizes will be available for pickup at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard in Solvang, or available to ship as of Dec. 14.
The levels:
» $50 ticket: One case of Santa Barbara County Women Winemakers-made wine; total value approximately $500
» $25 ticket: One half-case of the wines; total value approximately $250
» $50 ticket: One “digital” gift basket containing passes to various participating winemakers’ tasting rooms, special coupons for online specials, intimate “meet the winemaker” sessions and more items to be determined; total value approximately $500
“At this time of year, we are usually in the beginning phases of planning for the next year’s Women Winemakers Celebration, and while there are still many uncertainties of the possibilities for a March 2021 event, we can still make a difference in other ways — when it’s most needed,” said Karen Steinwachs, co-founder of the annual Women Winemakers Celebration, winemaker at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard and owner/winemaker of Seagrape Wine Co.
The Women Winemakers 2020 event, its fourth annual, took place March 8 at Roblar Farm, days before Santa Barbara County entered a state-mandated shutdown. Plans for the fifth annual outdoor event remain tentative at this time, organizers noted.
Local Writer, Photographer Release “Vines & Vision: Winemakers of Santa Barbara County”
The just-released “Vines & Vision: Winemakers of Santa Barbara County,” by writer Matt Kettmann and photographer Macduff Everton, both of Santa Barbara, is now available at several local bookstores and many wineries/tasting rooms throughout the county.
Everton’s photos have appeared in National Geographic, Life Magazine and Saveur, and in “The Book of Santa Barbara.” Together, he and Kettmann, a longtime writer and editor at the Santa Barbara Independent and the Central Coast wine critic for Wine Enthusiast, bring more than five decades of combined experience covering the region’s wine industry.
“Vines & Vision: Winemakers of Santa Barbara County” includes more than 600 pages of winemakers’ profiles and photographs. Included are details on the crews that farm area vineyards, features on longtime industry leaders, how the industry has reacted to the coronavirus pandemic, and the people who help market Santa Barbara County wines.
A list of wineries and retailers offering “Vines & Vision” can be found by clicking here.
Among the Santa Barbara book retailers are Chaucer’s, The Book Den and the Tecolote Book Shop. The book can also be purchased directly via the website by clicking here.
— Laurie Jervis tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.