It's the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend!

Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend Lures Food Fans with Three Exclusive “Signature” Wine Pairing Dinner Events, during April Wine Festival

 -- Event Production Company, Relevé Unlimited, and Santa Barbara Vintners Announce Details of Signature Wine Pairing Dinners: April 10 at Hot New Wine Country Eatery, Industrial Eats; April 11 at Santa Barbara Ocean View Resort, The Fess Parker Doubletree; April 12 among the Vines at Private Winery Estate, Grassini Family Vineyards --

March 25, 2014 – Buellton, CA – The Santa Barbara Vintners (SBV; #SBVintnersFest) and Santa Barbara- and Solvang-based event production firm, Relevé Unlimited, have enhanced the gourmand element of this year’s “Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend”, with the addition of three separate, “Signature” wine pairing dinners to be held during the wine festival weekend of April 10-13, 2014.

The first culinary event is a Thursday, April 10 Sta. Rita Hills AVA wine pairing dinner at Buellton’s newest restaurant destination, Industrial Eats (6:30 PM to 9:30 PM). The event will open with a Clos Pepe Vineyards sparkling wine reception, followed by a multi-course menu to include the likes of a Dry Cured Ham Tasting, Sea Urchin Crostini, Raw and Cooked Oyster options, Pizza with Duck Prosciutto, Roasted Rabbit, and Confit Duck Leg, paired with wines – and some of the people behind each label – from Sta. Rita Hills wineries including Wes Hagen and Steve Pepe of Clos Pepe Vineyards, Auggie Rodriguez and Laura Roach of Sanford Winery, Ken Brown of Ken Brown Wines, and Jeff Connick of Dierberg Estate Vineyard. Tickets for the April 10 Industrial Eats dinner are $175.00 per person, and may be purchased at www.sbvintnersweekend.com.

Friday, April 11 brings the 90+ Points Top Rated Wine & Dine Event at The Fess Parker, A Doubletree by Hilton Resort, in Santa Barbara (6:00 PM to 9:00 PM). The “90+ Points” Signature event will only feature 90+ point-rated wines from Santa Barbara County, based on scores from Robert Parker, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Stephen Tanzer, Wine and Spirits, Anthony Galloni, James Suckling and Wine Advocate, alongside culinary creations prepared by some of Santa Barbara's top food businesses.

The April 11 walk-around wine and food pairing event, to include more than 20 wineries, will feature Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Kaena Wine Company, Margerum Wine Company, Tercero Wines, Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard, Ampelos Cellars, Melville Vineyards and Winery, Vogelzang Vineyard, Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard, Tantara Winery, Longoria Wines, Larner Winery, Pali Wine Co., Blair Fox Cellars, Brewer-Clifton, Solminer Wines, Refugio Ranch, Foxen Winery, Sanford Winery, Alta Maria Vineyards and Native9 Wines, Transcendence Wines, and more.

Gourmet edibles at the 90+ Points event will be provided by Village Modern Foods Catering, Global Gardens & The Caliterranean Café, Catering Connection, Marmalade Café of Santa Barbara, Rodney’s Grill at The Fess Parker Doubletree Resort, Alfresco Picnic, Miró Restaurant by Bacara Resort, Blush Restaurant + Lounge, and more to be announced. A Sparkling Wine Reception is also available prior to the main event, for an additional fee. Tickets run $150.00 or $175.00 per person, and may be purchased at www.sbvintnersweekend.com.

The third and final Signature dinner event, on Saturday, April 12 (6:30 PM to 9:30 PM), will offer guests a rare and ultra-exclusive opportunity to be hosted at the Grassini Family Vineyards, where attendees will feast on creations from Santa Barbara's foremost caterer, Village Modern Foods, paired with Santa Barbara County wines from Grassini Family Vineyards, Dierberg Estate Vineyard, Margerum Wine Company, Kaena Wine Company, Andrew Murray Vineyards, Fiddlehead Cellars and Sea Smoke Estate Vineyard. The multi-course dinner, including live entertainment, will be served lakeside with vineyard views of the Happy Canyon AVA.

The April 12 Grassini Family Vineyards Dinner will consist of innovative plates like a Carrot Salad with Edible Spring Flowers; Seabass with Roasted Fennel and Blue Cheese Beignets; Roast Pork Loin with Smoked Bacon Jam; and Double Chocolate Bread Pudding Brûlée with Whiskey Smoked Sugar Cream. Tickets for the April 12 dinner are $275.00 per person and in limited supply, and may be purchased at www.sbvintnersweekend.com.

In addition to the three Signature Dinner Events are four days’ worth of Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend activities, encompassing a total of 12 total Signature events and more than 15 SBV winery member ancillary events. The headlining Weekend events are the Saturday, April 12 Grand Tasting at Buellton’s River View Park, and the Sunday, April 13 Farm-to-Table Picnic and Concert at Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard, featuring indie rock / Americana music band, Jamestown Revival – the proceeds of which will benefit local charity, Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People.

Spring Weekend will also feature an April 10 celebrity Golf Tournament, hosted by “Sideways” author and playwright, Rex Pickett, with a portion of sponsorship and 100% of raffle proceeds to also benefit Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People. Celebrities scheduled to appear at the Spring Weekend Golf Tournament are Richard Karn of “Home Improvement”, Kathleen Bradley of “The Price Is Right”, Lydia Cornell of “Too Close for Comfort”, and Santa Barbara resident and former Los Angeles Lakers NBA pro, Don Ford.

Spring Weekend also entails a Wine Education Seminar Series at Solvang’s Hotel Corque, moderated by Clos Pepe Vineyards’ Wes Hagen; multiple guided vineyard hikes; and a Barrel Toasting Seminar and Tasting – complete with music, bonfires and dinner – at Michael Larner’s new wine co-op, Buellton Bodegas, which houses the winery operations for Carivintâs Winery, Casa Dumetz Wines, Larner Winery, Municipal Winemakers, Coquelicot Wines, and others. Andrew Murray Vineyards will also be pouring at the Barrel Toasting event.

Additional wineries and food vendors scheduled to participate in the various Spring Weekend events, will be announced in the coming weeks, as well as further details about the Spring Weekend Signature events. Updates will be published at www.sbvintnersweekend.com, and announced via posts with the hashtag #SBVintnersFest. For more information surrounding the full line-up of Spring Weekend events, and to purchase tickets for any portion of the Spring Weekend, please visit: www.sbvintnersweekend.com.

More information about Santa Barbara Vintners can be found at www.sbcountywines.com, facebook.com/SantaBarbaraCountyWine or twitter.com/sbcwines, and more information about Relevé Unlimited is available at www.releveunlimited.com, and on Facebook and Twitter at facebook.com/ReleveUnlimited and twitter.com/ReleveUnlimited.

Media inquiries about this announcement, may be directed to Anna Ferguson-Sparks, Stiletto Marketing, at 1.877.327.2656 or info@stilettomarketing.com.

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