The 12^th annual Vino de Sueños (Wine of Dreams) benefit wine release celebration will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton.

The public is invited to attend the event, which raises money to support services provided to farm, ranch, and vineyard workers and their families by the nonprofit People Helping People (PHP).

Vino de Sueños debuted in November 2008, was organized by a small group of local premium winemakers to specifically help farm and vineyard workers. PHP was selected as the beneficiary because of the large number of farm and vineyard workers the group assists. Founding wineries were Alma Rosa, Buttonwood, Clos Pepé, Feliz Noché, Foxen, Longoria, and Presidio.

Vino de Sueños (VDS) is the brand name for People Helping People’s wine series released each year at the annual event.

“This year, twelve of the best Santa Barbara County wineries are donating wines bottled under the exclusive VDS label. These wines will be available for tasting and sale at the release celebration,” said Becky Barieau, VDS event chair.

The lineup of 2019 wineries are Alma Rosa Winery, The Brander Vineyard, Buttonwood Farm & Winery, Dierberg Vineyard, Foxen Winery, Ken Brown Wines, Kita’ Wines, Lincourt Vineyards, Longoria Wines, Refugio Ranch Vineyards, Riverbench Vineyard & Winery, and Stolpman Vineyards.

There will be individual white and red wines for every taste and budget. All VDS wines are specially discounted for this fundraising event. White wine and red wine six-pack samplers and individual cases will be available for further discounted prices.

Dean Palius, PHP CEO, said that the agency serves nearly 800 farm, ranch, and vineyard workers and their family members each year in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos Valleys.

“All in, the services cost in excess of $260,000 and we simply could not afford to serve all of those in need without the donations of our winemakers and lead sponsors, the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Foundation, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Coastal Vineyard Care Associates, All American Label, Fund for Santa Barbara, and Uva Design Studios,” Palius added.

Another unique aspect of the Vino de Sueños wines is that every year each winery’s VDS bottle label includes the “dream” icon originated by artist Karina Puente and a reproduction of an original art piece.

“We have been extremely blessed each year to have so many local artists willing to contribute to this effort,” Barieau added.

This year’s original labels will be based on the art of Peggy Brierton, Chris Chapman, Jim Farnum, Kevin Gleason, Rebecca Gomez, Suzan Hamilton-Todd, Patricia Hedrick Duncan, John Iwerks, Renée Kelleher, Sharon Tate, and Seyburn Zorthian.

The artists’ original works will be prominently displayed at the event and will be available for purchase via a silent auction. Art lovers can obtain a preview of the art at www.vinodesuenos.com.

This is the 12th straight year that Kros Andrade, owner of UVA Design Studios, is designing the unique Vino de Sueños wine labels.

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to volunteer for this event, give back to farm and vineyard workers, and support a very worthy nonprofit like People Helping People,” Andrade said.

In addition to the wine tasting, wine sale, and art auction, the release event on Nov. 9 will feature a silent auction of upscale lifestyle items and select wines, live music by the Complicated Animals (https://www.complicatedanimals.com), and appetizer stations catered by some of the top chefs on the Central Coast, including Jeff Olsson of Industrial Eats and New West Catering, Brett Stevens of High on the Hog, and K’Syrah Catering.

PHP will also host an exclusive event within the event, the VIP and Patron Lounge. In addition, Decadence Fine Cakes and Confections will provide special desserts and Cailloux Cheese Shop will furnish gourmet cheeses.

General ($50 each or $45 “early bird”), VIP, and Patron tickets are now on sale. To purchase tickets or read more, visit www.vinodesuenos.com or contact Kristina at kristina@syvphp.org or 805-686-0295.                                         

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Making wine requires many steps, from the agricultural workers that harvest the grapes to the winemakers that make it into wine and the people in the tasting room selling the finished product.

The process supports many families, many of them spending long hours in the fields, away from family — and some of those workers live at or below the poverty level in Santa Barbara County, according to People Helping People.

“At PHP, we are privileged to assist agricultural workers and their families. These hard-working men and women are the backbone of the valley’s economy. Just look around our towns and you can see the tasting rooms representing a burgeoning wine industry fueled by these workers,” said Dean Palius, executive director at PHP.

CHP decided 11 years ago to organize an annual fundraiser especially for those families, and now Vino de Sueños (“Wine of Dreams”) has become well established.

This year’s event will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton.

This unique art auction and wine sales event benefits ranch, vineyard and farm workers in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos valleys, communities whose residents provide the work that make Santa Barbara’s robust local food and wine culture possible.

“Each year, I am amazed by the generous gifts of great wines, local artworks, and auction items that make the Vino de Sueños fundraiser both unique and such a success,” Palius said.

The unique aspect of the Vino de Sueños project is that each lot of wine donated by a winery is labeled with an original work of art created by a local artist. The bottles are as visually stunning as the wines are delicious, and each year offers unique collections of incalculable value.

“We couldn’t be more proud to begin our second decade of sponsorship of this amazing one-of-a-kind event,” said Elaina Kroll, president of the Vintners Foundation. “More than benefiting the hard-working people that support viticulture locally, this “wine of dreams” project honors the important work they do — work which not only helps vintners realize their dreams, but also leads to workers’ dreams coming true.”

Santa Barbara Vintners member wineries that will donate this year’s unique lots and blends include Alma Rosa, Brander, Buttonwood, Dierberg, Foxen, Ken Brown, Longoria, Riverbench and Vogelzang. The wines will be available to taste at the event and winemakers and artists will be on hand to meet guests.  A silent auction of art, wine and lifestyle items as well as appetizers and live music will round out the event. General admission and VIP tickets are available at www.vinodesuenos.com.

PHP is still welcoming event sponsors, so anyone interested can email Erica Valdez at erica@syvphp.org.

The Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation is the charitable umbrella under which Santa Barbara Vintners conducts its philanthropic work. Through the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation, Santa Barbara Vintners contributes to the community through local charitable and scholarship organizations with proceeds from its various events.

For tickets or more information, log onto www.syvphp.org or www.vinodesuenos.com.

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The public is invited to celebrate the hard work of local farm and vineyard workers at People Helping People’s 10th annual Vino de Sueños wine release event.

Vino de Sueños (VDS) will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton. Music will be by Complicated Animals and food will be catered by Industrial Eats, The Landsby, S.Y. Kitchen, Santa Ynez Cafe, Decadence Fine Cakes and Confections, and The Olive Oil Source.

Vino de Sueños (Spanish for “wine of dreams”) is a wine label conceived in 2008 by a small group of premium Santa Barbara County vintners in conjunction with the local nonprofit PHP to honor the contributions of farm, ranch and vineyard workers.

Money generated by the label helps to fund PHP’s numerous services to families and individuals of limited means, including food, nutrition education, physical and mental health wellness care, youth mentoring, and alcohol and drug abuse prevention services “under one roof.”

All 2017 VDS wine has been donated by longstanding Santa Barbara County wineries: Alma Rosa, Brander, Buttonwood, Foley Estates Vineyard, Dierberg/Star Lane, Foxen Winery, Ken Brown, Kita Wines, Longoria, Quail Crossing, Riverbench, Stolpman, and Vogelzang.

White and red wines for every taste and pocketbook will be available. Wines are expected to sell from $12 to $40 depending upon the varietal and vintage, and they are specially discounted for this fundraising event.

Each VDS label features a reproduction of an original art piece from one of 10 different local artists. What has resulted from the marriage of the winemakers’ and artists’ talents is ”a series of wonderful wines with extraordinary labels that just jump off the bottle. These labels and the original works they represent are truly collectors’ items,” said VDS Chairwoman Becky Barieau.

Contributing artists are Susan Belloni, Peggy Brierton, Chris Chapman, Jim Farnum, Kevin Gleason, Rebecca Gomez, Patricia Hedrick, John Iwerks, Renee Kelleher, Teresa McNeil MacLean, Sharon Tate and Seyburn Zorthian.

In addition to tastings and sales of exclusive VDS wines, the event will include an auction of all original art pieces used on the 2017 VDS labels, a silent auction of upscale lifestyle items, live music, and appetizer stations.

For tickets and more information, visit www.vinodesuenos.com.

The post ‘Vino de Sueños’ to benefit vineyard, farm workers appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

The public is invited to celebrate the hard work of local farm and vineyard workers at People Helping People’s 10th annual Vino de Sueños wine release event.

Vino de Sueños  will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton. Music will be by Complicated Animals and food will be catered by Industrial Eats, The Landsby, S.Y. Kitchen, Santa Ynez Cafe, Decadence Fine Cakes and Confections, and The Olive Oil Source.

The “de Sueños” (of Dreams) brand and fundraising project was conceived in 2007 by Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People (PHP).  It began with the help of local County vintners who together with PHP wanted to make a difference in the lives of farm workers.

Since 2007, premium wines donated to PHP have been sold under PHP’s Vino de Sueños label in order to raise funds to provide assistance to vineyard and farm workers and their families during difficult economic or personal financial times. Services are directed to give a hand-up to achieve dreams of a better life. Each year, PHP serves more than 800 agricultural workers and family members.

PHP’s oil is donated, produced, and bottled by The Olive Source in Santa Ynez, CA and is made from an exclusive 50/50 blend of prized Arbequina olives originating in Catalonia, Spain and grown in California and Argentina.  This exclusive blend oil insures a longer shelf life and is fresh, mild, and fruity and perfect for cooking, use as a condiment, and for dressing salad greens.

Also available at the event will be tasting and sales of 13 premium Santa Barbara County wines under PHP’s Vino de Sueños (VDS) label; appetizers from four premier caterers; and silent auctions of the original artworks from the VDS wine collection labels and  hand-picked wines, trips, and lifestyle items.

General admission ($50) and VIP Tickets ($125) which feature a private tasting room with wines poured by Vintners and additional appetizers from Chef Budi Kazali of the Gathering Table at the Ballard Inn are available at www.vinodesuenos.com.

PHP is a 501 c-3 non-profit charity making a difference in the lives of those in need in mid Santa Barbara County for 25 years.  To learn more about PHP and its services and programs check out www.syvphp.org or call 686-0295.

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