Staff Report
In celebration of International Women’s Day, the fourth annual Women Winemakers Celebration will be showcasing the winemaking talents of two dozen Santa Barbara County women winemakers from 11 a.m to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, at Roblar Winery. The charitable event will benefit the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County.
“Santa Barbara County not only sees a much higher percentage of women winemakers than most regions in the world – with nearly double the average – but 2020 also marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, making this event, and this year, that much more special,” said Karen Steinwachs, co-founder of the winemaker celebration.
The growth of the Women Winemakers Celebration as an event has prompted the event team to move the bash to a different venue, and the Sunday occurrence of March 8 in 2020, has morphed the celebration into a daytime happening: an alfresco brunch gathering complete with a pre-meal wine tasting reception. Ticketed separately, the wine tasting reception portion of the day (11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) will boast 20+ Santa Barbara County women winemakers who will be on-hand to pour tastes of their wines and talk with event guests, as passed appetizers make their way around the crowd.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide since 1909, with a focus on working women’s achievements and issues.
The March 8 event will bring together a varied sampling of the County’s female winemakers in a show of support for each other, and other working women, world-wide; those who toil and labor while honing and elevating their craft in their workplace, while also balancing work-lives with family and community service.
Participating winemakers and wineries confirmed to date include Karen Steinwachs, Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard and Seagrape Wine Company; Lane Tanner, Lumen Wines; Kathy Joseph, Fiddlehead Cellars; Brooke Carhartt, Carhartt Vineyard and Winery; Clarissa Nagy, C. Nagy Wines; Sonja Magdevski, Casa Dumetz Wines; Alison Thomson, Lepiane Wines; Brit Zotovich, Dreamcôte Wine Co.; Helen Falcone, Falcone Family Vineyards; Marisa Clendenen Matela, Bevela Wines; Tara Gomez, Kitá Wines; Mireia Taribó and Tara Gomez, Camins 2 Dreams; Sandra Newman, Cebada Wine; McKenna Giardine, E11even Wines; Gretchen Voelcker, Luna Hart Wines; Laura Roach, Loubud Wines; Dana Volk, Dana V. Wines; Jessica Gasca, Story of Soil; Angela Osborne, A Tribute To Grace Wine Company; Wynne Solomon, Peake Ranch Winery; Rachel Silkowski DeAscentiis, Say When Wine; Anna Clifford, Jill DelaRiva Russell and Denise Shurtleff, Cambria Wines (all additional participating winemakers/wineries, TBA).
The approximately-two-dozen female winemakers will be joined at the March 8 event by some of the Santa Ynez Valley’s leading culinary ladies, the latter of which are collaborating to create a four-course, sit-down brunch to pair with a selection of their winemaker colleagues’ wines.
Tickets to the March 8 event are currently on sale, at womenwinemakers2020.eventbrite.com.
