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Category Archives: Paso Robles

Precision Ag Consulting, Wine Communications Group finalize deal for Central Coast’s WiVi Industry Conference

21 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by lauriejervis in Paso Robles, The Business of Wine, Vineyards and Viticulture

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Lowell Zelinski, Precision Ag Consulting, Wine Business Monthly, Wine Communications Group Inc, WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference & Tradeshow

 

The owners of Paso Robles’ Precision Ag Consulting, who co-founded the WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference and Tradeshow, announced Tuesday that they have finalized a buyout with The Wine Communication Group, owner of Wine Business Monthly, for the annual March event.

The two companies founded WiVi in 2012 in an effort to create a regional wine industry conference and tradeshow on the California Central Coast, and it has grown into the largest industry event south of San Francisco. Lowell and Becky Zelinski own Precision Ag, a viticulture consulting company.

The partnership between the two companies was formed in an effort to expand the Zelinski’s former viticulture production conference into an industry-wide event, according to a news release.

The fourth-annual WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference and Tradeshow will be March 15 and 16, 2016, at the Paso Robles Event Center.

“This buyout is the fulfillment of a plan we put in place with Becky and Lowell over three years ago,” said Eric Jorgensen, president of Wine Business Monthly. “We are thrilled with the success of WiVi. Becky and Lowell have done a remarkable job and we thank them for their efforts.”

Becky Zelinski noted that it was always the intent of both companies that Wine Business Monthly would ultimately buy the show.

“We are pleased with the success of WiVi and excited that our collaboration with Wine Business Monthly allowed us to achieve our goal of creating a premiere educational forum for the Central Coast wine industry. We have always considered Wine Business Monthly our industry’s premiere trade publication and knew that teaming up with them would be a win-win situation. We know that WiVi is in good hands with Wine Business Monthly at the helm. We will continue to work with them to grow and promote the show and plan to remain advocates for WiVi because we think it is a great resource for our industry,” Zelinski said.

The transaction is expected to close in November and terms were not disclosed, according to the news release.

Wine Communications Group Inc. is an information and services provider for the global wine industry. As publishers of http://www.winebusiness.com, the leading website for the trade, and two of the industry’s leading print publications, Wine Business Monthly and Wines & Vines, they are dedicated to meeting the wine industry’s needs for information, analysis, resources and tools.

The Zelinski’s Precision Ag Consulting is an agricultural consulting company that specializes in vineyard management, viticulture production consulting, soil fertility and irrigation management, and ag waiver compliance on the California Central Coast.

The company is owned by Lowell Zelinski, who has doctorate degree in soil-plant-water relations from the University of California, Davis, and more than 35 years of experience in agriculture. Becky Zelinski manages the business. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications and more than 25 years of experience in business administration, marketing, public relations and event management.

As a two-day conference, WiVi includes educational seminars with a regional focus on viticulture, winemaking and DTC/winery marketing addressed by today’s top industry leaders, as well as a one-day tradeshow featuring nearly 200 exhibits showcasing new products and innovative tools.

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for www.centralcoastwinepress.com

 

Paso Robles Wine Festival: Four May days celebrating Paso Robles’ wine country

04 Monday May 2015

Posted by lauriejervis in Paso Robles, Vineyards and Viticulture, Winemaking

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Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance

Coming in a few weeks is the 33rd annual Paso Robles Wine Festival, a four day-event showcasing wine country — and one that attendees will find educational and full of wine, food and music.

What organizers call the “quintessential Paso experience” will culminate Saturday, May 16, in the tree-shaded Paso Robles City Park, located downtown and surrounded by tasting rooms and restaurants.

The long weekend kicks off Thursday evening with winemaker dinners, followed on Friday evening by the RESERVE event, which features culinary bites from local chefs along with an auction that will benefit various San Luis Obispo County nonprofit organizations.

Note: Tickets to Friday’s RESERVE event and Saturday’s Grand Tasting are sold separately, and, like all tickets, available via www.pasowine.com
As of this morning, tickets remain available for all three ticketed events.

Saturday opens with an educational winemaker seminar featuring five panelists discussing five grape varietals/wines: Grenache Blanc, panelist Steve Martell, winemaker at Sextant; Chardonnay, panelist Rich Hartenberger, winemaker/owner, Midnight; Tres Violet, panelist Jason Joyce, winemaker, Calcareous Vineyard; Reserve Zinfandel, panelist Chris Rougeot, winemaker, Opolo Vineyards; and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, panelist Matthew Glunz, winemaker, Glunz Family Winery & Cellars

Seating is limited, and organizers expect the seminar to sell out.

Saturday afternoon’s Grand Tasting will showcase current vintages from more than 60 wineries. New this year is the chance for guests to purchase a picnic lunch from one of five food purveyors. They are Cass Café, Gusto on the Go Bistro, Red Scooter Deli, The Pairing Knife and Thomas Hill Organics. Each lunch comes with a Paso Robles Wine Country reusable lunch bag.

Each lunch is $10, and must be purchased in advance. Only 200 lunches will be available. For menu choices, and to purchase, visit http://www.pasowine.com/events/wine-festival-tickets.php

More details about the festival’s three ticketed events:

Friday, May 15 — RESERVE:

This outdoor tasting will feature winemakers pouring two wines within the categories of “Reserve,” “Library,” “White/Rosé” or “Futures.”

Saturday, May 16 — Winemaker Seminar: 

Each of the winemaking panelists will share and discuss one wine indicative of the Paso Robles region.

Saturday, May 16 — Grand Tasting

Beginning at noon, this event offers wineries arranged by varietal “zones” featuring Rhône-style, Bordeaux-style, Italian varieties, Burgundian-style, Zinfandel and “Other Wild Wines.” Pop-up seminars sponsored by the Paso Robles CAB Collective, the Rhone Rangers and ZAP will take place in the park’s bucolic gazebo.

For more details on the Grand Tasting, including a list of participating wineries, visit http://www.pasowine.com/events/wine-festival-wineries.php

 

 

Third annual WiVi will cater to industry professionals during two-day conference next week in Paso Robles

10 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by lauriejervis in Paso Robles, The Business of Wine, Uncategorized, Vineyards and Viticulture, Winemaking

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Central Coast Wine and Viticulture, Paso Robles Event Center, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Precision Ag Consulting, Santa Barbara Vintners

Organizers of WiVi plan a “session for every wine profession” at next week’s industry conference and tradeshow in Paso Robles.

The WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference and Tradeshow on March 17 and 18 will offer 20 sessions to educate and entertain anyone involved or employed in the business of wine, organizers say.

WiVi will hold several industry sessions during the Tuesday, March 17, portion of its two-day conference next week

WiVi will hold several industry sessions during the Tuesday, March 17, portion of its two-day conference next week

Now in its third year, WiVi has grown into California’s largest industry networking opportunity south of San Francisco, with social events like the WiVi Launch Party, an exhibitor-sponsored luncheon, and the grand finale industry tasting and reception, Celebrating the Artisan Winemaker, hosted by The Garagiste Festival.

Tickets for the two-day event remain available online at www.WiViCentralCoast.com. Questions: info@wivicentralcoast.com or (888) 974-WIVI (9484).

unnamedScheduled for the Paso Robles Event Center, the conference includes educational seminars Tuesday and Wednesday, with a regional focus on viticulture, winemaking and DTC/winery marketing that will be led by today’s top industry leaders, organizers said.

Wednesday will also bring a one-day trade show packed with more tha 170 companies showcasing new products and innovative tools.

WiVi Central Coast is hosted by “Wine Business Monthly,” the magazine/website that provides resources for the wine industry, as well as Precision Ag Consulting, a regional viticulture-consulting business.

A full schedule of Tuesday’s sessions can be found at http://www.wivicentralcoast.com/program/agenda

Among the sessions scheduled are:

  • “Manage and Control Trunk Diseases,” presented by Douglas Gubler, professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis. Gubler will offer preventative and cultural methods to minimize the spread of trunk diseases such as bot canker and eutpya.
  • “A Snapshot of Regional Harvest Chemistry: Seven Years of Wine and Grape Quality Analysis,” presented by Brenda Baker, chemist and owner of Baker Wine and Grape Analysis.
  • “Measuring the ROI of Social Media” presented by Steven Cuellar, Ph.D., of Sonoma State University’s School of Business and Economics. Cuellar will use data and case studies collected from some of the wine industry’s most successful campaigns to assess social media’s effect on the bottom line.
  • “Salary Survey: How Do You Measure Up?” is a presentation by Steve Treder, senior vice president, and Donna Bowman of Western Management Group, in which salary information specifically for the Central Coast wine industry will be extracted from the Wine Business Monthly’s annual salary survey, removing some of the mystery for both employees and employers on the Central Coast.
  • “Top 10 Tips for Success for Better Tasting Room Sales” presented by WISE (Wine Industry Sales Education) Academy Chairman Lesley Berglund, is based on the WISE Academy Tasting Room Best Practices Seminar, including relevant lessons for local tasting rooms taken from Berglund’s secret shopping program and the Wine Business Monthly Tasting Room Survey.
  • During his “2014 Year-in-Review & Update on Recent Changes in Ground Water Rights,” Lowell Zelinski of Precision Ag Consulting will look back at the 2014 winegrape-growing year. Chris Scheuring, legal counsel for the California Farm Bureau Federation, will discuss the monumental changes to come with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (aka Pavley-Dickenson).
  • “The Effect of Water Availability on Property Value,” to be presented by JoAnn Wall, appraiser, founder & CEO of Central Coast Ag Appraisers, will explore the influence that water availability has on property values.

On Wednesday, March 18, the WiVi Trade Show will feature more than 170 exhibitors with products and solutions for the modern winemaker, grape grower, or member of winery management, including companies whose innovations were voted as the “coolest new products” by Wine Business Monthly. 

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for centralcoastwinepress.com

The CCWP Wine Week: WiVi Central returns to Paso in March; Cal Poly receives $20,000 check from Garagiste Festival

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by lauriejervis in Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, Paso Robles, The CCWP Wine Week, Vineyards and Viticulture

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Cal Poly Wine & Viticulture, Doug Minnick, Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, Palmina Winery, Stewart McLennan, WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference & Tradeshow

 

WiVi Central Coast two-day conference for growers, winemakers

The WiVi Central Coast Wine Industry Conference & Tradeshow’s third annual event returns to the Paso Robles Event Center Tuesday and Wednesday, March 17 and 18, and organizers hope to draw winemakers, grape growers and hospitality managers to network and explore resources available on the Central Coast and beyond.

The conference includes education seminars on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and a Wednesday tradeshow that will feature more than 150 companies showcasing new products and tools.

Hosting WiVi Central are Wine Business Monthly, the wine industry leader in product information and resources, and Precision Ag Consulting, a regional viticulture consulting business.

“The Central Coast is still a young wine region but growing rapidly. Education and access to resources is important to its continued growth and success,’’ said Becky Zelinski, WiVi director.

“As the region grows, so does the importance of a conference like WiVi, which is the only one of its kind here. In just two days, anyone in the wine industry can learn from our panels of experts, network with peers, and connect with suppliers at the WiVi tradeshow. It really is a one-stop shop for the entire Central Coast industry,’’ she said.

Among the seminars scheduled both days are “The Year 2014 in Review and Update on Recent Changes on Ground Water Rights;” “The Effect of Water Availability on Property Values;” “Improving Wine Grape Quality Through the Use of Phenolics Measurements in Winemaking;” “Measuring the ROI of Social Media;” and “Top 10 Success Tips for Tasting Room Sales.”

The conference will include two social events: A launch party on Tuesday evening and an exhibitor-sponsored lunch Wednesday.

Registration for WiVi is open to the public and tickets can be purchased online. Early registration discounts and special discounted prices for wine industry association members are available through Feb. 28, as are free tradeshow passes for association members.

Information and tickets: www.WiViCentralCoast.com; email: info@wivicentralcoast.com, and phone: (888) 974-WIVI (9484).

Garagiste Wine Festival presents $20,000 donation to Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program

The Garagiste Festival presented a check for $20,000 to the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture department from proceeds raised at its three Garagiste Festivals in 2014.

It also announced that the Cal Poly program will continue to be a beneficiary of the festivals in 2015, including the upcoming “Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure,” scheduled for March 27-29 at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Solvang.

Receiving the $20,000 check were Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Department Lecturer Shohreh S. Niku, second left, and Interim Department Chairperson Marianne McGarry Wolf, second right. Garagiste co-founders Stewart McLennan and Doug Minnick are far left, and far right, respectively.

Garagiste Festival Photo/Receiving the $20,000 check were Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Department Lecturer Shohreh S. Niku, second from left, and Interim Department Chairperson Marianne McGarry Wolf, second from right. Garagiste co-founders Stewart McLennan and Doug Minnick are far left, and far right, respectively.

The check was presented in the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture lab in San Luis Obispo, where students are benefitting from spectrophotometers purchased using funds donated by the Garagiste Festivals in 2013.

“In addition to throwing a spotlight on small-lot, innovative artisan winemakers, a huge part of our mission is to further the education of future winemakers. It was very exciting today to see the results of our efforts at work at Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture,’’ said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick.

“We have many alums of the program among the exceptional winemakers pouring at our festivals and could not be more proud to be part of helping shape the future of our industry, starting with its next generation of winemakers.’’

Launched in Paso Robles in 2011, the Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemakers, commercial artisan winemakers who handcraft less than 1,500 cases a year and pay close, hands-on attention to every wine they make. The only festivals in the United States dedicated to these innovative, hard-to-find winemakers, the events have helped thousands of consumers discover the remarkable wines of hundreds of garagistes.

“We appreciate the Garagiste Festival’s continued support of our program and its contribution to the vitality of our area, which is rapidly evolving into one of the most important wine regions in the world. We believe our program embraces the entrepreneurial spirit of the garagiste winemaker by integrating enology with viticulture and wine business. Our program reflects the evolution our wine region and the funds donated by the festival over the past three years, as well as the attention it has brought to our program, have truly made a difference,” Wolf said.

“This year’s donation will go a long way to helping extend the footprint of our students in the wine industry. Thank you Garagiste Festival, and thank you to the hundreds of garagiste winemakers and sponsors who help make this festival possible.”

The Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program includes nearly 300 undergraduate majors, making Cal Poly among the largest Wine and Viticulture programs in the country. The program uniquely integrates three fundamental components of the modern wine industry, with a curriculum emphasizing the inherent connectivity between wine grape growing in the vineyard, wine making in the winery, and wine selling in the marketplace through a unique “learn-by-doing” approach. The program is currently developing a Center for Wine and Viticulture that will include new state-of-the-art teaching facilities.

The upcoming Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure will feature 60 artisan winemakers from throughout Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast pouring throughout two days, as well as wine tasting seminars and the popular Winemaker Mixer, which includes the Festival’s signature “winemaker shootout” —where winemakers blind taste each others wines to pick the best red.

For tickets and to be alerted to breaking news about Southern Exposure and other Garagiste events, sign up for The Dirt at http://garagistefestival.com/sign-up/ or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook. For more information on The Garagiste Festivals, go to http://garagistefestival.com

Silicon Valley Bank predicts “breakout year” for U.S. wine biz

Silicon Valley Bank, a leading provider of commercial banking services to the innovation sector and the wine industry, releases its annual State of the Wine Industry report Jan. 21.

“We are seeing real strength in the U.S. economy going into 2015, which will increase demand for wine,” said Rob McMillan, founder of SVB’s Wine Division and author of the report.

“Declining oil prices are transferring wealth to oil-consuming countries, the employment picture is improving, the U.S. dollar is strengthening and interest rates will move at a measured pace. As long as the industrialized world economies can hold their own, the middle-income consumer will see improved prospects. We’ll be toasting to that.”

“We are especially positive on the year ahead,” McMillan said. “We expect the fine wine business will experience accelerating growth, achieving 14 to 18 percent sales growth in 2015. At the same time, the cellars are full with several consecutive years of very good vintages.”

Based on a survey of nearly 600 West Coast wineries, in-house expertise and ongoing research, SVB’s annual report covers trends and addresses current issues facing the American wine industry.

Key findings and predictions:

  • Supply: We expect to see the third consecutive harvest of heavy yield and great quality across most appellations.
  • Sales Growth: After finishing the year at the top end of our predicted sales growth of 6 to 10 percent in 2014, we are predicting a breakout year of growth in the fine wine category in the 14 to 18 percent range in 2015.
  • Pricing: While the large supply of wines in the cellars should normally indicate continued depressed pricing, we believe 2015 will be a year of both volume and price increases in the fine wine segment, driven by an improving economy and higher demand.
  • Demand: Wines priced below $7 a bottle performed poorly both on and off premise in 2014. This poor performance is likely to continue in 2015.
  • Planting: Grape planting is shifting regionally. Oregon and Washington are showing strong growth in planting on a percentage basis and we expect that this will continue for the foreseeable future given favorable quality and price dynamics relative to the fine wine growing regions in California.

SVB’s wine division specializes in commercial banking for premium wineries and vineyards and the industries that support them. SVB has the largest team of commercial bankers dedicated to the wine industry of any bank nationwide. Founded in 1994, SVB’s Wine Division has offices in Napa and Sonoma counties and serves clients in the fine wine producing regions of California, Oregon and Washington.

Palmina Winery names John Busby as general manager

Palmina Winery, which produces a range of wines crafted from Italian varietals grown in Santa Barbara County, has named John Busby as its new general manager.

Busby, previously an executive in the asset management industry, has been manager of direct-to-consumer sales at Palmina for the past two years.

“I am extremely enthused at the prospect of taking on this new role at Palmina,” Busby said. “As the winery celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2015, I look forward to continuing to work closely with Steve and Chrystal to firmly position Palmina as a sustainable Santa Barbara County brand for the next 20 years and beyond.”

Steve Clifton, winemaker and owner, produced the first Palmina wines in the basement of his home in 1995. Formerly assistant winemaker at Rancho Sisquoc and manager of The Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, Steve was joined at Palmina by his wife, Chrystal, in 2000. The Cliftons are also partners in Brewer-Clifton, a Sta. Rita Hills producer of pinot noir and chardonnay.

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for centralcoastwinepress.com

 

 

 

The Business of Wine: Vinous, another sell-out Garagiste Festival and Paso Robles partners with Cambria, San Simeon for new festival

20 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by lauriejervis in Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, Paso Robles, The Business of Wine

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Vinous buys Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar

Vinous announced Tuesday that it will acquire Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar (IWC).

IWC, founded in 1985 by editor and publisher Stephen Tanzer, is the oldest independent, American-owned wine journal.

Tanzer will join Antonio Galloni, Vinous’ CEO and founder, as a partner of Vinous, and will be actively involved as editor-in-chief and a lead critic.

According to a news release from http://vinousmedia.com, Vinous will add IWC’s entire archive to its library of content, making the combined site home to more than 180,000 professional wine reviews and more than 1,000 articles.

In an email to his subscribers, Tanzer said he believes Galloni and his team at Vinous “will quickly become the single most informative website for wine lovers in the U.S. and around the world.

“Best of all, Antonio clearly shares my focus on providing high-quality, totally independent wine criticism,” he added.

“I have known Steve Tanzer and have been a subscriber to IWC for over a decade,” Galloni said. “In addition to being one of the world’s preeminent wine critics, Steve is an even better person. When it came time to choose a partner with complementary strengths and shared values, Steve was the obvious choice.”

“I am looking forward to partnering with Antonio to bring our combined subscribers the most comprehensive, informative, independent wine web site on the market,” Tanzer said.

“With five of the world’s most established wine critics, continually streamed content, a large video library and interactive maps, Vinous is clearly taking the lead in reshaping the landscape of our industry.”

The new Vinous editorial team includes:

Antonio Galloni: Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Italy, Champagne, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Mountains and Burgundy

Steve Tanzer: Burgundy, Chablis, Washington, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Port, Tokaj and Napa Valley

Josh Raynolds: Spain, Rhône, Languedoc, Roussillon, Provence, Oregon, Australia, Paso Robles, Santa Lucia Highlands and Chile

Ian D’Agata: Central and Southern Italy, Alsace, Canada

Garagiste Festival sells out Paso Robles; looks ahead to Solvang

On the heels of another sell-out event in Paso Robles, Garagiste Events, producers of The Garagiste Festivals, have announced the return of their popular Southern Exposure festival in to Veterans’ Memorial Hall in Solvang, March 27 to 29, 2015.

Joe Mozdzen photos/Participants in the Saturday morning seminars sampled several wines.

Joe Mozdzen photos/Participants in the Saturday morning seminars sampled several wines.

More than 1,000 wine enthusiasts and winemakers participated in the four-day festival in Paso Robles, Nov. 6 through 9, which lived up to its description by the Los Angeles Times as not only “one of the premier wine events of the year,” but also one of “wine’s best parties,” organizers said.

“The sold-out 2014 Paso Robles Garagiste Festival is further proof that the American garagiste movement is one of the hottest trends in the wine industry, and that Paso Robles is its heart and soul,” said Garagiste Festival co-founder Doug Minnick.

“We are proud to be the only event in the country to shine a light on so many extraordinary artisan winemakers under one roof – all while offering wine lovers a ‘no snobs allowed’ atmosphere in which to sample innovative wines crafted with passion, a healthy respect for tradition, and an even healthier respect for breaking the rules.”

Steve Lohr, CEO of J. Lohr Wines, left, and Stewart McLennan discuss the 11 new AVAs in Paso Robles

Steve Lohr, CEO of J. Lohr Wines, left, and Stewart McLennan discuss the 11 new AVAs in Paso Robles

A new highlight this year was the festival’s first (but not last) “Big Blend Shootout,” a friendly competition in which more than 20 winemakers blind-tasted each other’s wines and picked out the best of the best.

The winner was Bret Urness from Levo Wines, for his blend of grenache, syrah, petite syrah and viognier.

“It was a great night that epitomized the camaraderie among winemakers in Paso Robles, and the fact that, while winemaking is a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun, especially after the long harvest,” said co-founder Stewart McLennan.

The nonprofit Garagiste Festivals benefit the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program.

For more information on The Garagiste Festivals, visit http://garagistefestival.com.

Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance partners with Cambria and San Simeon to launch “Blendfest” 

The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance (PRVCA), in conjunction with the Cambria Tourism Board, San Simeon Tourism Board and Wine Coast Country, has formed a partnership to bring a Paso Robles wine event to the northern coast of San Luis Obispo County.

On Feb. 21, the first Paso BlendFest on the Coast will showcase the best characteristics of each partner, combining the scenic beauty of the coast with Paso Robles Wine Country.

BlendFest will invite visitors to San Simeon and Cambria to enjoy 25 to 30 of Paso Robles’ renowned wineries, each featuring two distinct blends. At the Cavalier Resort in San Simeon, guests will be able to enjoy spectacular wines and stunning coastal views.

“As evidenced by Paso’s recent honor as Wine Region of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, the region has become known for rule breaking, unconventional blends,” said Jennifer Porter, executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.

The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance represents wineries, growers and businesses in Paso Robles Wine Country. It encompasses more than 32,000 vineyard acres and 200 wineries. For more information, visit www.pasowine.com. Twitter: @PasoRoblesWine, #pasowine

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Introduce yourselves to the best of the smallest producers at Garagiste this weekend

03 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by lauriejervis in Paso Robles, Vineyards and Viticulture, Winemaking

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Doug Minnick, Garagiste Festival, Stewart McLennan

2014Pasologo

This coming weekend’s Garagiste Festival has added to third seminar to Saturday morning’s lineup.

Access to these seminars are available only via the premium all-day ticket, which also includes a box lunch, early access to the grand tasting and entry into the Rockin’ After Party.

Update! While some tickets for Saturday remain available as of this (Monday) evening, both Thursday and Friday are sell outs, said Melanie Webber, Garagiste Festival publicist.

The seminars and the grand tasting have relocated to larger digs inside the Ponderosa Pavilion at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds.

Organizers urge attendees to park on Riverside Avenue across from the Fairgrounds’ entrance, enter the grounds via the gate and follow signs to the festival check-in.

The actual address is 2198 Riverside Ave.

The new seminar is entitled “Paso Subdivided into 11 New Viticultural Areas” (or, “East! West! North! South! — What does it all mean?”)

It starts at 11:45 a.m. and features Steve Lohr, chairman and CEO of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, and one of many winemakers behind the just-approved addition of 11 new subs AVAs within the larger Paso Robles region. Lohr will discuss winemakers’ research into the climate and soil diversity, and what the new AVAs mean for consumers.

Seminar One starts at 11 a.m., and is “Taste Like a Pro,” with Matt Kettmann, Central Coast wine reviewer for Wine Enthusiast and senior editor at the Santa Barbara Independent, who will lead participants through the process of tasting-to-score and detail how he tackles sampling wines at big tastings.

The third seminar starts at 12:15 p.m, and features three winemakers who left other careers for the wine industry. “Making a Dream Come True: My Second Career as a Vineyard Owner & Winemaker” will include Bob Tillman (Alta Colina Vineyards), Carl Bowker (Caliza Winery) and Victor Abascal (Vines on the Marycrest).

Saturday’s Garagiste Festival Grand Tasting will be my fourth as a wine writer. I participated in the debut event in November 2011, and in both of the Solvang “Southern Exposure” events to date.

I have nothing but praise for the “garagistes” behind the festivals: Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, as well as Lisa Dinsmore and Webber, who carry out the endless behind-the-scenes tasks and publicity, respectively.

At the end of the day, these folks and others on Team Garagiste easily meet their goal: Introducing wine aficionados to Central Coast and California so-called garagistes — the winemakers who produce between 50 and 1,500 cases each year. Most of those pouring have case production of less than 500 cases.

In addition, most participants lack a tasting room, and likely are sharing cellar space with a larger producer. Many still have their “day” jobs: teacher, firefighter or assistant to another winemaker.

During every Garagiste tasting, I discover new producers.

During the 2011 inaugural Paso Robles event, my standouts were wines from Nicora, Ground Effect, Alta Colina and Rangeland.

Last year, during the first “Southern Exposure” festival in Solvang, I first tasted C. Nagy, La Fenetre, Pence Ranch and Roark Wine Co.

And when “Southern Exposure” returned to Solvang this past March, I came away with four new “labels to watch”: Sillix Wines, Carucci Wines, Seagrape and Cholame.

Blake Sillix makes 400 cases each year, and his first vintage was 2010. Eric Carucci produces 500 and his first was 2009.

Andres “Andy” Ibarra, former winemaker at Rideau Vineyards and the vineyard manager at the storied La Presa Vineyard in Solvang, makes 800 cases for Cholame Vineyard, which was first produced in 2010.

Karen Steinwachs, since 2007 the winemaker at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Winery, started Seagrape that same year. Case production: 500.

Information and tickets: www.garagistefestival.com

 

 

 

Fourth-annual Garagiste Festival returning to “home base” in Paso Robles Nov. 6-9

17 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by lauriejervis in Faces Behind the Wine, Paso Robles, Vineyards and Viticulture, Winemaking

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Garagiste Festival, Paso Robles

 

More than 70 artisan “garagiste” winemakers will pour their wines at the only festival devoted to the smallest-of-the-small producers — many of whom produce just one or two barrels.

California’s Garagiste Festivals debuted in Paso Robles in November 2011, and two years later expanded to Solvang via “Southern Exposure,” held in late March at the Veterans Memorial Hall. This year a third Garagiste festival, “Urban Exposure,” debuted in Los Angeles on July 12 at Union Station.

2014PasologoFor the return of the flagship event in November, more than 70 artistan winemakers will pour their wines. Of those, more than 50 hail from the Paso Robles area, and 90 percent of those pouring do not have tasting rooms.

Despite its growth and prominence among aficionados of fine wine, founders of the Garagiste Festival stay true to their roots and continue to direct a share of proceeds to the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program in San Luis Obispo to support future winemakers.

Garagiste (“garage-east”) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate small-lot wine producers who often produced wine in their garages. Today the term is used to describe those who produce some the best wine in the world — just in small lots. The annual Garagiste Festivals limit participation to winemakers who make less than 1,200 cases per year.

For the upcoming Paso Robles event, which has relocated this year to the Ponderosa Pavilion at the Fairgrounds, organizers have added new events; click here http://californiagaragistes.com/2014-paso-fest/

Returning from previous years are “Shiners, Samples and Secrets,” where winemakers share barrel samples and other rarities; the “Opening Round,” which spotlights garagistes from Northern California; two wine tasting seminars; and the festival’s signature “Rockin’ After Party. All events will take place in Paso Robles or at the historic Carlton Hotel in Atascadero.

After their successful foray into Los Angeles, the co-founders and organizers of Garagiste Festival are eager to come home, so to speak, to Paso Robles.

“This has been a banner year for Garagiste Festival — a greatly expanded and sold-out Solvang event, and our premiere festival in Los Angeles (also sold out), and now a new and more central venue for our Paso festival, with four days of our most popular events returning,” said Doug Minnick, co-founder of the Garagiste Festival with Stewart McLennan.

“And while we are offering wine lovers even more opportunities to taste these fantastic wines, we continue to keep our attendee to winemaker ratio low because we believe that one-on-one interaction is the best way to make new wine discoveries … and it is what our attendees expect.”

Sign up for The Dirt at http://garagistefestival.com/sign-up/, or follow Garagiste on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or via Facebook, where organizers offer profiles of participating winemakers in the weeks leading up to the festivals.

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for centralcoastwinepress.com

 

TTB publishes ruling establishing 11 new AVAs within Paso Robles

09 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by lauriejervis in Paso Robles, The Business of Wine, Winemaking

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Jason Haas, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Tablas Creek

It’s official: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) today published its final decision in the Federal Register, creating 11 new American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) within the existing Paso Robles AVA in San Luis Obispo County.

The 11 new sub AVAs: Adelaida District, Creston District, El Pomar District, Paso Robles Estrella District, Paso Robles Geneseo District, Paso Robles Highlands District, Paso Robles Willow Creek District, San Juan Creek, San Miguel District, Santa Margarita Ranch and Templeton Gap District.

The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, in conjunction with the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area (AVA) Committee, issued a news release applauding the ruling, noting that the announcement concludes a seven-year process by a group of 59 Paso Robles vintners and winegrape growers who created a unified approach to develop a comprehensive master plan for the greater Paso Robles American Viticultural Area.

“These new AVAs will be a powerful tool for wineries to explain why certain grapes are particularly well suited to certain parts of the appellation, and why some wines show the characteristics they do while other wines, from the same or similar grapes, show differently,” said Jason Haas, general manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard and Paso Robles AVA Committee member.

“Ultimately, the new AVAs will allow these newly created sub-regions to develop identities for themselves with a clarity impossible in a single large AVA.”

The petition for the 11 new AVAs was filed in the spring of 2007 by the Paso Robles AVA Committee. The petition proved to be the single largest AVA proposal ever filed with the TTB due to the scale and scientific data assembled to substantiate the request.

The ruling was published today on www.ttb.com. The official map of the 11 Viticultural Areas, as well as a comparison grid detailing climate, rainfall, topography, etc., is available on http://www.pasowine.com/media-center/the-avas-of-paso-robles.php

Copyright Central Coast Wine Press for centralcoastwinepress.com

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