Archive for the 'Joanie Hudson' Category

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Holiday Shipping

Published on December 16, 2009 in Joanie Hudson and Santa Barbara Winery. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I don’t know about you, but in this modern day of email marketing, my email box is crawling with “Last Chance Christmas” shopping emails, and this has become my oh so modern way of getting in the Christmas spirit.  Once those emails start rolling in I know it is time to turn on the Holiday music, starting sprinkling home baked cookies with red and green sprinkles, and having some sips of Egg Nog.

This is my way of letting you all know that it is not too late for Holiday shipping.  We are still taking orders to get wine anywhere from Santa Barbara to across the country by Christmas Day.  Our tasting room is flooded with bubble wrap, curled ribbons, cardboard boxes, and wine shippers.

Locals are invited to stop by seven days a week for wine tasting, and we will be open everyday from 10am-5pm through the Holidays with the exception of Christmas Day and New Years Day.

As always, our $9.50 shipping rate applies to all orders, and is our standard flat rate for two day shipping.

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Lafond Winery & Vineyards Holiday Open House, December 5

Published on December 2, 2009 in Joanie Hudson, Lafond Winery and Open House. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Come join as at Lafond Winery this Saturday, December 5 as we toast the Holiday season along with the rest of Sta. Rita Hills.  We will be having a Holiday Open House from 10am-5pm.  Join us for an artisan cheese spread, fresh bread and desserts that pair with our wines, while finding that perfect holiday gift for the wine lover on your list in our tasting room.

From the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance:

We love holidays here in Santa Barbara Wine Country, as they give us an opportunity to get together with friends and take a breather from life’s hustle and bustle. And the upcoming holidays are particularly celebratory!

The 2009 harvest is in and our towns and villages have that small-town feeling of excitement in the air. The first weekend in December is chock-full of open houses, special tastings, newly displayed gift items and a great time to come up and ‘get into the spirit’. Take a stroll through one of our villages, kick up the leaves in a park, take a cooking class, join a winemaker at dinner, shop for unique gifts in the tasting rooms or take a leisurely drive along one of our wine trails.
 
Many of the members of the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance are opening the doors to the wineries and cellars for Open Houses and special tastings throughout this weekend.  As many of these are not normally open to the public, this is your chance to come taste new and library wines, chat with the winemakers and owners about the current vintages and find that special bottle of wine for a gift or to grace your holiday tables.
 
Join us as we toast the season!

Click Here for the full list of events / open houses this weekend in the Sta. Rita Hills.

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Wine Books and Libraries

Published on November 22, 2009 in Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

For the past year or so I have been buying wine books faster than I can read them, but instead of slowing down my purchasing it seems to be picking up.  I am the first one to say that the best way to learn about wine is by tasting and experiencing, but it’s great to have the literature to support it and get into more depth on what you are drinking.  My home library has a vast range from fiction to encyclopedic, but the common theme on my bookshelves is wine.  Sometimes I will pick up a book and read just a chapter, and put it back only to pick it up again months later, and that’s just how I read through my wine library.  

Below is a great article (‘An Invitation to Read, Sniff, and Taste’) on some current favorite wine books out there.  We have a large selection in the tasting room and have just recently stocked up for the upcoming holidays.  So come by, taste, and peruse.  Books make great gifts for wine lovers, as long as you include a bottle of wine as well!

 BOOKS about wine are no substitute for drinking wine. But these six new selections can help to better understand what’s in the glass, and what’s in the minds of those who make wine and consume it.

Jonathan Nossiter is the wine world’s own special irritant. In manner and style, his new book, Liquid Memory: Why Wine Matters (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25), like his 2004 movie “Mondovino,” is annoying, polarizing and provocative. It raises questions that deserve to be considered, yet his technique and style may turn off potential converts. As portrayed by Mr. Nossiter, the world of wine today is a Manichean battleground, where the soulless forces of homogenization — Robert M. Parker Jr., Wine Spectator, etc. — have turned wine, a true emblem of individuality, community and culture, into (gasp) a commodity.

“Do people across the world really want all these alcoholized sodapop concoctions,” he asks, “or are they conned and bullied by marketing and the collusion of the market into submitting to them?”

Mr. Nossiter raises other, more interesting, issues. Why is it that we resort to the absurd language of tasting notes to try to beat a wine down to its most obscure aroma and flavor? Does wine, like great art, illuminate the deepest ideas of what it means to be human? Or is it craft? How does something agrarian at heart retain its integrity in a post-industrial world?

These are all important questions, yet Mr. Nossiter draws attention away from them with regular showoff references to obscure avant-garde film directors and philosophers. He interrupts his lecture to meet with Burgundian winemakers he respects, like Christophe Roumier and Dominique Lafon. When he settles down to listen, we can all learn something…

Click Here for the rest of the article written by Eric Asimov for The New York Times

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

California Travel – Happy Canyon

Published on November 12, 2009 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards and Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Santa Barbara County’s newest AVA, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, has long been a source of high quality fruit for us here at Santa Barbara Winery.  Check out this fun article (‘Near Santa Barbara, California’s New Wine Country’) on our newest wine country destination.

From California Travel Girl website

I know why it’s called Happy Canyon. It’s because this little corner of Santa Barbara wine country, in the east end of the Santa Ynez Valley, has just become California’s newest AVA (American Viticultural Area). On the Los Padres side of Highway 154, this broad, sunny cleft is home to horse ranches and hillside vineyards.

To become an AVA, a wine region has to be significantly different from other winegrape growing areas, and Happy Canyon qualifies: hotter temps, less fog, and a mineral terroir (serpentine soil lace with high magnesium content) make it distinctive. It’s also pretty small, with just six major vineyards and two active wineries (a third is due next year), but note: none offer public tasting.

Still, you can make your own tasting tour of their wines (mostly Bordeaux-styles), by visiting winetasting rooms like those listed below. Or visit the better known area Santa Barbara wine regions. And don’t miss Santa Barbara’s downtown Urban Wine Trail, with stops at eleven wine hotspots. Happy now?

Thanksgiving Wines

Published on November 10, 2009 in Joanie Hudson, Nebbiolo, Riesling, Santa Barbara Winery and Wine and Food Pairing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Thanksgiving has always been one of my absolute favorite holidays.  The entire month of November is spent in anticipation of this amazing meal that brings friends and family together from all across the world, just to sit around the dinner table together for this special night.  This drawing factor of Thanksgiving is one of the things I love most about wine as well.  I am so greatful for any event or beverage that has the ability to bring people together to relax at the end of their day, and reflect on what matters most in this world, the company that we surround ourselves with and close friends and family.  Thanksgiving is a North American Harvest Festival, and it pretty much signals the end of a vintage for our winemakers, just in time to get everything in barrel to be home with family for the holiday. 

That being said, Thanksgiving dinner is always a very interesting topic in the realm of food pairings.  The reason that there will never be a single answer for what wine goes well with Thanksgiving dinner (a question I get asked repeatedly) is that my Thanksgiving dinner is likely very different from my neighbors, whose dinner is very different than their neighbors.  We all have our traditions and special Thanksgiving recipes and ingredients, and there are so many different wines that work well with each aspect of the plate.  So when you’re thinking about what wines to serve at Thanksgiving, put some thought into the different flavors, textures, and weights that will be put together in the kitchen.  Think about your guests, think about what you like to drink, and then make your decision from there.  There are some general rules that can serve as a guideline, but that’s all it is, a basic guideline, you as a consumer are responsible for finding out what you like and don’t like, and that just comes from tasting lots of different wines!  I personally love Rieslings and Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir with Turkey, Grenache and Nebbiolo are also generally hits at the table as well.  The jamminess of our Negrette is another nice pairing with Cranberry sauce and stuffing. 

Our tasting room is a nice venue to taste through a few different options and see what might work best with your meal.  We are open daily from 10am-5pm, and are closed only on Thanksgiving Day.

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Build Your Wine Know-How

Published on October 26, 2009 in Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

If you ever find yourself as a consumer intimidated by wine, remind yourself that it is just a beverage to be enjoyed… The only way to learn more is to invest some time and energy into paying attention to what you are drinking, where it comes from, why you smell blackberries, why you smell vanilla, and all down the taste and aromatic wheel…

I found some fun tips in this article on “How You Can Build Your Wine Know-How”

One way to build your wine knowledge is to attend wine tastings. Free tastings offer one of the best opportunities to be objective because you have neither money nor ego on the line. At the events, keep your ears open to the musings of more experienced wine enthusiasts. Listen to their descriptions and determine if you can distinguish the same flavors in the wine. Don’t be afraid to talk to people and ask questions.
You can also build your knowledge by enrolling in wine education classes. These offer the opportunity to explore a wide spectrum of wines. In addition, classes have the luxury of built-in wine partners — the other students. Attend classes that offer wines that you are less familiar with, as well as those that rank among your favorites.  Click Here for the full article.
Taste some new wines, retaste old wines, repurchase wines you have enjoyed in the past and see how they are tasting today…
Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Zinfandel / Primitivo Article

Published on October 19, 2009 in Harvest, Joanie Hudson and Primativo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Check out this article on Zinfandel and Primitivo, referring to the two grapes as “Identical Wine Vino Cousins…”

Zinfandel wines denote California grown, yet DNA tests reveal that the variety is of European descent with “the same DNA as the Italian grape Primitivo.”  

Also interesting in this article is the discussion of the uniqueness of Zinfandel grape clusters, which states that the berries in the clusters do not ripen evenly, producing “unique flavor dynamics… There is bright acidity from slightly underripe grapes, perfect fruit flavors from the ripe berries, and concentration and depth from the slightly withered or overripe ones.”  

We used to have Zinfandel vines planted at Lafond Vineyard, until as recently as 2004, but as we get to know our vineyard site better with each year, we have discovered that the Sta. Rita Hills are a bit too cool to successfully grow consistent quality Zinfandel.  Replantings of Pinot Noir is a result of this key cool climate (warm days, cool nights, and a long growing season) aspect to our vineyard.

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards
To order Santa Barbara Winery Primitivo

Harvesting Pinot Gris

Published on September 7, 2009 in Harvest, Joanie Hudson and Pinot Gris. 0 Comments

During the early morning Labor Day hours, we received Pinot Gris at the Santa Barbara Winery facility (white wines are made at the SBW facility and reds made at Lafond facility).  The grapes bounce along down the freeway by truck with acids and sugars in balance and arrive at the winery for the eagerly awaiting production staff. 

Once the grapes arrive, they are immediately transported by fork lift and bin to our Bladder Press, a machine which gently squeezes the juice from the skins and stems.  The tiny clusters become a mass of discarded grape materials once the precious clear juice is pressed off. 

All the while the tasting room staff is giddily nibbling on tiny grapes, answering questions on the Harvest for tasters, and getting used to the constant beeping of the moving fork lift.

The clear juice is then transferred to stainless steel tanks for fermentation, where sugars are converted to alcohol by yeast.

If you have never tasted a wine grape or sipped on some grape juice before it is turned to wine, come by the Tasting Room during Harvest and witness the winemaking process. 

The recent heat spike caused sugar levels to rise quickly and hastened ripeness. 

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Labor Day Grill Outs

Published on September 4, 2009 in Harvest, Joanie Hudson and Sauvignon Blanc. 0 Comments

Yes, Labor Day Weekend is here, it’s true…

Back to school, grapes to the press, juice to the barrel, shorter days, and cooler temperatures…

No rest or holiday for the winemaker this weekend as the hot temperatures hastened ripe fruit and rising sugars.  We have started Harvest here at Santa Barbara Winery with Sauvignon Blanc being the first picked.  It was two years ago that fruit was picked to go into our currently released Sauvignon Blanc.

In honor of the closing of summer and Labor Day Barbeques, the Tasting Room is having a Limited Time Case Special on our 2007 Sauvignon Blanc.  Special Case Price is 144.00 (12 750mL bottles / case). 

So how do you choose wines for your Labor Day Grill Out?  The same way you choose for any other outdoor summertime gathering… choose what you like!  But if you need a little bit of direction… Try a Syrah with your spiced Ribs or Beef, ZCS with your burgers, and Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay with fish, chicken or shrimp…

Joanie Hudson, Director National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards