The 8th Annual Vino de Sueños (Wine of Dreams) benefit wine release celebration will be held November 7th at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton, CA from 3-6 PM. The public is invited to attend and celebrate the work of farm and vineyard workers. Proceeds benefit the non-profit, People Helping People (PHP).
Vino de Sueños successfully debuted in November of 2008 and 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 they serve. 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, fourteen 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.
Becky Barieau, VDS event chair, said that, “we are very excited to announce our 2015 wineries: Alma Rosa, Buttonwood, Foley, Foxen, Ken Brown, Longoria, Martian, Palmina, Quail Crossing, Rideau, Riverbench, Standing Sun, Stolpman, and Vogelzang.”
There will be individual white and red wines for every taste and pocketbook including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, 3 choices of Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc. Wines are expected to sell from $12 to $40 depending upon varietal and vintage and they are specially discounted for this fundraising event. White wine and red wine 6-pack samplers and individual cases will be available for further discounted prices.
The Vino de Sueños event and wine sales are a fundraiser to benefit vineyard and farm workers through the auspices of People Helping People (PHP). PHP is a unique multi-program non-profit organization which helps families and individuals of limited means in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos Valleys by providing a wide range of services including food and nutrition education, health care, youth mentoring, and alcohol and drug abuse prevention “under 1 roof.”
Dean Palius, PHP CEO, stated that the agency serves nearly 1,000 farm 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 $250,000 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 and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundations.”
According to Barieau, another unique aspect of the Vino de Sueños wines is that every year each winery’s VDS bottle label includes a reproduction of an original art piece. “We have been extremely blessed each year to have so many artists willing to contribute to this effort. Artist Karina Puente, who originated the ‘dream’ icon that appears on each Vino de Sueños bottle is returning for the eighth consecutive year and will be joined by other well known local artists to create special works of art to represent each wine.”
Artists scheduled to join Puente this year include Peggy Brierton, Carol Carbine, Jim Farnum, Kevin Gleason, Rebecca Gomez, Patricia Hedrick, Rene Kelleher, Teresa McNeil-Maclean, Andrew Moore, Zoë Nathan, Suzan Hamilton Todd, and Seyburn Zorthian. Their VDS artworks 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 VDS artworks and see artist biographies on the Vino de Sueños web site at vinodesuenos.com.
Kros Andrade, owner of UVA Design Studios, is once again designing the unique Vino de Sueños wine labels. Andrade said that creating the eye catching labels is a labor of love. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to volunteer for this event, give back to farm and vineyard workers and support a very worthy community asset such as People Helping people.”
What has resulted from the marriage of the winemakers and artist’s talents, Barieau says, “(I)s 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.”
In addition to the wine tasting, wine sale, and art auction, the November 7th release event will feature a silent auction of upscale lifestyle items and select wines, live music, and appetizer stations catered by four of the top chefs on the Central Coast including Jeff Olsson of Industrial Eats and New West Catering, Luca Crestanelli of SY Kitchen, Chef Rick Manson, and Kurt Alldredge of The Chef’s Touch. Decadence Fine Cakes and Confections will offer wine based cookies designed to be paired with event wines.
Tickets for Vino de Sueños are $50 each ($45 “early bird” until October 7th), which includes a Vino de Sueños logo crystal glass. Tickets are now on sale and to make a purchase or to receive more information about the Vino de Sueños release celebration, go to the Vino de Sueños website at www.vinodesuenos.com or contact Erica at Erica@syvphp.org or at (805) 686-0295.
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