Saturday, August 17 left OC about 6:10 and with a great drive, no traffic but lots of fog arrived in Buellton about 8:50. Gassed the car up - only took 6 gallons to get here and headed to Ellen's for breakfast. Ellen's was packed so decided to try Coco's . It has been closed down, I need to be at Hillard Bruce Winery by 10:00 for a seminar on "The Treasures of The Sta. Rita Hills", so I hit Carl's Jr for a breakfast sandwich. Sure missed the biscuits and gravy at Ellen's. I was so looking forward to it. Only time I order it because the dish is really not very good for the body. But it sure does taste good as does most things you shouldn't eat.
Headed down 246 towards Lompoc and got to Hillard Bruce about 9:50. Tables for lunch were set up on the circular driveway and the tent covered the huge patio area in front of the house (which is huge also). After a few minutes of cahos (which happens most times with volunteers) we were allowed to go in a be seated. Sat in the front row facing the panelist's first seminar was on Chardonnay. Josh Raynolds of Stephan Tanzer's International Wine Cellar was the moderator. Steve Clifton talked about Sweeney Canyon Vineyard, Ken Brown had Rita's Crown Vineyard, Rancho El Jabli was represented by Richard Sanford. These three were talking about what the call the "Santa Rosa" corridor of the Sta. Rita Hills. Next we had the Sta Rita Hwy 246 corridor represented by John Hillard of Hillard Bruce Vineyard, Leslie Mead Renauld of Foley Winery and Antonio Moretti of Moretti Wines. We tasted the 2010 Sweeney Canyon Chardonnay, 2011 Rita's Crown Chardonnay, 2011 Alma Rosa, El Jabali Chardonnay, 2010 Hillard Bruce Chardonnay, 2011 T Anchor Chardonnay and the 2011 3-D Vineyard Chardonnay,
Took a small break and listen to Wes Hagen give a talk about the soil in the region and how it affects the great wine that is made in the Sta. Rita Hills. Then came back in the start the Pinot Noir segment of the seminar. The Santa Rosa Corridor was represented by Brandon Sparks-Gilles of Dragonette talking about the Cargasacchi Vineyard, Kris Curran of D'Alfonso Curran speaking about the Rancho LaVina Vneyards, and Norm Yost of Flying Goat representing Rio Vista Vineyards, The Sta. Rita 246 Corridor had Kimberly Smith of La Montagne spoke about the Kessler-Hawk Vineyard, Clos Pepe Vineyard was represented by Adam Lee of Siduri and Bill Wathen of Foxen was last with the Sabastiano Vineyard.
The seminars were informative and very casual. Question and answer time followed each seminar. I could have stayed a few more hours just listening to the panelists. We then went outside to have lunch catered by the Hitching Post Restaurant. I grabbed a seat with an umbrella over the table. Ended up sitting with Nikki of Liquid Farms, Adam Lee of Siduri and Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe. Not bad company top share lunch with. The wines poured freely and I had to really watch my consumption. After all we have the big tasting tonight
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