Wine in the sunshine!

Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival

I had the good fortune of getting some complementary tickets to the Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival this weekend! I've always wanted to go but could never justify the price, so I was super excited when the Sun's general manager, Georgia, offered  me some tickets last week. Peter decided to stay home and smoke salmon for some guests we were having for dinner that night, so I invited my friend and co-worker Camillia.

One of the stations of the cross

The festival was held on the grounds of the Santa Ines Mission in Solvang—a beautiful setting, albeit there were a lot of gopher holes, which can be difficult to navigate when you're wearing three-inch wedges and drinking lots of wine.

There were so many different booths offering all kinds of wine and food. I opted for more whites than reds because of the heat (it was in the 80s this weekend). I tried a pinot noir rose for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, I can't remember which wines came from which wineries because we tasted at so many booths. Camillia took a bunch of their business cards so I'll have to ask her. But I do remember the food! My favorites were pinquinto beans from Suzie Q's Seasoning, cheese fondue from Central City Market, and filet mignon meatballs and a cantaloupe agua fresca with prosciutto and creme fraiche from Chumash Casino's The Willows restaurant. I took extra servings of the agua fresca for both of us!

On the way home, Camillia and I talked about how fun festivals are because they're so—for lack of a better word— festive; everyone's there eating and drinking and having a good time. I highly recommend this one if you're in Santa Barbara County in April. And it's not just a one-day event; there are tons of winery open houses, winemaker dinners, and other special events, too. For more information, check out their website: http://www.sbcountywines.com/events/festival.html.

filet mignon meatballs

agua fresca 

Me and Camillia

Yummy linguica!