 A year older, all the more wiser. |
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The 2007 Wine in the Pines Festival took place in the Pine Mountain Village on June 9th. With new organizers, the Festival made a strong start along a new, and hopefully long, tradition. Over 1000 people attended the Saturday event. redwinebuzz.com returned to the village to celebrate our first anniversary.
The Village.
Pine Mountain Village is the commercial center of a private mountain community in Kern County located some 40 miles east of Santa Barbara (map). The Festival is a fundraiser with net proceeds from the 2007 event slated to help improve Pine Mountain Club fire and emergency services. Under new leadership, the festival featured many of the wineries present in 2006 and previous years as well as a good number of new ones. (see the complete List of wineries).
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The Festival was organized by the Steering Committee made up of representatives from several organizations in Pine Mountain Club. With experience in organizing past years' wine festivals in the village, the Committee definitely became seasoned wine festival organizers by June 8th. Much to their credit, this year's festival featured a number of improvements over the 2006 event. A greater number of wineries as well as food included in the ticket price were at the top of the list. Greater variety of booths and more entertainment also marked the festival which wound through the entire commercial village. |
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This year's festival layout was more expansive, allowing for more booths and a broader experience of the village. |
Chef Rick Manson, of Chef Rick's Ultimately Fine Foods in Santa Maria as well as Wine Cottage Bistro and Testa Catering (Dino's Deli) provided delicious appetizers included in the price of admission. These are an absolute must when there is a lot of wine being poured. In addition, Cafe Med, of Bakersfield, provided Mediterranean fare while The Hitching Post, Casmalia grilled their famous steaks. Pine Mountain Village's own Pine Mountain Pizza Company provided plenty of great food. No plate, or stomach, had a right to be empty.
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Not only did the festival's organizers want to give visitors a good value, but they feel that food is important to balance wine with - for both enjoyment and safety reasons. They saw to it that there were more restroom facilities and drinking water than last year. Although the temperature was warm but tolerable, the sun can be quite harsh at higher altitudes. Other commendable additions to this year's festivities were a Riedel tasting glass etched with the festival's logo as well as a wine and appetizer tray. It was also a good decision to have the Village merchants remain open. More visible volunteers and security were also welcome additions. |
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(left to right): PMCCPOA Secretary Brenda Gordon, Bruce Gordon, PMCCPOA Treasurer and Wine in the Pines Co-Chair Clarice Smith and Craig Smith, festival Co-Chair. |
This is a moderately priced festival and when one considers the number of wineries and wines as well as the entertainment and food included in the ticket price, the festival is a great value.
Things Learned.
Since education is one of our primary goals, our participation in this year's festival was as much a learning experience as it was a birthday celebration. After all, a life of wine is a life of learning. Like any other group or organization, we have grown and learned much in the year since we released our first newsletter.
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Armed with experiences of last year's event, we joined the festivities with our own booth. We learned more about some of the people for whom we write. The redwinebuzz.com booth onducted a trivia game every 30 minutes and collected ballots for an informal poll of "The People's Favorite" wines. We brought plenty of SPF-50 sun screen, spit cups, "Stainproof" wine tasting T-shirts and some fun stickers made just for the occasion. Throughout the event, the booth drew a good crowd of fun loving wine enthusiasts eager to test their mettle. |
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The redwinebuzz.com booth, all set up and ready for fun. |
There was much great wine being poured at the event. The wines poured were not only award winning Chardonnays, Cabernets and Cabernet blends, but Grenaches, Merlots, Pinot noirs and Syrahs from Alma Rosa, Cambria, Consilince, Costa De Oro and Zinfandels from Tobin James. In addition, visitors could get a taste of Kenneth Volk's Negrette, a hearty and intriguing but lesser known variety also called Pinot St. George. There were Anglim's white Rhône varieties: Roussanne and Viognier, both of which are relatively new to the more causal wine lovers. Consilience also poured their Roussanne. For wine history buffs, York Mountain Winery was also present. Rather than present a list of our picks, this year, we wanted to give the attendees a voice. More on this later.
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We were quite pleased to learn that the level of wine knowledge was quite high among those who stopped by our booth. A good portion of wine lovers who joined our trivia game knew a lot about wine. However, the most commonly missed question during the game, asked: "What is the best way to stay clear headed during large tasting events?". While: "Drink lots of water" was the most frequently heard answer, the correct answer is: "Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Spit". Winners of each game received our "Stainproof" Wine Tasting Shirt which enjoyed quite a bit of celebrity with festival visitors. |
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The first winner of the redwinebuzz.com "Stainproof" T-shirt demonstrates it's benefits. |
Because redwinebuzz.com wants everyone to make it home safely, we support responsible wine tasting practices. We provided spit cups (with "Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Spit" labels) for all tables pouring wine, as well as large stickers with the same message for dump/spit buckets. Our volunteers mingled with the crowns giving out "Do You Spit or Swallow?" and "Real Wine Tasters Don't Swallow" stickers.
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We had a bit of a rough start with our stickers. Initially, a few people were taken aback (and some were offended) by the double entendre of the "Do You Spit or Swallow?" sticker, but an hour into the festival, it became a high-demand item as everyone figured out what the spirit of the message was. This, much to the credit of our intrepid staffers who put those stickers on as many people as they could. In the process, we made some new friends. Including one who returned to Pine Mountain after seeing himself in one of the pictures in last year's article. |
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| Fat Daddy Blues Band plays under the gazebo. Visitors could relax and listen, or get up and dance. |
Everyone in this diverse crowd, with different approaches to having fun, enjoyed themselves. The event was organized in a manner conducive to helping people stay in control and be responsible: Sufficient food, booths with items other than wine, the wine auction and two stages with bands gave visitors a chance to, slow down, relax and enjoy the day. Being prepared for any eventualities with adequate event staffing also ensured the festival was a fun and safe experience.
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The redwinebuzz.com booth collected ballots for the "People's Favorites". This was an informal poll of the visitors' favorite white and red wines at the event. A ballot box for "Best Decorated Booth" was set out, but the only ballot cast was for "Chef Rick's". Admittedly, this is a new tradition at the festival. Simple decorations can liven up the atmosphere and help a booth (and its wines) stand out in visitor's memories. If this new attraction continues next year, we encourage everyone to decorate their booths. Visitors had an opportunity to win a "Stainproof" Wine Tasting T-shirt if they submitted a winning wine enjoyment tip. |
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redwinebuzz.com founder, Arthur, tests festival visitors' wine knowledge. |
As much as we would have wanted to send out a "Stainproof" T-shirt, the two entries which actually offered a tip were not quite on the mark:
| > | "Only drink wine wearing a "Stainproof" T-shirt (and nothing else!)" | |
| > | "The primary grape in Chianti is Sangiovese" |
While the first entry is creative, amusing and flattering and the second is accurate and informative, they did not provide a tip for enjoyment of wine such as can be seen in our Tip of the Month section.
The Voice of the People
"The People's Favorites" poll was meant to get a better sense of the public's preference and to give that public a voice. Most wine competitions at fairs and festivals are conducted before the fair starts and are judged by wine writers and such. We certainly wanted to make this an informal poll more than a serious contest. It was our hope, also, that this poll would encourage all in attendance to stroll through the festival grounds sampling many different wines. This would help them understand what wines are being offered currently and hopefully learn about their own preferences and wine in general.
Because it was made widely know to participating wineries that redwinebuzz.com would conduct a poll of "The People's Favorites", we feel its important to relate the results of that poll in full detail. Below is the tally of the "People's Favorite White Wine" and "People's Favorite Red Wine" votes:
People's Favorite White Wine:
| > | 2004 William James Chardonnay - 2 votes | |
| > | William James (no variety or vintage specified) - 1 votes | |
| > | Anglim Viognier (no vintage indicated) - 1 vote | |
| > | Treana (no variety or vintage stated) - 1 vote |
People's Favorite Red Wine:
| > | Treana, Pinot noir (no vintage or other designation provided) - 1 vote | |
| > | Consilience (no variety or vintage specified) - 1 vote | |
| > | Curtis (no variety or vintage specified) - 1 vote | |
| > | Chumeia Cabernet (no other information provided) - 2 votes | |
| > | Chumeia Zinfandel (no vintage specified) - 1 vote | |
| > | Treana, Treana Red (no other information provided) - 1 vote | |
| > | 2005 William James, Hampton Vineyard Syrah - 2 votes | |
| > | William James, Cabernet - 1 vote | |
| > | William James, (no variety or vintage specified) - 1 vote |
So what do these results and level of participation tell us? Were visitors not interested in expressing their opinions? Did visitors not know they could voice their opinions? Was the voting too complicated? The ballot boxes were visible and clearly marked at the redwinebuzz.com booth and our staff encouraged everyone to cast their votes and the voting itself was simple enough (blank index cards on which visitors were encouraged to write the name of their favorite wine) - so no hanging or pregnant chads can be blamed here. But we are not chastising anyone here.
If anything can be gleaned from this - for the organizers of this and any similar wine festival - it is that people came to Pine Mountain Village to have fun and to enjoy wine. Working in the booth, it was easy to see that even though the poll was pointed out to those who stopped by, most chose not to participate. Secondly, perhaps more proactive steps must be taken to encourage people to cast their votes. Admittedly, the "People's Favorites" was not very aggressively promoted with festival visitors. We intend to continue this poll next year. We will work with festival organizers in 2008 to find ways to help the visitors voice their opinions. We encourage all visitors to let their preferences be heard next year!
Wine and Song
The purpose of Wine in the Pines 2007, besides raising money, was to create a relaxed atmosphere around the enjoyment of wine. Strolling through the festival grounds in the village, visitors were treated to great wines. The great thing about Wine in the Pines is that, in one setting, bigger, more prominent names are brought together with smaller producers who are gaining popular recognition like Casa Torres, Labyrinth, Herman Story Wines and Barrel 27. And there was beer. Yes, beer.
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The organizers of this year's event booked two bands to give the festival visitors a chance to rest in between sampling wines. These bands not only were gathering points for visitors, but they helped draw people from opposite ends of the festival. The presence of two bands gave visitors more for their money but also pointed to a well thought out event. Bakersfield-based Fat Daddy Blues Band, returned to Pine Mountain again and rocked the gazebo while the locally-based trio, Lanny Ray and the Reels played to a standing crowd in the lower part of the village. The blues and rock styles of both bands were well received. |
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Lanny Ray and the Reels entertained the crowd in the lower end of Pine Mountain Village. |
At 4 pm, the wine stopped pouring, but the fun did not end. The crowd moved on to the gazebo to enjoy a steak or participate in the live (and lively) auction where several wines and other items, including a pricy T-shirt, were taken away by the highest bidders. As we packed up our booth, we found a few bottles of wine had been snuck into our boxes. Those are resting comfortably, awaiting a tasting and a write up.
After the event, we spoke with Clarice and Craig Smith, Co-Chairs of the festival. "We want to give a BIG "Thank You" to our sponsors: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Tejon Ranch, Mountain Properties and Barber Honda. We also want to thank our great volunteers and the Village Merchants as well. Wine in the Pines 2007 raised $20,000.00, for our local fire and emergency services."
It takes a lot to put on a wine festival. Even after the noise dies down, cleanup continues for days if not weeks. That is nothing compared to the hard work of preparing a festival like this - at times in adverse and trying circumstances. Those who persisted and persevered this year enjoyed their successes and victories in content silence. This last note is a nod to them. This is your private, if esoteric, accolade for a job well done.
Next year's event is tentatively scheduled for June 7th. Ticket sales will be limited to 1,200. Keep checking their web site for updates.
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