Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize  November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Red Wine and Best of Monterey County AVA. Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “warm and spicy” with “fig and nutmeg.” Other descriptors included “meaty,” “prosciutto,” and “dried rose petal.”  With entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine.  In other competitions, this terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challen

Afternoon Brief, May 8th

In a Major Pinot Noir Purchase, Constellation Buys Sta. Rita Hills Icon Sea Smoke: The Santa Barbara County winery was a key player in the region’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay renaissance...

Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir Takes Top Honors November 17, 2023 — Winners have been announced in the 2023 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best Red Wine and Best of Anderson Valley AVA (Mendocino County, Calif.). Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “rich, ripe” and for its “Bing cherry,” and “hint of orange peel.”  Lula Cellars is a boutique winery located in California’s Anderson Valley. Its focus is on world-class Pinot Noirs both from its estate and across Anderson Valley, as well as other single-vineyard offerings from the greater Mendocino County. When preparing to plant their own vines, Lula owners discovered some-1,000 old vines “literally lying down, as if waiting to be rescued.” Lots of TLC later, these mystery Pinot Noir grapes have thrived. There’s no in

Presqu’ile Winery Acquires 1,100 Acres in Sta. Rita Hills to Develop New Sustainably-Farmed Vineyard

The new site will further expand the Santa Maria-based winery’s viticulture footprint in Santa Barbara County. SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Oct. 25, 2023) — Arc Vineyards, LLC, an affiliate of Presqu’ile – the family-owned […]

Jennifer Pyle Joins Alma Rosa Winery as Sales and Hospitality Manager

(October 19; Buellton, Calif.)—Debra Eagle, General Manager of Alma Rosa Winery, a leading wine producer from Santa Barbara County’s Sta. Rita Hills AVA, is pleased to announce that Jennifer Pyle […]

Afternoon Brief, July 11th

PD/GWSS Winegrape Assessment Set at $1.25 for 2023 Harvest: To continue funding crucial research combating winegrape pests and diseases, the Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board kept the PD/GWSS Winegrape Assessment rate at $1.25 per $1,000 value for the 2023 harvest...

Afternoon Brief, May 23rd

North Bay Farmers Still Concerned About Drought Effects and Heavy Rains: The heavy rain pattern of early 2023 delayed the planting season in some areas and has contributed to rising food prices, while increasing costs for farmers still recovering from high feed prices incurred during the drought...

Afternoon Brief, January 3rd

These Elite Napa Estates Are Releasing Wines from a Fire-Ravaged Year. Do They Taste Smoky?: Two years after the hazy, chaotic days of the 2020 wine harvest, a season bookended by sprawling wildfires, some Napa Valley winemakers are coming out with a surprising announcement: They made wine in 2020. And they’re proud of it...

Local Santa Barbara Country Winery Gains Traction with Its 3rd Annual Fundraising Walk Benefiting Mental Health Organizations

Alma Rosa Winery’s “Peace of Mind: 10,000 Steps in the Right Direction” will take place Saturday, July 23 (July 14, 2022; Buellton, Calif.)—Santa Barbara County’s Alma Rosa Winery’s third annual Peace […]

Afternoon Brief, June 14th

Self-Driving Tractors Could Be Widespread on California Farms by Next Year: At Georges III Vineyard, a famous plot in the Napa Valley town of Rutherford that produces $150 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, a tractor is moving through vine rows. It’s a small, white vehicle, somewhat resembling a souped-up golf cart...