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

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 […]

Fiddlehead Cellars Embarks on Next Chapter with Sale of Prized Fiddlestix Vineyard

(November 24, 2021; Lompoc, CA)—After more than two decades of owning, farming and making wine from the iconic Fiddlestix Vineyard, Kathy Joseph, proprietor and winemaker of Fiddlehead Cellars, is pleased to announce the sale of her pioneering site that helped define Santa Barbara County’s Sta. Rita Hills AVA. The vineyard’s new owners are Justin Willett […]

Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance Honors Bryan Babcock as 2021 Vintner of the Year

August 18, 2021 (Santa Ynez Valley, CA) — Family-owned and operated Babcock Winery & Vineyards, located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA of Santa Barbara County, is pleased to announce that owner and pioneering winemaker Bryan Babcock has been named 2021 Vintner of the Year by the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance, coinciding with the AVA’s […]

Afternoon Brief, July 26th

Farm Bureau Sponsored Wildfire Insurance Legislation Signed by Governor Newsom: This legislative victory will begin to address the lack of wildfire insurance coverage in Napa Valley and throughout California and will provide a necessary property insurance backstop for Napa County’s agricultural infrastructure

Prestigious Wine Region Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary of AVA Status

July 26th – The Sta. Rita Hills AVA, established in 2001, is located on the central coast of California in Santa Barbara County. The Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance is preparing to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the AVA designation with a series of educational events planned for the weekend of August 12th through the […]