Girl Power: Festival Honors Santa Barbara’s Female Winemakers

“Santa Barbara has always been more of a maverick type of region,” winemaker Karen Steinwachs tells me. “And that certainly has helped female talent to flourish.”

Steinwachs and I are discussing the remarkable number of women winemakers in the area, a cohort which has grown solidly over the decades. These days, female leadership drives some of Santa Barbara’s favorite brands like Carhartt, Zaca Mesa and Story of Soil, as well as many of the region’s newest viticultural endeavors, including Provignage, Pars Fortuna, and Mi Casa. It’s an impressive representation, especially when compared to the global wine industry of female winemakers accounting for about 10% of lead winemaker roles. 

Steinwachs herself has been an important player in the Santa Barbara wine scene for close to 25 years, at brands like Foley, Fiddlehead, and Buttonwood. She is currently producing about 500 cases of pinot noir, chardonnay, gewürztraminer, and pinot gris each year under her Seagrape Wine Co. label. When I tactfully ask if being female brings something special and unique to the wines she makes, she –  with comparable tact – reminds me that “Mother Nature is a girl!” and suggests that a feminine approach is about “less brawn, more brain.”

She adds: “We tend to be detail-oriented people, we pay so much attention to each wine! And we’re also such a community! We just reach out to each other when we need help – no ‘mine is bigger than yours’ kind of thing!”

This love and appreciation for all things female will be on full display during the Women Winemakers and Culinarians Celebration taking place across the Santa Ynez Valley March 6^th through the 9^th. Four days, four unique events, with the festival’s “Grand Tasting” ($149) – a three-hour early afternoon fête at 27 Vines Vineyard that’ll star more than 35 women winemakers – coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8^th. The worldwide observance was launched in 1909 to spotlight working women’s achievements.

This annual celebration launched several years ago, but it’s on firmer footing now, thanks to the recent formation of a nonprofit 501(c)3 foundation to spearhead it. Steinwachs serves as president, with actor-turned-vintner Sunny Doench Stricker pulling VP duties. Her wine brand, Future Perfect, with an eclectic tasting room in downtown Los Olivos, is inspired by “a culture of love, inclusion and bliss,” says the winemaker.

When I ask about her own inspirations as a female entrepreneur in Santa Barbara wine country, Doench Stricker points to several “epic male winemakers who’ve been so encouraging and who still champion how I make wine!” She gives a super enthusiastic nod to the way her mother raised her, though. “She always encouraged me to razzle dazzle, and to make sure everybody else is also shining, and to celebrate every day!” says Doench Stricker.

That ethos of support and recognition inspire the festival’s “Sips and She-Nanigans – a Sassy Soirée” event ($99) on Friday, March 7^th, complete with a red-carpet welcome at the Fess Parker Winery estate. “We’re going to honor gals we call ‘the wind beneath our wings,’” says Doench Stricker. “These are women who work in the food and wine industries but that we wouldn’t naturally hear about,” like behind-the-scenes line cooks and enologists. “These are women we depend on and who work tirelessly – passion is their power!”

The flashy food-and-wine party will also feature performances by two stand-up comediennes. 

The festival’s opening night affair will honor a Santa Barbara County legend, Lane Tanner, widely known as a pioneer. Her career launched in the early 1980s and has included stints with Firestone, Hitching Post Wines and, most recently, Lumen. Tanner has announced retirement from winemaking, moving on to consulting roles now. The “Lane Tanner Tribute Dinner (& Stories)” event ($125), slated for 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 6^th, will take place at the historic Zaca Creek property in Buellton.

The female feasting comes to an effervescent finale with the “Bubbly Bash” ($135) on Sunday, March 9th, from 9:30 am to noon, at Vega Vineyard & Farm. A variety of what some are dubbing ‘breakfast wines’ – lots of sparklers – by labels like Loubud, Camins 2 Dreams, Amber Rose, Seagrape and Future Perfect will be poured, with gourmet brunch fare by Vega Vineyard’s chef, Louise Smith.

The festival features a charitable angle, too. Last year, it raised $20,000 for She Raised Her Hand, which benefits women veterans. This year will see two Santa Barbara County-based beneficiaries: the NatureTrack Foundation, which provides accessibility to nature and travel for people in wheelchairs, and Mo’s To-Go, offering kitchen skills training and work opportunities for people with disabilities.

Two local winemakers who recently passed away, Kris Curran and Angela Soleno, will be recognized in memoriam.

And among Steinwachs’ closing remarks, a resolute invitation for the rest of us: “Men are more than welcome, of course!” See you there!  

For your tickets, go to www.sbwomenwinemakers.com