The Santa Rita Hills Wine Alliance will hold its next virtual wine tasting at 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 1.
Wines from Chapel Vineyard will be tasted by Pali Wine Company winemaker Aaron Walker and Sweetzer Cellars’s Lisa Liberati and Michael Fogelman.
The hour-long tastings are live streamed weekly on Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance Facebook and Youtube channels.
Chapel Vineyard, formerly Huber Vineyard, was established in 1986 and produces mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The following vintages will be tasted: Chapel Vineyard’s 2017 Chardonnay, 2017 Dornfelder, Huber Vineyard’s 2015 Pinot Noir and La Encantada Vineyard’s 2016 Pinot Noir. The bottles are available from Pali Wine Company and Sweetzer Cellars.
Mr. Walker began winemaking in 2006 when he was hired to harvest for a boutique winery on the Central Coast. One year later, he was hired by Pali Wine Company.
He fell in love with wine while working in fine dining restaurants in San Diego while he studied at San Diego State University.
He took a few winemaking classes and was mentored by Kenneth Juhasz, Pali’s consulting winemaker.
For over a decade, he has led the production at Pali Wine Company, Tower 15 Winery and Neighborhood Winery. He oversees the farming operations at Pali, as well.
Ms. Liberati and Mr. Fogelman started making wine after a trip to France in 2008. The only problem was that they lived in a walk-up apartment in West Hollywood.
They bought Cabernet grapes from Napa and Sonoma, crushed them in the shade of their carport before bringing them into the dining room to ferment. They pressed them into wine in the kitchen and stored it in their makeshift cellar — the bedroom, kept at 60 degrees.
In 2011, they fermented Pinot Noir and loved the result.
By 2013, they expanded beyond their two 30-gallon barrels and into a commercial facility.
— Annelise Hanshaw
