Santa Barbara County Women Winemakers Celebration Donates $15,000 in Annual Event Proceeds to the Rainbow House Inc
Charitable Wine Industry Event Joins Forces with The Rainbow House Inc in Support of the New Entity’s Mission to Open the Santa Ynez Valley’s First LGBTQIA+ Community Resource Center
April 3, 2023 – Santa Ynez Valley, CA – On Sunday, March 12, 2023, more than 30 women winemakers and more than one dozen female food-world counterparts gathered for good at the sixth annual Santa Barbara County Women Winemakers Celebration. The 2023 event, held at the newly-opened Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection in the wine country town of Los Olivos, California, raised $15,000 in charitable event proceeds for this year’s beneficiary, The Rainbow House Inc (www.therainbowhouseinc.com), whose mission is to open the first LGBTQIA+ community resource center in the Santa Ynez Valley.
“We have a higher percentage of women winemakers here in Santa Barbara County than anywhere else, and that’s due to our culture of inclusion. Along with our women chefs, we strive to help others in our community through our annual celebration and choose a charitable organization that all of the participating women winemakers elect. This year, The Rainbow House Inc was an early nominee and was immediately selected by the group. We are thrilled to help them move forward with making our corner of wine paradise even more wonderful,” commented Karen Steinwachs, co-founder of the annual Women Winemakers Celebration and owner/winemaker, Seagrape Wine Company.
The Women Winemakers Celebration, held each year on or near International Women’s Day (March 8), has for the past six celebrations donated event proceeds to a variety of Santa Barbara County non-profits, all aimed at aiding underserved groups within the region’s communities.
“We just want those who are involved with the Women Winemakers Celebration and all women in wine to know how grateful we are that we’ve been embraced by this new community. That’s what happens when you’re finally honest about who you are, you find others like you,” said Matthew Cavalli, Co-founder and Executive Director of The Rainbow House Inc. “If we continue to reduce our lives to black and white, this way or that way, we’ll never see rainbows.”
The annual Women Winemakers Celebration brings together a varied sampling of Santa Barbara County’s female winemakers in a show of support for each other, and other working women, world-wide. Each year’s March event features a growing count of women winemakers alongside some of the County’s leading culinary ladies. The March 12, 2023 reception, held at The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection, featured the highest number of participating women winemakers to date, who, along with this year’s female chefs, bakers, and other food crafters, entertained approximately 170 guests.
The March 12 event, which was sponsored in part by Visit the Santa Ynez Valley, The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection, as well as Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café and Café Farm, sold out in a record time of about one week. Each year’s Women Winemakers Celebration has sold out prior to each, respective event date.
The Santa Barbara County Women Winemakers Celebration will return with a March 2024 event; all details, including date(s), TBA. For more information about the March 2023 Women Winemakers Celebration, please contact Anna Ferguson-Sparks, Stiletto Marketing, at 1.877.327.2656 or info@stilettomarketing.com.
About The Rainbow House Inc
Based in Solvang, California, the mission of The Rainbow House Inc is to be the first permanent resource center offering counseling, testing, workshops, and resources to the Santa Ynez Valley’s LGBTQIA+ community and their allies. For further information, to get involved, and/or to donate, please visit www.therainbowhouseinc.com, and follow along on social at: @therainbowhouseinc.
Women Winemakers Celebration 2023 participating winemakers and wineries:
- Karen Steinwachs, Seagrape Wine Company
- Lane Tanner, Lumen Wines
- Kathy Joseph, Fiddlehead Cellars
- Brooke Carhartt, Carhartt Family Wines
- Brit Zotovich, Dreamcôte Wine Co.
- Alecia Moore, Two Wolves Wine
- Alison Thomson, Lepiane Wines
- Mireia Taribó & Tara Gomez, Camins 2 Dreams
- Sandra Newman, Cebada Wine
- Gretchen Voelcker, Piazza Family Wines and Luna Hart Wines
- Laura Roach, Loubud Wines
- Dana Volk, Dana V. Wines
- Jessica Gasca, Story of Soil
- Angela Osborne, A Tribute To Grace Wine Company
- Wynne Solomon, Peake Ranch Winery
- Rachel DeAscentiis, Say When Wine
- Samra Morris, Alma Rosa Winery
- Alice Anderson, âmevive
- Magan Eng, Kunin Wines
- Megan McGrath Gates, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards
- Kristin Bryden, Zaca Mesa Winery
- Amy Christine, Holus Bolus & The Joy Fantastic
- Emmy Fjerstad, Forsu Wine Company
- Claire Wilson, Provignage
- Sunny Doench Stricker, Future Perfect Wine
- Allyson Bycraft, Babcock Winery & Vineyards
- Anna deLaski, Solminer Wine Co.
- Roxie Ward, Butternut Wines (Miller Family Wine Company)
- Anna Clifford, Nielson Wines and Final Girl Wines
- Jill DelaRiva Russell, Cambria Winery
Women Winemakers Celebration 2023 participating chefs, bakers, and female food crafters:
- Brooke Stockwell, Executive Chef, Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café
- Rhoda Magbitang, Executive Chef, The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern
- Erica Velazquez, co-chef/co-owner of Solvang’s Ramen Kotori
- Janelle Norman, owner and cheesemonger at Solvang’s Cailloux Cheese Shop
- Melissa Scrymgeour, chef/co-owner, Clean Slate Wine Bar
- Laura Newman, co-owner of Los Olivos’ Lefty’s Coffee Co.
- Kimberly Zimmerman, owner, The Juicy Life
- Theo Stephan, owner of Global Gardens, and Lisa Thompson, chef at Global Gardens
- Louise Smith, chef/owner of Louise’s Kitchen Table
- Tracy Fleming, owner/baker, The Bakery Farmstand
- Shanté Norwood, owner/baker at Té’Stees Cupcakes
- Jessica Foster of Jessica Foster Confections
Additional foodie donations were made by Theo Stephan, owner of Global Gardens, and Shawnda Marmorstein, owner, Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café and Café Farm.
