Wine Dinners

On two Sundays in March and a Wednesday in April, three well-known local restaurants will host dinners to raise funds to support the services Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People (PHP) furnishes to vineyard and farm workers.

All of the dinners will be multi-course with each course paired with a specially selected wine from PHP’s 2009 Vino de Sueños collection.  The Vino de Sueños wines were produced and donated by local wineries, specially labeled with original art works, and sold by PHP to raise funds for services to vineyard and farm workers.  These wines were first released this past November at PHP’s now annual Vino de Sueños Wine Release Celebration.  All of these wines sold out at the release event except for two cases of each which were reserved for the wine dinners.

2009 Vino de Sueños participating wineries and wines include Alma Rosa 2008 Pinot Gris, Au Bon Climat 2005 Petit Verdot, Buttonwood 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Cold Heaven 2005 Syrah, D’Alfonso-Curran 2006 Rancho Santa Rosa Chardonnay, Fiddlehead 2005 Seven Twenty Eight Pinot Noir, Foxen 2007 Grenache/Syrah Blend, Hitching Post 2007 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir, Kalyra 2005 Late Harvest Riesling, Longoria 2007 Syrah Santa Barbara County Cuvee, Makor 2007 Bien Nacido Merlot, and Vogelzang 2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  

On Sunday, March 14th, Jina Bae, co-proprietor and chef of A-RU Japanese Restaurant in Buellton will host her second benefit dinner for People Helping People (PHP).  Last year’s sell-out crowd of 50 was treated to a seven course meal created specifically to be paired with wines from PHP’s 2008 Vino de Sueños label.  Chef Bae is creating a new menu this year to pair with the 2009 wine releases.

Chef Bae said that she once again welcomes the challenge to create a menu around the Vino de Sueños wines.  “Pairing Asian foods with both red and white wines is not an easy task,” she said.  “However, we worked with two local winemakers to test pairings and I think the results very pleasantly surprised the crowd, which included some exceptionally well-known vintners,” she added.

On Sunday, March 28th at 5 PM Clark Staub and his staff will prepare and serve his multi-course benefit dinner featuring the Vino de Sueños wines at Full of Life Flat Bread in Los Alamos.  Of course, the meal’s centerpiece will be the famous flat bread pizzas from the wood burning hearth but it will also include additional appetizer, soup, salad and other dishes spotlighting the freshest seasonal vegetables, fruits, and accompaniments derived from local farmers’ markets.

The last of the three benefit wine dinners will be created by Frank Ostini, owner and chef at the Hitching Post II Restaurant in Buellton on Wednesday, April 28th. The dinner will actually take place at the Avant Tapas Restaurant and Wine Bar at the Terravant Wine Company in Buellton but will feature the traditional foods the Hitching post is famous for.  This dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28th at 5 PM.

For reservations for the A-RU wine dinner you can call the restaurant at 686-9001 or or use the PayPal buttons on this page to reserve and pay for dinner. 

To make reservations for the Full of Life Flat Bread and Hitching Post dinners call Mary Welsh at PHP at 686-0295 or use the PayPal buttons on this page.

PHP is a multi-program not for profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families.  For more information about the work of PHP, visit our web site or call 686-0295.  Seating is limited to 50 guests at each dinner.