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All about Pairings, People & Passion

We are talking about what happens in Key West and what we think is important in the food and wine business in our town and what we eat that matters.

Part 1:

This month is about a few passionate people in Santa Barbara wine country that love Key West. I am presently sitting in Santa Ynez on Figueroa Mountain as I am writing. My journey to California was to meet some of these people.

I based my trip on attending the Buttonwood All Farm Dinner on Saturday, August 9. So let the wine pairings begin.

The Buttonwood Farm is a small gem set amidst the splendor of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley. The farm is a shining example of the vision of Betty Williams. Betty was always ahead of her time, and in the 60’s set out to create a working farm based on good practices for people, animals and the earth. First there were horses, then organic vegetables and finally, a vineyard.

They started planting in 1983 and now have 33,000 vines. Small in the world of wine, but huge to them. The tasting room is surrounded by other bounty from the farm, including olives, pomegranates, peonies, herbs, summer vegetables and of course, famous peaches!

Meet Karen Steinwachs, Winemaker

Karen

Many of us say we’d like to give up our regular job to follow a dream, but few of us ever reach the point when we forsake the progress we’ve made in one career to start all over in another. Every once in a while, though, you meet someone who has done just that- like winemaker Karen Steinwachs.

She imagined Buttonwood a place where dreams have been, and still wait to be achieved. And now here she is, crafting Buttonwood’s old-vine fruit into wines of character and distinction. As she produces each wine with care, Karen continues to build on her dream of working with a team that produces an expression of the land as well as her dream of crafting wine that will provide pleasure at the table and in the glass. Come and visit and taste the stuff that dreams are made of.

I spent one morning with Karen and walked throughout the Vineyard and the winery. She has a passion about the land and how the grapes are grown. She told me about the oak trees and of course the buttonwoods. I also got some time to spend with Karen that evening and that we will talk about next month. Expect to see Karen here in Key West this January at the Key West Food and Wine Festival, where she will be pouring some wine and lending her winemaking experience.

Meet Fidencio Flores, Farm Manager