“Bringing together roughed coastline, refined cuisine, a sense of old California, elegant wine tastings, new friendships and old relationships all in the backdrop of the soul of what is uniquely Big Sur.”
-Stuart Bryan, Pride Mountain Winery
YEAR FIVE!
It is spring-time and the hills of Big Sur are alive with poppy, lupine, wild lilac and re-birth everywhere. As we step into Year Five of this amazing Festival, we feel blessed and honored to have made it this far.
A recent calculation of our donations put us as giving over $100,000 to various local non-profit organizations over the last four years. This includes the Health Center, all five Big Sur schools, the Henry Miller Library and more. Given the enormous efforts and expenses of creating a festival of this nature, we are understandably very proud. We’ve captured it in the video below:
We could never have manifested this without the amazing support of many, but in particular, the staff and management at the Post Ranch Inn and the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and the staff at the Henry Miller Library. We owe them a huge debt of thanks for stepping up in the myriad ways they did.
And last year, we brought in our first major sponsor – Lexus who loaned us ten exquisite shuttle vehicles for the weekend and sponsored the Big Top at the Post ranch Inn. There was something special to me as I looked at them with their logo, our logo and the words: Preferred Vehicle of the Big Sur Food and Wine Festival beautifully stenciled on the side panels! Call it growing up, I guess…From the first event of the four days to the last, the feeling amongst our friends and attendees, wine makers, chefs, volunteers and the Festival committee was one of elation. The weather could not have been more amazing – temperatures in the 70′s and 80′s and even on the Thursday afternoon, when it was drizzly and grey in the afternoon, the sun shone through at the right moments!
Our Auction Lunch was truly stunning, and the food from chefs, Dory Ford, Matt Bolton, John Cox and Gina Scala was exceptional and we had the most successful auction to date. Tim Mondavi stepped up to the plate and doubled his lunch in Napa on the Continuum property, with Dave Lambert of the Hyatt joining in to create double accommodations for that lot, and Dan Priano, the Post Ranch Inn’s gracious and generous General Manager, TRIPLED his donation of two nights at the the Inn…thank you…
And then on to the Big Top! “Phew,” is all I can say — 56 wineries, 14 chefs, a stunning adjacent luxury dome, donated by EcoInfinity Group and the tireless Sandy Doss, and happy, happy people, all enjoying the finest wines and food, and making new friends. It truly does not get ANY better than this!
So, to those who attended, Thank You, and for those who missed it, please join us this year from November 7th through the 10th for our YEAR FIVE celebration (Where does time go?)
And finally, a heartfelt thank you to the most amazing committee one could ask for! They hung in there through thick and thin and I could not have asked to have better friends and support.
We’ll see you on November 7-10, 2013!
Toby Rowland-Jones President and Founder Big Sur Food & Wine Festival
