Columbia SoCal is excited to join with Sweetzer Cellars for a virtual wine tasting event, where we will sample four current release wines from their collection. Join us as we learn more about these specially-selected varietals from the Sweetzer Cellars slate of wines.
- 2015 Presqu'ile Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2018 Lieff Alamo Creek Ranch Rose
- 2014 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
- 2017 Lieff Alamo Creek Grenache
Participants can purchase these wines and others from the Sweetzer Cellars collection for a discounted rate. Information is included in the RSVP confirmation.
About Sweetzer Cellars
Michael Fogelman '87SOA started making wine in his West Hollywood apartment on Sweetzer Avenue after a UC Davis trip to France in the summer of 2008 with his partner, Lisa Liberati. In the middle of the night, they hauled half a ton of Sonoma Cabernet up to their second floor, white-carpeted apartment. The following year, they moved to a ground floor apartment to facilitate the process and after three years made the switch to Pinot Noir, their first love. They crushed in their carport, fermented in their dining room, pressed on the sidewalk, and barreled in their bedroom.
Unable to legally sell the wine, they gave it all away. After five years they moved production to a facility outside of Los Angeles. The following year they moved production to Buellton, 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara, and in July of 2017 opened a tasting room in Lompoc.
They learned early on that the grapes were the stars of the show, and they were supporting players. To that end, it was all about getting great fruit. Presqu’ile Winery sold them grapes for their apartment wine, and from connections made there they were able to get into what they consider the best vineyards in Santa Barbara County. In addition to Presqu’ile, they have sourced fruit from La Encantada, Rita’s Crown, Turner, and Chapel Vineyards (formerly Huber). They specialize in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with the goal of making wines that express the region and fruit, while retaining a pretty and pure quality that eschews over-extraction and overuse of oak. In the last few years they have started making Grenache, Rose, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah from Alamo Creek Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, as well as Chenin Blanc from the famed Jurassic Park Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley and the rare-for-California Dornfelder from Huber/Chapel Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, all in the same pursuit of that elusive
character of wines they love – the perfect balance of fruit, acid, and earth.
Their wines have been poured at Tesse and Gwen Restaurants in Hollywood, The Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, and Katsuya in Los Angeles, among other venues. They still live in Hollywood and hold day jobs as SAT/ACT tutors, which means Michael drives to the winery nearly every day at 4 or 5am during the season (August to October) to do the winemaking, and Lisa drives to the tasting room every weekend (when not in quarantine).
In other words, this is a labor of love.
