Enjoy a guided hike with wine through the breathtakingly beautiful vineyards at Hilliard Bruce Vineyards where you will see stellar views of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA in rolling terrain as you taste the remarkable wines produced by the winery. Led by vintner, John Hilliard, the hike will take place from 1 pm to 3 pm on Friday, April 11, 2014. Wine and food stations will be scattered throughout Hilliard Bruce’s vineyards.
Hilliard Bruce Vineyards is an artisan producer of estate-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir located in Santa Barbara County, California, only eleven miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Hilliard Bruce 101-acre property includes 21 acres of carefully tended vineyards with 2,420 vines per acre with each vine receiving special canopy management. The vines are surrounded by 80 acres of native oaks, rambling botanical gardens featuring exotic palm and date trees, espaliered apple trees, and beds upon beds of vegetables, tubers, lettuces and herbs. Over 500 roses, in every imaginable color and with a heady, sweet scent can be found throughout the ranch. Pillowfight roses, white-cabbage like heads overflowing with downy petals, line the private roads around the paddock and horse pastures on the property.
Husband and wife team John Hilliard (see photo below) and Christine Bruce purchased the Hilliard Bruce property near the western boundary of Sta. Rita Hills in 2002. In 2004 they planted a 21-acre vineyard comprised of 15.7 acres of Pinot Noir and 5.3 acres of Chardonnay, which they farm with meticulous precision. Hilliard Bruce produces six wines including Chardonnay, Sun Pinot Noir, Moon Pinot Noir, Earth Pinot Noir, Sky Pinot Noir and a Rosé of Pinot Noir. The wines are distributed in California, Florida, New York, Missouri and Hawaii, and various markets internationally. They can also be ordered direct on Hilliard Bruce’s website.
The hike is one of many events offered during the annual Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend. Wine lovers from around the world are able to attend wine maker lunches and dinners, educational wine-focused seminars, winery and tasting room open houses, vineyard walks, a golf tournament, a Farm-to-Table picnic and concert event, and the annual Vintners Festival Grand Tasting where every one of its 100-plus member wineries gather to present and sell their wines, often poured by the winemakers themselves.
The cost to attend the Hilliard Bruce hike is $80 per person and is limited to 30 guests. For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.sbvintnersweekend.com. For more information about the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend, visit its website.
Photos courtesy of Hilliard Bruce Vineyards
