The Foley Food & Wine Society Launches at the Bacara

You’ve gotta feel for the folks working the new Foley tasting room at the Bacara. After all, the Foley Family Wines portfolio includes 15 producers from some of the most prime appellations in the world, from the Sta. Rita Hills to Napa, Washington State to New Zealand … amounting to hundreds of bottles. That’s a lot of tasting notes to keep straight and at the ready for curious — or merely thirsty — hotel guests, locals, and members of the Foley Food & Wine Society (FFWS) who stop in the brand-spanning tasting room for an afternoon of continent-crossing wine tasting, all in one place.

Opened in June, the Foley Food & Wine Society Experience at Bacara, as the tasting room is officially dubbed, is part of the FFWS, a kind of meta-wine club/concierge service for the trappings of a truly luxurious lifestyle: Members score specials at and invites to wineries, inns, golf courses, restaurants, and more, as well as the standard wine-club-type discounts. Located right next to the main entrance to the resort’s lobby, the room is a beaut, with cozy seating, a spacious bar, and hundreds of bottles lining the walls. It’s a showpiece for sure — in fact, it’s the first brick-and-mortar FFWS location — but the official launch party for the Wine Society, which will take place at the Bacara this Saturday, September 28, will feature so many vintners pouring their wines that the gathering cannot possibly be contained in the lovely tasting room, and will take over the ballroom instead.

The afternoon-long event will feature a selection of Foley Family Wines, from wineries including Kuleto Estate, Chalk Hill Estate, Sebastiani, Lancaster Estate, Firestone Vineyard, Foley Estates Vineyard & Winery, and Eos Estate Winery, as well as tastings of some ultra-premium wines unavailable anywhere else and chef stations with bites designed to pair with the wine, prepared by Miró Chef de Cuisine Johan Denizot and The Bistro Chef de Cuisine Chris Turano. A portion of the proceeds will go to the nonprofit Santa Barbara Culinary Arts group and their Julia Child endowment for scholarships at SBCC’s Culinary Arts school.

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The Foley Food & Wine Society official launch party takes place Saturday, September 28, 3-6 p.m. Society member price $40; nonmembers $60. Purchase tickets at foleyfoodandwinesociety.com.