Events Through December 2008
Below is our calendar of events through December. Join our email list and do not miss out on these great events! Please feel confident in providing your e-mail address; we do not share any of your information with anyone.
April 12th – Tulip Hill Winery No Sales Tax Day! Rancho Mirage & Nice
Get a little tax relief with savings at Tulip Hill Winery on all wine and merchandise – one day only! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
April 19th – Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 6 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice
Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us as we delve into the world of Tulip Hill wines and the food we love to enjoy with them! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
May17th – Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice
Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our newest wine releases paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
June 21st - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice
Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
July 3rd – Join our winemaker Ed West for as he steps it up behind the bar at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, CA, for a fun and festive wine and food pairing from 6 to 9 pm: Nice Only!
The evening will feature select wines from Tulip Hill Winery paired to perfection with gourmet hors d’oeuvres and a full dinner menu created by the Blue Wing Saloon’s executive chef – for one night only! More information can be had by calling the Blue Wing at 707-275-2233.
July 5th – Tulip Hill Winery’s Red, White & Blush Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: NIce Only!
Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us as we sample savory summer fare paired to perfection with select wines perfect for summer sipping! For more information call 707-274-9373.
July 26th and 27th – 4th Annual Lake County Wine Adventure! Nice Only!
Discover the Undiscovered Wine Country, Lake County wineries and wines for 2 days of food, music at select wineries, tours, barrel tasting, and of course, amazing wines. $25 per person for both days of festivities. For more information call 707-274-9373.
August 16th - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice
Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
September 20th - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
October 18th - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Rancho Mirage & Nice Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373 for Nice & 760-568-5678 for Rancho Mirage.
November 15th - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing w/ Diana Ahrens ArtFest– 1 to 6 pm:
Rancho Mirage Only! Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 760-568-5678.
November 15th - Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 5 pm: Nice Only! Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373.
December 13th - Holiday Cheers Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – ALL DAY! Nice Only! Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 707-274-9373.
December 13th - Holiday Cheers Tulip Hill Winery Wine & Food Pairing – 1 to 6pm Rancho Mirage Only! Complimentary to Wine Club members and just $5 per person for the general public. Join us to taste our finest wines paired to perfection with fabulous food! For more information call 760-568-5678.
NICE EVENTS & CONCERT SERIES
If you are in the Northern California area, keep in mind the following events and dates for our Nice Winery's concert series. We hope you can join us!
- May 17th – Tulip Hill Winery’s First Concert in the Gardens – 5 to 7 pm. $10 per person. Immediately following our Wine & Food Pairing, we will host the first of 5 Concerts in the Gardens scheduled during the summer months and featuring Bill Noteman and the Rockets! Bring a picnic, lounge on the lawn and dance the evening away! For more information call 707-274-9373.
- June 21st – Tulip Hill Winery’s Second Concert in the Gardens – 5 to 7 pm. $10 per person. Immediately following our Wine & Food Pairing, we will host the second of 5 Concerts in the Gardens scheduled during the summer months and featuring The Twice As Good! Bring a picnic, lounge on the lawn and dance the evening away! For more information call 707-274-9373.
- July 5th – Tulip Hill Winery’s Third Concert in the Gardens – 5 to 7 pm. $10 per person. Immediately following our Wine & Food Pairing, we will host the third of 5 Concerts in the Gardens scheduled during the summer months and featuring David Neft on piano! Bring a picnic, lounge on the lawn and dance the evening away! For more information call 707-274-9373.
- August 16th - Tulip Hill Winery’s Fourth Concert in the Gardens – 5 to 7 pm. $10 per person. Immediately following our Wine & Food Pairing, we will host the fourth of 5 Concerts in the Gardens scheduled during the summer months and featuring The Mark Weston Band (www.markwestonband.com)! Bring a picnic, lounge on the lawn and dance the evening away! For more information call 707-274-9373.
- September 20th - Tulip Hill Winery’s Fifth and final Concert in the Garden for the season – 5 to 7 pm. $10 per person. Immediately following our Wine & Food Pairing, we will host the fifth of 5 Concerts in the Gardens scheduled during the summer months and featuring Austin & Owens (www.travisaustin.net)! Bring a picnic, lounge on the lawn and dance the evening away! For more information call 707-274-9373.
Tracy Hills - New Appellation for Mt. Oso Vineryard
Feds approve Tracy Hills as official viticultural area
Danielle MacMurchy/Tracy Press
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
After a five-year fight, Tulip Hill Winery outside Tracy, has finally succeeded in convincing the federal government that this is a wine-growing region that deserves its own name.
Enrique Gutierrez/Tracy Press - FRUITFUL EFFORT: Brown worked for federal approval of a new appellation designation that makes the Tracy Hills area the newest American Viticultural Area in the San Joaquin Valley.
Most who uncork a bottle of Mount Oso Vineyard’s Tulip Hill wine would never know to credit its delightful taste to grapes grown in the Tracy area.
Now the wine bottles will bear a nametag to prove it.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has officially designated a 39,200-acre area just south of Tracy as an American Viticulture Area named Tracy Hills. The title distinguishes an agricultural area as unique and allows vineyards to describe the origin of their wines as Tracy Hills on wine labels instead of simply California.
It communicates a value to people who actually know the differences between wines, said Jeff Brown, owner of the local Mount Oso Vineyard on Bird Road and the mastermind who initiated the name.
The Brown family has farmed grapes, apricots and almonds in the area for 30 years.
In May 2001, Brown and his father, Budge, and sister, Kristi, set out on an expensive and tedious course to do just that. They hired Sara Schorske of Oregon’s Compliance Service of America to research the area’s weather, history, geography and viticulture.
The viticultural area called Tracy Hills begins at the edge of the Altamont Pass and stands 500 feet above sea level, stretches east to land as low as 100 feet below sea level and includes five vineyards; one winery, La Bonnie Vie Cellars; and the impending master-planned community of Tracy Hills. Brown included the development so the region could take on its name, Tracy Hills.
The location of Tracy Hills against the Altamont and on the edge of the Central Valley made confirming its uniqueness a challenging project, Schorske said.
“There’s something different about this area, but how do you actually prove that it has the kind of value that consumers would be interested in?” she asked. “It took a certain amount of persistence to discern it.”
In June 2003, Schorske submitted an application to the federal government that detailed all the qualities that make grapes in the Tracy area distinct. The area has a 2½-degree slope, compared with a zero- to 1-degree slope across most of the San Joaquin Valley. Its alluvial fan soils, brought down from the mountains by three seasonal creeks, are made of clay, sand and gravel. Tracy-area grapes are touched by a nearly constant breeze and receive an average of 8 inches to 9 inches of rainfall a year.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau first turned down the proposal because it didn’t like the appellation’s original name, which was Mount Oso. Brown wanted the area named after the hilltop framed by his home office window. And the hill plays a major role in the area’s rainfall and wind, he said.
But the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau wanted a more distinguished name. Tracy Hills seemed like the perfect fit.
“In some ways, it’s better,” Schorske said. “It says a lot about the area — in Tracy, near the hills.”
Although Budge Brown funded the $60,000 application process, all local grape growers and Tracy can share in the profit.
“This directly benefits the wineries in the area,” Jeff Brown said. “And I think it brings credibility and attention to the city of Tracy.”
Bill and Stephanie Prioste, who own a small vineyard, said the new title will directly benefit the winery they plan to open in April. Their vineyard is called Windmill Ridge Winery, and it’s just south of Tracy.
“With an appellation, it will attract more people to this terroir (grape-growing area), which will be a fantastic area in the future,” Bill Prioste said. “It’s also going to bring more people who are looking at going into the grape industry.”
Your Tulip Hill Winery Contacts
National Sales • Kristi Brown
71-800 Hwy 111, A125 Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Tel: 760.568.5678 • e-mail: Kristi Brown
Marketing & Graphics • Sara Hammond
770 S. Vella Road Palm Springs, CA 92264
tel: 760.325.4448 • e-mail: Sara Hammond
Nice Winery COO • Loretta Byrne
4900 Bartlett Springs Road, Nice, CA 95464
tel: 707.274.9373 • Loretta Byrne
Nice Winery Tasting Room Manager &
Special Events Coordinator• Chris Skarada
4900 Bartlett Springs Road, Nice, CA 95464
tel: 707.274.9373 • Chris Skarada
Rancho Mirage Tasting Room Manager • Tom Montaney
71-800 Hwy 111, A125 Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
tel: 760.568.5678 • e-mail: Tom Montaney
Tulip Mania Wine Club • Sara Hammond
770 S. Vella Road Palm Springs, CA 92264
tel: 760.325.4448 • e-mail: Tulip Mania Wine Club
Grower • Jeff Brown
4900 Bartlett Springs Road, Nice, CA 95464
Tel: 707.274.9373 • e-mail:Jeff Brown
Winemaking • Ed West, Winemaker
4900 Bartlett Springs Road, Nice, CA 95464
Tel: 707.274.9373 • e-mail:Ed West
© all rights reserved 2007, Tulip Hill Winery & Budge Brown Family Winery, Inc. Tulip Hill is a registered trademark.