Tuesday, April 23, 2019 – Los Olivos, CA – In conjunction with the wine label’s 10-year anniversary, Liquid Farm Wines (www.LiquidFarm.com) is launching their interactive, lifestyle-based tasting room and mercantile on Friday, May 3, 2019, in Los Olivos, California. Liquid Farm Wines launched in 2009 with just four barrels and has since created a cult following for their Burgundian-style Chardonnays and Bandol-inspired rosés. The new Los Olivos tasting room follows the 2018 opening of the brand’s Lompoc, California tasting room, adjacent to the Liquid Farm winery facility where winemaker James Sparks produces the label’s nine different bottlings.
“The town of Los Olivos is the wine tasting mecca of Santa Barbara County, making it the perfect location for Liquid Farm’s second tasting room,” states Jeff Nelson, Liquid Farm Wines founder and owner. “Through our wine and our brand we want to promote an authentic lifestyle and bring people together. Every detail of the tasting room is being built with that in mind. We want people to spend quality time with us, enjoying all we have to offer, and not just rush off to their next tasting.”
In an effort to create a space that was unlike any other tasting room in the Santa Ynez Valley, Nelson brought in Los Angeles-based furniture and interior designer, Kim Salmela, also a former creative director for musician, Prince.
“Wine is about gathering, hanging, slowing down, and enjoying life. All of the seating vignettes in the tasting room are meant for groups to be able to converse and meet new people,” says Salmela. “Also, the brand itself, just naturally lends itself to a ‘look.’ We are playing off of the ‘farm’ part of course, with botanical wallpapers and tons of plants and foliage, but are putting a modern and eclectic spin on it.”
Set up as a mercantile, in addition to being able to enjoy award-winning Liquid Farm wines, guests can refuel on grab-and-go snacks and other foods and products from local businesses, while browsing the treasure-trove of home furnishings and gifts which Salmela has sourced from all over the world. Nelson has a goal of creating an experience that is also educational, serving up insight as to why the Liquid Farm team prizes the region.
The new tasting room’s invite-only Grand Opening is set for May 3, 2019, from 6:30 PM-9:00 PM, with the tasting room officially open to the public on Saturday, May 4, 2019.
The Liquid Farm Tasting Room and Mercantile is located at 2445 Alamo Pintado Avenue, Suite 101, Los Olivos, CA 93441. Business hours for the tasting room will be: Monday-Thursday, 11:00 AM-5:00 PM; Friday-Sunday, 11:00 AM-7:00 PM. Private tasting appointments outside of those hours, or reservations for large groups, may be made by calling Brian Evans at 805.868.2426.
About Liquid Farm
Liquid Farm’s first vintage was born of four barrels of 2009 Chardonnay. As a nearly 30-year wine industry veteran, it was Nelson’s experience working for Veuve Clicquot in the 1990s which helped to shape how Liquid Farm was formed. He went on to work for other champagne houses to help further his branding experience, but it was not until he was working for Champagne Henriot, which also owned William Fèvre Chablis and Bouchard Père et Fils, that he fell in love with Burgundy.
Nelson, now a Santa Ynez Valley resident, explains, “Living in Los Angeles, I was a locavore when it came to food, but I didn’t ‘drink local’. In 2009, with friendship and guidance from Dragonette Cellars, I was able to produce 100 cases of Chardonnay from the Sta. Rita Hills, which resembled more of an old world style. It was what I enjoyed drinking, but grown closer to home.”
Liquid Farm’s wine philosophy incorporates old world-inspiration meshed with the label’s support of local viticulture. Liquid Farm’s wines are earth- and mineral driven, with little or no use of new oak, shining a spotlight on the representation of the soil in which the vines producing their wines, have grown. Liquid Farm’s grapes are pulled from a carefully-curated selection of vineyards, some of which are organically-farmed, and Liquid Farm’s sustainably-produced wines face minimal contact in the winery yielding modest alcohol levels and preserved natural acidity. Liquid Farm’s current case production hovers around 5,000 cases, all overseen by winemaker James Sparks.
Sparks began his winemaking career as assistant winemaker for Dragonette Cellars, which is where he met Nelson. In 2013, Sparks made the leap from his assistant winemaking role into a lead position, as winemaker for Liquid Farm. Nelson saw that they shared a similar passion and philosophy.
“James is a magic-man in the vineyard…knowing when to pick. That translates into minimal intervention in the winery, which is what Liquid Farm is all about. We are creating liquid from farming,” states Nelson.
One of Liquid Farm’s notable, recent press nods appeared on PUNCH, the James Beard Award-winning online magazine, in a guide to California’s “new-new” Chardonnay as written by esteemed wine writer, Jon Bonné. In the piece, Bonné refers to Liquid Farm’s ‘White Hill’ Chardonnay as, “…a standard-bearer for the state’s best chardonnay accomplishments today.”
Liquid Farm has also recently received numerous 94- and 95-point scores from world-renowned wine critics and publications, such as Antonio Galloni, Jeb Dunnuck, International Wine Report, and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
Liquid Farm is on Facebook and Instagram at facebook.com/LiquidFarm and @LiquidFarm.
About Kim Salmela
Kim Salmela has been a creative director for one of rock and pop music’s biggest icons, Prince; owner of award-winning retail stores in her hometown of Minneapolis; manufacturer and designer of her own custom furniture line; and is about to release a collection at national retailer Crate and Barrel.
Salmela’s inspiration originates from her globe-trotting adventures. She has an impeccable ability to mix colors, patterns, and texture. She is a believer in buying what you love and not worrying about any design rules.
In 2001, Salmela started to manufacture furniture in order to fulfill her vision of bold, handcrafted pieces in modern and classic silhouettes. She strives for quality over quantity and is driven by the desire to bring the latest design trends to her customers, at value prices. Salmela oversees the production of her furniture in her Los Angeles-based factory, in order to ensure the highest quality. Her current line is sold through her own e-commerce site as well as One Kings Lane.
“For the last five years, I have been focused on the wholesale portion of my furniture and pillow line. This lifestyle partnership [with Liquid Farm] allows me to be free again in creating a tactile experience that I can share with others, as well as allows me the joy of sourcing product from around the world. I’m back to my retail roots which is where my passion lies,” muses Salmela.
Kim Salmela may be reached directly, at kim@kimsalmela.com.
