Grape Encounters Radio Welcomes Special Guest Richard Sanford

June 3, 2011 - PRLog -- One of the legendary founders of the Central Coast Wine Country and the first man to plant Pinot Noir in the region, Richard Sanford will be this week’s special guest on Grape Encounters Radio, airing on Saturday, June 3 at 6 p.m. on KFWB News Talk 980. Host David Wilson and listeners will enjoy an intimate conversation with the man who the Central Coast Wine Report considers an authority on all things wine. Sanford will talk about the risks he took to help establish the Central Coast as a vital wine region and recaps his long and illustrious career.

Growing up in the early 1940’s along the southern California coast, Sanford developed a love for the ocean, nature, and wide-open spaces. His first job driving a tractor through the Palos Verdes bean fields provided an early introduction to agriculture and established a firm connection to the cycles of nature and the responsibility associated with being a good steward of the land.

Winegrowing is the natural extension of the wine lover’s lifelong interest in agriculture and the environment. In 1970, he planted the first Pinot Noir vineyard in the region at Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, and as others followed, he helped to establish the area now known as the Santa Rita Hills American Viticultural Area. He and his wife, Thekla, currently own and operate Alma Rosa Winery on the Central Coast.

“Recently, my wife and I have shifted our focus to the things we consider most important— organic grape-growing and sustainable business practices,” says Sanford.
Radio for unpretentious wine lovers, Grape Encounters is an original program unlike any other. Utterly loathing the pretentiousness so often associated with wine, creator and host David Wilson seeks to demonstrate to listeners across the country that there is much fun to be had where wine is involved.

“I think people tend to take themselves too seriously where wine is concerned. We intentionally step away from that mindset on Grape Encounters,” says Wilson. “The show is the place where fermented meets demented. It’s a program that is filled with humor, information and fun.”

An example of Wilson’s light-hearted approach is his enthusiasm for discovering treasures that make wine drinking enjoyable and sharing them with his listeners. One example of this is a product Wilson and one of this week’s guests Matt DuBow, vice president of EpicStyle.com, will discuss during this week’s show— Cork Cages®. Together, the men will attempt to uncork the reason so many people love to save their corks.

“We recently did an impromptu survey asking listeners whether they save their corks and if so, where they store them,” says Wilson. “The sheer number of detailed responses blew us away. People really care about wine and wine-related products.”

Conceived, produced and carried by Epic, Cork Cages® are a fun and innovative way to keep and cherish wine-related memories. Designed to show off the corks instead of letting them end up in a drawer or trashcan, each patent-pending Cork Cage features handcrafted metal work and vibrantly colored glass spheres.

Airing on Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. on KFBW News Talk 980, in Los Angeles, AM 1440, The Information Station on the Central Coast, at 11 on Saturday mornings and KNEWS in Palm Springs at 3 p.m. on Saturdays, Grape Encounters has developed a loyal following. Faithful listeners across the Los Angeles Basin as well as the Inland Empire and the High Desert tune in weekly and tens of thousands more download the program for free on iTunes and Grape Encounters.com.

The Grape Encounters’ philosophy is simple. People want to have fun with their wine! They don't want to over-intellectualize it. They want to drink it out of the bottle if they feel like it. Yeah, sometimes we drown our sorrows in it. But most of the time, it punctuates the things we enjoy most in life... friendship, romance, deep conversations, rainy days, celebrations and down time. Grape Encounters Radio is for everyone that enjoys wine the same way we enjoy movies and music. Drink what you're in the mood for. It's consumable art—generally made by cool people who use grapes to express themselves. Join the family. Uppity is so yesterday. For more information about Grape Encounters Radio, visit GrapeEncounters.com.

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