Carina Cellars Pig Roast

On Friday evening, May 1st, Carina Cellars held an annual pig roast. I'm not sure if I would usually drive up to Paso Robles and back just for a few hours and some pork (since I'm not even supposed to be eating pork, per my doctor!), but my friend David Hardee convinced me to come up to his ranch. I've had numerous invitations but have not made the trip (they do have a tasting room in Los Olivos and I've also been lucky enough to tool around with David sampling wines straight out of the barrels in one of their warehouses .. or out of his kitchen), so I decided to go. It was a fun evening and worth the trip .. lots of great food, many bottles of wine and interesting people.

David Hardee started Carina Cellars a few years ago - some background on their beginnings:

Carina Cellars is the result of an avid wine collector with a dream who meets an accomplished winemaker with a vision. When attorney and businessman David Hardee and winemaker Joey Tensley met in 2002, they were quick to recognize the benefits of combining their passion. With Hardee's talent for business, Tensley's talent for wine making, and a shared belief in only the best, Carina Cellars was born.

Our goal at Carina Cellars is a simple one: to produce top-quality Santa Barbara County Rhône wines that showcase and emphasize terroir above all else. We partner with growers who share our philosophies on farming – a dedication to canopy management, low yields and vine balance. Our winemaking approach is traditional and minimalist. The resulting wines are rich in traditional varietal flavors and aromas - Viogniers full of tropical fruit and spring flowers, dark, spicy Syrahs and intense, blackcurranty Cabernet Sauvignons. Carina Cellars produced only 2,000 cases in 2004, but as Colman Andrews of Saveur magazine writes of Tensley, "Tiny quantities, big talent budding here."

David chose the name Carina, since it was the name of his 54 foot Alden sailboat, on which he had sailed all over the East Coast of North America - she had always brought him good fortune and wonderful experiences. It seems that the name is working!