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About The Book

Sipping Santa Barbara: Recommended Wines and Producers ismeant to be a practical guide, designed for people who enjoywine either casually or with great curiosity and vigor. The mostcommon problem encountered by wine lovers when visiting anew region is how to spend their limited amount of time siftingthrough all the wines and producers. This is why we’ve createdthis book, which will provide the pertinent information tomaximize a visitor’s time in Santa Barbara County.

This book is meant to be anintroduction to the wines of SantaBarbara County based on ourfirsthand experience and it is byno means exhaustive.

Through this book, the readerswill be armed with information toget them started on exploring thewines and identify the types ofwines that they might enjoy in thecounty. From there, they’ll be ableto branch out on their own andcreate their personal wineadventure.

“Visitingawineregionforthefirsttimeisexciting

butcanalsobeadauntingexperience.Itcanbe

challengingtorememberandmakesenseofthe

appellations,geographicalcharacteristics,soiltypes,andclimatedifferences.”

- SippingSantaBarbara

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You Will Learn…

An Introduction to Santa Barbara CountyThe introduction will include the history, region layout, climatic andgeographical features, wine grape varieties planted, and the who’swho.

Impressions of WineriesA summary of more than 50 top wineries, house styles, and contactdetails.

Restaurants and Wine BarsOver 20 recommendations on where to eat and drink.

Wine RecommendationsSpecific producers and wines to try, along with tasting notes.

“Despite all the attention on the region, Santa Barbara Countyremains somewhat alternative especially in comparison to theother California’s wine regions. There is electricity in the air asan abundance of veteran experience and young talent keep thewine scene fresh.”

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About Exotic Wine Travel

While traveling through the wine regions of the world, Dr Matthew Horkey andCharine Tan experienced many obstacles during the preparations and actualtrips, which compelled them to turn their love for wine into a creative force forgood.

In 2015, they established Exotic Wine Travel, with the objectives to promotewine culture, wine tourism, lesser-known wine regions, and unique wines.Through a range of communication outlets and events, the duo sharespertinent information about traveling in various wine destinations, introducewine lovers to the best of what each region has to offer, and provide anecdotalinsight into each region’s peculiarity.

Having traveled to more than 35 countries individually and explored over 50wine regions together, they bring an empathetic and astute “prosumer” lens totheir writing and the wine tourism industry. They are also WSET Advancedcertified.

Sipping Santa Barbara is their third book and the second of a series of winetravel books that they will be releasing.

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The AuthorDr Matthew Horkey is the co-founderof Exotic Wine Travel and the author of TravelLearn Earn: Let the World Be Your Guide toFreedom as well as Uncorking the Caucasus:Wine from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia. Hehas also written for several trade magazinesand peer-reviewed publications. Anexperienced public speaker, he’s been aguest speaker at the American University ofRome, Life University, and various companiesincluding Microsoft, TripAdvisor, Norton Rose,and JP Morgan. Dr Horkey is passionateabout learning and trying traditional andunique wines, sharing information withpeople, and turning them on to wine. He isWSET Advanced certified.

Matthew: I didn’t grow up drinking wine. Growing up on a produce farm in a town of2,500 people in southern Michigan, wine had zero influence in my life. My parentskept no alcohol in the house. As my curiosity took over, drinking consisted of thecheapest beer my friends and I could get our hands on.

My college days went by relatively alcohol-free until my last year at Michigan StateUniversity when a friend and I went to see the film Sideways by Alexander Paine.The way that Paul Giamatti’s character was obsessed with wine fascinated me. Thatcuriosity followed me to graduate school, where I tried to learn as much about wineas possible.

A backpacking trip through Europe in the middle of graduate school opened my eyesto what wine could and should be. In Lucca, a walled city in Tuscany, I was blownaway by the cheap and simple Vino da Tavola Rosso (red table wine). I remembersticking my nose deep into the carafe and taking in a world of wine I had neverexperienced before.

Moving abroad to Singapore, my real wine education began. After meeting Charine,her interest in the finer things in life deeply influenced me. We were soon at wine-pairing dinners every week, meeting and buying from wine importers, and joiningChampagne clubs. That interest motivated us through the years and in 2015, weboth quit our jobs to travel around the world in search of heaven in a glass.

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The AuthorCharine Tan has a decade-longexperience across different functions –from branding to corporate performance,marketing, public relations, research,social media, and sales. Today, shebrings together those skills andexperience as the co-founder of ExoticWine Travel, working with wineries,importers, distributors, tourism boards,and associations in the promotion ofwine and wine tourism. Charine isWSET Advanced certified.

Charine: My interest in wine (and food) began at a very young age, kindled by a mixof curiosity and appetite. Contrary to Matthew’s experience, I grew up with alcohol. Itwas around me, inside me, sometimes even (spilled) on me. From beer to whiskey,brandy, and wine, they were common beverages on any day and celebratory figuresat festive gatherings. However, as was the case for Matthew, the wines I had at myyounger age were of quaffing standard – such as the sugary, “easy to drink” Merlotand overly oaked, vanilla-bombed-outCabernet Sauvignon.

My first serious fascination with wine developed when I was 18, after tasting a villageBurgundy that was paired harmoniously with a series of French dishes. Unlike any ofthe wines I had tasted in my earlier childhood – which often fell over the tongue likesoiled fabrics – the Pinot Noir was delicate, fruity, folded in a leathery aroma. Fromthen on, I started having preferences and opinions about wine, most of which werenever expressed as – like most people – I was still intimidated by the complexsubject of wine.

Over the past years, I’ve acquired an adventurous attitude towards wine. Tastingwine from lesser-known regions always excites me the most because every obscurewine has the potential to be “the best date of my life”. Beyond just the sensorymerits, focusing on lesser-known wines means I get to constantly learn somethingnew. Talking about wine and its intrinsic stories is a fun way to engage other peopleand bring them along for the ride. Wine has become my way of exploring andinterpreting the world. What makes wine travel so exhilarating is that it provides aport of entry into diverse topics such as geography, history, philosophy, religion,science, and sociology.

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Let’s Connect!

Website: http://exoticwinetravel.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/exowinetravelGoogle+: https://plus.google.com/+exoticwinetravelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/exoticwinetravelTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/exowinetravelVivino: http://www.vivino.com/users/matt.horkYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/exoticwinetravel

As Seen On

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Title: Sipping Santa BarbaraSubtitle: Recommended Wines and ProducersISBN: 978-981-11-3610-8Release Date: June 2017Category: Cooking/Beverages/Wine & Spirit; Travel/Special Interest/GeneralPrice: USD 5.99Email: contact@exoticwinetravel.comWebsite: exoticwinetravel.comPublisher: The Blue Roster Private Limited. Singapore.Availability: Amazon.com, ExoticWineTravel.com, and selected partnersFormat: Electronic – EPUD and MOBI

Book Information