Santa Barbara County Wine Futures Tasting: Try 50 wines before anyone else

Bordeaux has its futures tastings. And Santa Barbara County has one too.

The annual Santa Barbara County Wine Futures Tasting is happening Aug. 10 at the new Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant in Santa Barbara’s “Funk Zone,” a neighborhood of shops, restaurants, wine tasting rooms and microbreweries.

Les Marchands’ managing partners Eric Railsback and master sommelier Brian McClintic (who was featured in the documentary “SOMM”) have invited 50 local wineries for the event.

Wine enthusiasts who sign on will have the opportunity to taste the 2012 vintage wines before practically anybody else and purchase them at 20% off the standard retail price. Hey, it pays to be an early bird.

Wineries that will be pouring at the event include Au Bon Climat, the Ojai Vineyard, Qupé, Sandhi and Tyler Winery. That’s already a great lineup — and there will be 45 more wineries participating.

Tickets for Les Marchands’ Santa Barbara County Wine Futures Tasting are $70 and should be purchased in advance at www.lesmarchands-sb.eventbrite.com or www.lesmarchandswine.com. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant, 131 Anacapa St. (at Yanonali Street), Santa Barbara.

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Twitter: @sirenevirbila