A toast to Carneros Wine Alliance

The Carneros Wine Alliance will host a “Year of the Ram” 30th Birthday Bash on Saturday July 25, at di Rosa Preserve to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary as well as the 2015 Year of the Ram (“carnero” in Spanish) on the Chinese zodiac calendar. Expect a broad selection of Carneros wines paired with appetizers from Stag Dining Group, a food-and-wine pairing experience from Fine & Rare, live music from the Max Bonnick Trio, prizes and art at the di Rosa property in the heart of Carneros.

Festivities will include walking tours of di Rosa’s renowned Bay Area art collection, a hands-on craft table for guests to create their own cork-based wine country art, and a blind wine tasting contest. A raffle drawing every half hour will give away magnums of wine from the Wine Alliance’s members, which include Anaba, Artesa, Bouchaine, Ca’ Momi, Carneros Hills, Ceja Vineyards, Clos du Val, Cuvaison Estate Wines, Domaine Carneros, Hyde Vineyards, Nicholson Ranch, Poseidon’s Vineyard, Ram’s Gate, Saintsbury, Schug Carneros Estate, Starmont, the Donum Estate, Truchard and ZD Wines.

Anne Moller-Racke, CWA president and president and winegrower of the Donum Estate in Carneros, says she’s “proud and honored” to have been part of Carneros’s history as a wine region.

“When we founded the Carneros Wine Alliance 30 years ago we saw the potential for the Carneros AVA to be considered a leading appellation for pinot noir and chardonnay,” said “Now, Carneros is known around the world as a producer of world-class wines and a wine capital in its own right.”

Chardonnay and pinot noir together represent about 90 percent of planted vineyard acres in the Carneros appellation, with the remaining 10 percent of vineyards growing varietals ranging from syrah and merlot to the more unusual marsanne, roussane, albariño, petit verdot, pinot meunier, vermentino, grenache blanc and tempranillo.

Tickets are $100. The event is from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at di Rosa Preserve, 5200 Sonoma (Carneros) Highway, Napa. A portion of the proceeds will benefit di Rosa Preserve. More info at carneros.com/yearoftheram-30anniversary.