Join adventurer and vintner, Carissa Chappellet and her partner-in-life, wine collector and gourmet, Archie McLaren, from March 2 through March 11, 2010, for an unforgettable Micato Safaris adventure into East Africa, preceded by a Chappellet Wine Dinner at Lavington, the Nairobi home of Felix and Jane Pinto, who founded Micato Safaris in Kenya over forty years ago. Travel & Leisure magazine voted Micato Safaris the "World's Best Safari Outfitter and Tour Operator" in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008! This remarkably edifying journey will manifest the reasons for those awards.

Click here for details.

Experience the beauty and diversity of California's Central Coast! Participate in the 2010 Twenty-Sixth Annual Central Coast Wine Classic. Browse this website for our calendar of events and volunteer opportunities.

Thanks to the generous support of our donors and auction patrons, under the auspices of the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation, formed in 2004, the Wine Classic was able to provide substantive grants in 2004 to the San Luis Obispo Aids Support Network; San Luis Obispo Special Olympics; the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Public Radio KCBX, with the annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot benefitting the Rhythmic Arts Project, centered in Ventura. Grants conferred in the first year of the new Foundation totaled $126,500.

In 2005, grants were conferred upon Hospice of San Luis Obispo County; the Santa Barbara County Bowl Foundation; Partnership for the Children of San Luis Obispo County; the Clark Center Association in Arroyo Grande; the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council; the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival and Surgical Eye Expeditions in Santa Barbara, with the Fund-A-Need Auction Lot inuring to benefit of the Fund for Vineyard & Farm Workers, founded by Brian and Johnine Talley of Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande. Grants conferred during the Foundation's second year of granting totaled $195,000.

For 2006, the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation's Board of Directors funded grants for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival; the San Luis Obispo Art Center; the Foundation for the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo; Big Brothers & Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County; Tree of Life Pregnancy Support Center of San Luis Obispo County; Hospice Partners of the Central Coast; Pacific Repertory Opera; the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts in Santa Barbara; Community Counseling Center of San Luis Obispo and Caring Callers of San Luis Obispo County. The Wellness Community of the Central Coast's facility in Paso Robles, founded by Justin & Deborah Baldwin of Justin Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles, was the recipient of the Fund-A-Need Auction Lot. Foundation grants for 2006 totaled $203,000.

Beneficiaries of grants from the 2007 Wine Classic included the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Central Coast Center for Arts Education, the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens, Children's Health Initiative, Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo, Enhancement Health & Wellness, Opera Santa Barbara, San Luis Chamber Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Vocal Arts/International Choral Festival, University of California at Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, San Luis Obispo Children's Museum, San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra and Transitional Food & Shelter. The Wine Classic Fund-A-Need Auction Lot was designated for Options Family of Services. The lot raised $86,250, which will be used by Options for creating an arts program for persons with developmental disabilities and persons who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. "This result is a testament to the altruism of our patrons," states Wine Classic Founder & Chairman, Archie McLaren. "The overwhelming majority of these funds was contributed by patrons from outside the Central Coast area, many from other states. It shows quite clearly the quality of individual that the Wine Classic is bringing to the Central Coast."

For 2008, the Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation Board of Directors gifted the following beneficiaries grants totalling just over $225,000, including $82,500 to the French Hospital Hearst Cancer Resource Center from the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot: Assistance League of San Luis Obispo County, Atascadero Loaves & Fishes, Cal Poly Arts, El Camino Homeless Organization, PCPA Theaterfest, Project Angels Bearing Gifts, San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra, San Luis Obispo YMCA, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts, & Tierra Sagrada, The Sacred Earth Foundation.

For 2009, the Board gifted grants totaling $205,025 to the following beneficiaries: Community Youth Performing Arts Center of Santa Barbara; Foodbank of Santa Barbara County; Foundation for the Performing Arts Center of San Luis Obispo; Friends of Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo; Friendship Adult Day Care Center of Santa Barbara; Gatehelp, Inc./Gryphon Society in Atascadero; Public Radio KCBX San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties; Los Padres Forest Watch of Santa Barbara; Morro Bay High School Band; Paderewski Festival of Paso Robles; Santa Maria Philharmonic Society; Senior Volunteer Services of San Luis Obispo and Transitions Mental Health Association of San Luis Obispo. The total includes $67,500 from the Annual Fund-A-Need Auction Lot to fund Respite Care for the Central Coast Alzheimer's Association.

The total amount of funds conferred by the Foundation over the last six years is $1,370,025.

The Central Coast Wine Classic Foundation Board consists of Stephanie Harkness of Santa Cruz, James Hathaway of San Luis Obispo, Fred Griffith of San Luis Obispo, Carissa Chappellet of Big Sur and Napa, and Archie McLaren of Avila Beach and Napa. The Board confers grant funds in October following each Wine Classic.

Please see the Foundation Page for grant criteria.

For more information, contact Archie McLaren at (805) 544-1285 or archie@slonet.org.