Terra Bella wineries help PHS wrestling

A fundraiser for the Porterville High School wrestling team had more than 100 participants traipsing back and forth Sunday afternoon between three Terra Bella wineries — La Belle, Bella La Vina and Las Flores.

According to PHS wrestling coach Tim Vanni, the event is expected to raise around $2,000 — enough to pay entry and transportation fees for one of the five tournaments in which the team hopes to compete this year.

While many think of Napa or Paso Robles when they think of wine tasting, Terra Bella winery owners are working overtime to turn the town into the newest destination for connoisseurs.

“It’s neat because all of the wineries are so different,” La Belle winery owner Marti Woodmansee said.

She said she hopes to see other wineries move into the area to further increase its attraction to travelers and tourists.

“It’s nice because then you have choices and options and it becomes more of a destination spot. With the

Sequoias being so close, people come from all over the world,” she said.

Visitors to La Belle were greeted by eight wine tastings — and a large, friendly black Labrador named Fitch at the entrance to the tasting room.

Woodmansee had a nearly full house; “It got really crazy at one point,” she said.

She said she felt the event was a success because of the variety offered by the trio of wineries.

Terra Bella’s newest winery, Las Flores, opened their doors to the public with four wine offerings.

Cody and Nick Flores, co-owners of Las Flores, said they also see the wine trail as evidence of a burgeoning interest in the region as a wine tasting area.

The first wine trail fundraising event benefitting the wrestling team took place in May, but excluded Las Flores winery since it had not yet opened.

“This is probably the best thing we’ve done. We’ve done fundraising, but this is ‘fun’-raising,” Vanni said.

Vanni, who has coached wrestling at PHS for 17 years, said he hopes to make the event a biannual one.

The afternoon affair was intended to benefit the wineries as well as the wrestling team, Vanni said.

“This is exposure for Terra Bella and establishing the wine tasting business in our area,” he said.

Springville residents Sylvia and Tom Fuentes said they had been thinking about doing a local wine tasting for years.

The duo saw a sign advertising the event at the Springville Apple Festival and immediately decided to attend, Tom Fuentes said.

“They should do this more often,” Sylvia Fuentes said as she tasted one of the four red wines on offer at Las Flores.

“It’s great to do it for a fundraiser and to help out the community,” Cody Flores said.

Happy revelers ended the afternoon at Bella La Vina for dinner and live music by the local band Wild Oats to round out the afternoon.

“This atmosphere is much more of a social event and makes fundraising much more enjoyable,” Vanni said.

-- Contact Sarah de Crescenzo at 784-5000, Ext. 1045 or sdecrescenzo@portervillerecorder.com.