It’s April 7, a wet evening along Yanonali’s winery row. As happy hour packs tasting stops to the gills, a private celebration envelops Santa Barbara Winery (SBW). Inside, enormous wine barrels loom over an ochre-tinted scene as Gris, SBW’s adorably plump house cat, pads around the vast room as attendees partake in salads and reds.
The occasion: the first anniversary of Le Sorelle, a Santa Barbara–based importer of products from Puglia, a peninsula town in Italy’s most southern region. Anna Carla Lopez-Carr and Donatella Lorenzoni-Lopez, the siblings behind Le Sorelle (Italian for “the sisters”), grew up summering at their mother’s ancestral town.
Part pat on the back, part product-line demonstration, this party’s mission is twofold: Let’s celebrate, and let’s strut our stuff. Buffet highlights include fresh dip made from Terra Rubra Artichokes, salad incorporating Terra Rubra Semi-Sundried Tomatoes, and organic orecchiette covered in mozzarella. An edamame-resembling pasta salad is made of Sabatelli Foglie d’Ulivo (olive tree leaf).