June 7, 2019
After the lovely event with Tablas Creek in May, I had another North SLO County winery reach out to me about photographing an Industry event: Villa San Juliette.
The event was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun!
I had never been to Villa San Juliette before. The estate was absolutely gorgeous, looking like something straight out of Tuscany, with its yellow villa rising out of the surrounding vineyards. The event itself was impressive, and as I said, insanely fun.
The entertainment for the evening was provided by Music City Duelling Pianos.
I had never seen duelling pianos before and was extremely entertained. Chris and Dave were so funny and engaging; making sure the guests stayed involved, poking fun at some of the song requests, and generally being a hoot and a half.
Many of the guests got up and danced, resulting in some very sweet photo opportunities for me.
What's funny is that every time Bobby and I go up to the Paso Robles area, the weather is spectacular. Like, actually: perfect temperatures, sunny but not blazing, sometimes a light breeze, or a little cloud coverage to dilute the air.
And each time we do this we are like, "Maybe we should move to Paso?" Because seriously, it is beautiful every. single. time. Then summer comes and we hear about the insane heat and weather shenanigans that are going on up there and we are like "phew, glad we live in Orcutt, where the weather is mild 95% of the time."
But I will say, the weather that day definitely shook my resolve yet again. It was nearly summer but our very long and wet spring was still making itself known with several showers in the area. I kept my eyes on the clouds, which were doing some very crazy things nearby, but they somehow stayed just out of reach.
It was one of the reasons I got home so late, because between the sunset to the west and the rainbow to the east, I was pulling the car over every 500 feet to get photos on my way home.
I may not be moving up to San Miguel or Paso Robles any time soon, but I do hope that Villa San Juliette will invite me back out for another event with Music City Duelling Pianos. But you know... only if the weather is perfect again.
Heather Daenitz is the founder and photographer of Craft & Cluster, a wine & beer photography and social media marketing company based in Santa Barbara County, California.
When she isn't photographing and assisting wineries and breweries with their social media, Heather can be found hanging out with her husband, two dogs, and three chickens in their backyard garden.
