Wine Quality And Philanthropy Grow Together
KCBX, the local public radio, began its first broadcast on July 25, 1975. At that time, a non-profit, non-commercial community radio was a new concept. It was questionable how an area the size of San Luis Obispo County would be able to give support to a public radio station. The station eventually became part of the nationwide network of National Public Radio and built a strong listenership.
The question was how to obtain money to support the programming? The solution included a variety of ways, including advertisers to underwrite programming, government grants, direct pledges made by listeners, and finally, an increasingly important source of support was from fundraisers, such as the Wine Auction Classic and Tasting. KCBX formed a Board to advise them on fundraising strategies. Larry Shupnick, restaurateur and owner of the San Luis Inn in Avila, and Archie McLaren developed the idea of holding wine and food events, which became known as the KCBX Central Coast Wine Classic.It started as an annual afternoon wine tasting and grew into a four-day event staffed by local volunteers and attended by people at home and abroad. It raised around a million dollars until the tragedy of 9/11 in New York City. In 2002, the Board decided to develop a number of events, including music festivals, to raise funds.
Archie McLaren and many advisory board members supported continuing the Central Coast Wine Classic. Archie founded a non-profit with a large board of advisors and a dedicated group of volunteers in 2003 and continued raising funds, a total of 3.4 million dollars from 2004 to the final event in 2017. The Central Coast Wine Classic chose to donate to multiple beneficiaries; it donated to many non-profit organizations and foundations focusing on the arts, health, and education in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Sunday was a special day in Avila – a Champagne Brunch was served and the public was invited to taste many wines in the afternoon to thank them for their support.
The most important benefit of the expanding Central Coast Wine Classic was that the annual event promoted the development of the region as a respected wine-producing area of California by bringing many visitors from around the world to this constantly evolving wine cultural place.
Vineyards and wineries have been a part of California’s Central Coast for more than 150 years. However, it has been since the early 1970s that the wine industry has thrived. The Central Coast is recognized as one of the foremost wine regions of California, with its varying geography, climate, soil, and other factors which affect the types of wine produced. Paso Robles has become an important destination in California for wine lovers.
Wine History, Celebrations, And Fine Wine
The covers of the Central Coast Wine Classic catalogs, which the Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County has scanned into our archives, are included below. These catalogs were once a part of Archie McLaren’s private collection. Archie McLaren was the Founder & Chairman of the Central Coast Wine Classic held in July of each year. The event was one of America’s most successful charity wine auctions.
For more information: https://winehistoryproject.org/archie-mclaren-1942-2018/ & https://winehistoryproject.org/event/archie-mclaren-book-launch/.
