It was the perfect afternoon to have a glass of wine, light hors d'oeuvres and take in the beautiful Santa Clarita Valley backyard estate setting shaded by massive oak trees.

The adjoining homes of Jeanne and Chris Carpenter and Tim Carpenter in Newhall provided the perfect backdrop for the second annual "Sunset in the Vineyard" to benefit Assistance League of Santa Clarita.

The fundraiser, which attracted more than 300 guests, featured home wine makers and other artisans.

Guests could also view the small "Compa Vineyard" in Tim Carpenter's backyard where he and his brother, Chris Carpenter grow Syrah, Grenache and Mouvedra grapes in a private vineyard.

The women of Assistance League provide a variety of philanthropic services to the SCV. Among the services to benefit from Sunset in the Vineyard will be Operation School Bell, which provides new clothes and shoes to needy children in kindergarten to sixth grade.

"We have received so much support from the community this year and we are so excited," said Jeannie Carpenter, Assistance League president. "We will be able to help more kids this year have new clothes for school this year which raises their self esteem."

Carpenter said in addition to Operation School Bell, the group also brings monthly meals to an SCV nursing home, and the group's Assisteen auxiliary recently held a dance at Los Angeles Retarded Citizens Ranch in Saugus for the residents of the facility.

Susan Ponton, a member of Assistance League, said everything the group does is community based.

"We earn the money here and we give it back to the community," she said.

Ponton has worked closely with Operation School Bell for two years.

"The parents are so grateful," she said. "Many of these children have never had new clothes, just hand-me-downs or used clothes. They really look forward to when they can go shopping."

Guests to Sunset in the Vineyard were able to taste wine from a host of home vintners as well as a few commercial wineries.
Betsy Linn, Sunset in the Vineyard co-chairwoman with Stacey Mayfield, said all the artisans were SCV based.

"This year we are thrilled we have new artisans including a cheese maker and a beermeister as well as even more artisans from the local area," she said.

Cheese maker Corry DeRobertis of Saugus offered guests tastes of his homemade cheese, which he crafts as a hobby, including a mozzarella with sun-dried tomato and a mold-ripened goat cheese.

"My brother is an amateur winemaker and he gave me a cheesemaking kit one year for my birthday," he said.

Also on hand at the event was vintner and wine educator DiMaggio Washington, of Acton. He served guests tastes of his 2007 Syrah Port made with grapes from his 1-acre vineyard.

Washington's World Wine Education is also providing wine education classes.

"I am offering one of the more world-wide accepted courses of wine study," Washington said. "It's much more an extensive wine education."

Tomas Lukas, of Valencia, said he grows his grapes in his backyard at his home located in Valencia.

"I've completely pushed the envelope of my homeowner's association," he said.

Lukas served guests his 2007 BobCat wine. He said he learned to make wine from his grandparents who were from Italy. He refined his wine making skills with frequent trips to Italy.

"Then I met all these guys here that have home vineyards and so we created a kind of co-op," he said. "We share the equipment and share our knowledge - and it sure beats the heck out of stamp collecting."

Pulchella Winery is seeking to gain a foothold in the Santa Clarita Valley.

"We've been making wine for 10 years and at the end of last year decided to take the leap and go professional," said Steve Lemley.

Lemley, his wife Megan and friends Nat and Jennifer Hasper, have joined together to bring a winery to Santa Clarita.

"We're hoping we can get some support from the city," Steve Lemley said. "We want to move our facility and tasting room to the SCV from Paso Robles."

One of the event's most popular wines was offered up by Roman Weiser. Ben's Crush is named for his son, Ben Weiser.

Weiser's vineyard is off Wheeler Road in Newhall where he has 100 plants - 25 Grenache and 75 Syrah.

"The vineyard is only 2 years old and we produced wine for the first time last year," he said.

Weiser, who is Czech, also offered guests a white wine in the middle of fermentation.

"This is an old Czech and Austrian custom and people drink it because they believe it is healthful," said Weiser. "Legend has it that these wines have wonderful benefits for the human body."

Scott and Vanessa Wilk were first timers at the event.

"We will definitely come in the future, this is a beautiful and great event," said Vanessa Wilk.

Also attending for the first time were Yvonne and Joe Casaletta and Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler of Saugus.

"I think this is an amazing event," said Eisler. "When we were driving up here I thought, ‘this is stunning' and when you walk into the backyard, it is perfect."