Sartaj Singh
With French director Alex Ranarivelo at the helm, ‘Holiday in the Vineyards’ takes us to the wine estates of California with Carter Baldwyn, a hard-partying bachelor who is sent to acquire the Huckabee Estate in Los Santos. His mother, the CEO of Baldwyn Wines, has tasked him with winning the bid for the property over the holidays. Posing as a working-class man, while appraising the winery, he happens to stay at the guesthouse of the realtor for the estate, Valentina.
She is a widowed single mother of two who wins him over with her kindness and compassion. He becomes close to Valentina and her children and even develops a fondness for the people of Los Santos. As Christmas nears and along with the bidding war, Carter is split between his responsibilities and a dreamlike life with Vaentinal in the small town. Watching the heartfelt holiday romance unfold within the quaint Californian town, you might wonder where Los Santos is located, and where the romantic comedy was filmed.
Holiday in the Vineyards Filming Locations
‘Holiday in the Vineyards’ was filmed in the city of Santa Clarita, California, which played the part of Los Santos, a fictional town. Los Santos is Spanish for “The Saints,” and the fictional town is commonly associated with the Grand Theft Auto videogame series’ version of Los Angeles. Principle photography was carried out in February of 2023, and the film was initially called ‘A Wine Country Christmas.’ Allow us to take you through the filming locations chosen for the production and introduce you to the cast involved in it.
Santa Clarita, California
Nestled in the Santa Clarita Valley, the serene landscape of the city was chosen as the main backdrop for the filming of ‘Holiday in the Vineyards.’ Falling just north of the filming capital, Los Angeles, Santa Clarita gets its fair share of filmmakers making use of its small-town cityscape ambiance and diverse geographical features. Its charm is captured in Ranarivelo’s holiday film as expansive landscape shots treat us to views of sprawling wine estates framed by rolling hills and undulating canyons.
The Reyes Winery on 10262 Sierra Highway portrayed the Huckabee Estate of Los Santos, where Carter first arrives to scope out the Vineyard before meeting Valentina. Located in the small town of Agua Dulce, the winery is usually open for wine tasting on weekends and facilitates private winery events on their vast property. Later scenes of Carter out in town were lensed at the market in Main Street and included the Pulchella Winery on 24261 Main Street. The largely residential and commercial neighborhood of Valencia features prominently in the film, including exterior shots of markets, streets, and suburban neighborhoods.
Recognized as one of the entertainment industry’s preferred locations, Santa Clarita provides robust support for film productions through incentives, well-equipped studios, and a skilled local workforce. Santa Clarita’s versatile locations, including the historic Old Town Newhall district and the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, present filmmakers with a dynamic canvas for storytelling. Its suburban neighborhoods and sprawling ranches have also featured prominently in numerous productions. These include, ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire,’ ‘The Office,’ ‘Criminal Minds,’ ‘House,’ ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’
Holiday in the Vineyards Cast
Josh Swickard and Sol Rodriguez take up the lead roles of Carter and Valentina. Josh Swickard is an actor and producer known for his involvement in Christmas movies such as ‘A Hollywood Christmas,’ ‘A California Christmas,’ and ‘A California Christmas: City Lights.’ Sol Rodriguez is an Argentinian/Uruguayan actress of Italian descent. She first came into the limelight, starring as Mercedes in Nickelodeon’s ‘Grachi.’ She has gone on to essay Daniela Mercado in ‘Devious Maids,’ Natalia in ‘Party of Five,’ and Dr. Teresa Ramirez in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’
The soap opera veteran, Eileen Davidson, humorously essays the role of Carter’s mother, Margo Baldwyn. She has starred in thousands of episodes of ‘The Young and the Restless,’ as Ashley Abbott, and in ‘Days of Our Lives’ as Kristen Blake. Supporting cast for the film includes Omar Gooding as Moe Walker, Carly Jibson as Cindy, Julian Rangel as Fernando Espinoza, Carlos Solórzano as Santiago Espinoza, Annika Noelle as Emma Dixon, Manuel Rafael Lozano as Larry, Alan Toy as Jay, and Gregory Zarian as Joeffrey. Other cast members include Paul Witten, Charley Debenedetti, Cullen Douglas, Brynne Kurland, Victoria Antionette, Kaleina Cordova, and Vivian Dao.
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