For those who enjoy live talks, intriguing speakers and intellectual conversations, the ENLIGHTENMENT series from California Groundbreakers has been a hit since 2024. Now, the European-style salon and symposium has revealed its first slate of events for the new year.

Previous ENLIGHTENMENT soirees were held at Ruhstaller BSMT in downtown and the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts in Curtis Park. The next round of gatherings will rotate through different venues as California Groundbreakers begins setting up a new, permanent space at 2221 10th Street in Sacramento. 

A ‘Future of Wine’ tasting with Melissa Sanchez on Jan. 20

According to reports, the global wine industry is “experiencing the worst market conditions since Prohibition.” Experts note that thousands of acres of grapes across the world went unsold in 2025 and were essentially left to rot on the vine. The trend is especially worrisome in California, which produces nearly 90% of America’s wines.

The factors working against vino-makers include members of Gen Z drinking less alcohol than older generations, ongoing struggles with inflation, tariff whiplash, warming climates in grape-growing regions and the rise in popularity of distilled spirits and cocktails. California Groundbreakers founder Vanessa Richardson reached out to wine experts to ask, ‘What are some of the ways — and wines — that can help the state’s industry rebound?’ Those exchanges led to her upcoming “Future of Wine” tasting and salon talk on Tuesday, January 20.

Melissa Sanchez of Sacramento’s ALMA Wine Bar and Shop will be the evening’s guest speaker. Sanchez focuses on serving vino from independent producers while intentionally highlighting winemakers of color, women winemakers and LGBTQ+ winemakers. An industry innovator, Sanchez has plenty of Gen Z customers tasting at her business and can speak to that increasingly elusive younger market.

During the event, Sanchez will also guide attendees through a special wine tasting.

The talk starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held Downtown at AMA Wine Bar & Shop, 1200 S Street, Suite B. There is a fee for the tasting itself, which is still being determined but expected to be between $25 and $40. For more info, visit California Groundbreakers.

Wanderlust Book Club: ‘The Last American Road Trip’ on Jan. 24

Given that it’s an election year, California Groundbreakers’ book event this month is zeroing in on America’s Red/Blue divide. Are we living in an era when politics can even get in the way of road trips?

These days, many travel stories about interesting towns or scenic attractions in the Heartland are underscored by reader comments below the piece where subscribers proclaim “I’ll never visit that state because they voted for Trump and they’re trying to ban [insert specific political issue] here.”

Is America’s Heartland really going to hell? And what does it mean for Democrats to create their own self-imposed domestic travel ban?

Or could it be healing to the nation for people to travel to places that don’t share their politics and try to make connections?

These are the kinds of questions that will be discussed at the upcoming book event around Sarah Kendzior’s memoir “The Last American Road Trip.” In it, Kendzior uses her hometown of St. Louis, in the center of flyover country, as the jumpstart for a road trip to show her two kids the grandeur of America before it’s “too late.” The book tours readers down Route 66, through national parks and historical sites, and stops at some of the true icons of the U.S.

Part memoir, part political history, “The Last American Road Trip” has been described as “one mother’s promise to her children that their country will be there for them in the future.”

Along with the book discussion, Richardson will also speak with professors of sociology and psychology about how to view domestic travel in an extremely divided moment.

The free event starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 24. It will be held at Sacramento’s independent bookstore Avid Reader at 1945 Broadway Avenue.

A moonlit walk in the Sutter Buttes on Jan. 31

Did you know that just up the road from Sacramento is the smallest mountain range in the world?

The Sutter Buttes are on private land, but between late fall and early spring, the owners open their gates for a few people to go on day walks, which are led by the education nonprofit Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes.

One of the most coveted excursions during that window is the Moonlight Stroll — and California Groundbreakers has 10 tickets for the one on January 31.

Those who sign up early can experience the change from daylight to evening on the Dean Place, while witnessing the sights, smells and sounds of the encroaching night and nearly-full Snow Moon.

Once the lunar spell sets in, hikers will walk among the shadowy oaks and wander the rolling hillsides. The hike is three-to-four miles, with less than 600 feet of elevation. Participants are encouraged to bring a headlamp or flashlight.

The cost of the hike is $45 per person. It happens on Saturday, January 31 between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. To sign up, visit California Groundbreakers website.