Napa Valley Wine Library Wine Seminar: “Mountainside Cabernet Sauvignon”
Saint Helena, CA — “Cabernet from Napa Valley’s Mountainsides, East and West,” Napa Valley Wine Library’s 32nd Annual Wine Seminar, features six winemaker panelists in the Winery Library of Mayacamas Vineyards, Napa on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
Six Winemakers to pour their 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
Representing the eastern mountainsides of Napa Valley, Alex Kongsgaard of Kongsgaard on Atlas Peak, Alison Tauziet of Colgin Cellars on Pritchard Hill, and Mike Dunn of Dunn Vineyards on Howell Mountain present their 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon.From Napa Valley’s western mountainsides, Graham Wehmeier of Diamond Creek on Diamond Mountain, Lisa Togni of Philip Togni Vineyard on Spring Mountain, and Braiden Albrecht of Mayacamas Vineyards on Mount Veeder present their 2019 vintage.Tegan Passalacqua of Turley Wine Cellars and Sandlands is the moderator.
A Live-fire lunch with seasonal fare completes the day
Chef Kevin O’Connor prepares a live-fire lunch on the terrace of the new Hospitality Center at Mayacamas Vineyards to finish this exceptional event. Registration includes transportation to and from the winery on Mount Veeder at the winery’s request.
For tickets and the schedule: https://napawinelibrary.com: $300 members / $350 non-members
About the Napa Valley Wine Library:
Founded in Saint Helena in 1963 by food and wine luminaries MFK Fisher, marketing pioneer Francis Gould of Charles Krug, letter press printer/educator James E. Bear, and UC Davis Professor Maynard Amerine, the Napa Valley Wine Library collects and shares the history and nature of the wines and vines of Napa Valley as well as wine country world-wide. The Collection is housed in its own wing of St. Helena Public Library and is open to everyone – winery professionals and interns, growers, chefs, graphic designers, journalists, photographers and other artists—anyone with a curiosity for the art and science of wine as an integral part of our culture, society and daily lives.For more information:
Diana H Stockton
editor@napawinelibrary.comTo join the Napa Valley Wine Library Association and secure a seminar ticket:
https://napawinelibrary.com
Discover the Next Great Micro-Production Winemakers: The Garagiste Festival Returns to Sonoma April 29th
PASO ROBLES, CA (PRWEB) – America’s Best Wine Festival[1], The Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure, returns to Sonoma for the fifth time on April 29th, offering rare and first-look access to the best, hard-to-find wines from over 40 micro-production, commercial wineries. Held at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall, walking distance from Sonoma’s historic downtown plaza, the festival features wineries from Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lodi, Sierra Foothills, Suisun Valley, Anderson Valley, El Dorado County and Santa Clara Valley. Tickets now on sale here.
“‘Micro,’ ‘hand-crafted,’ ‘hard-to-find’ and ‘quality’ are terms that define the Garagiste Festival, and nowhere is this more in evidence than at our Sonoma festival: 90% of these wineries do not have a tasting room you can visit, 60% make less than 600 cases and four are pouring their very first vintage,” said Garagiste Co-founder Douglas Minnick. “The Sonoma Garagiste Festival is the only place where area wine lovers have this many opportunities to taste the region’s greatest micro-production wineries. all under one roof. While the festival ethos is ‘no-snobs allowed,’ its wine discovery opportunity is exclusive because we keep our crowds small for one-on-one interaction with the winemakers.”
Minnick noted that 17 of this year’s wineries, are brand new to the Garagiste Festival, including: Bard Clan Wines, Belong Wine Co., Darling Wines, Elaine Wines, Fest Wine Co., Mangels Vineyards, Manzanita Grove Vineyard, Monroy Wines, Moose Mountain Vineyards, Parea Wines, Puppione Family Wines, Stressed Vines Cellars, Sugarloaf Wine Co., The Elkhoury Family Vineyard, Thomas T Thomas Vineyards, Tiny Vineyards Wine Co and Tognetti Family Winery.
The line-up for the 5th annual Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure includes:
- VIP Rare and Reserve Access (1-2pm), featuring library, club only or reserve wines, only being poured during this first hour (VIP tickets only)
- Grand Tasting (2pm-5pm) featuring over 40 winemakers pouring 150+ wines and 20+ different grape varieties. Includes complimentary cheese and charcuterie, along with delicious food samples from local artisan vendors and a souvenir crystal wine glass.
- Silent Wine Auction with proceeds supporting the Garagiste Scholarship at Cal Poly SLO, to help fund the future of California winemaking.
The Northern Exposure festival is the second event of the 2023 Garagiste Festival season, preceded by the sold out Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure in Solvang in February, and followed by The Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure in Los Angeles (June 17) and the ‘OG’ Festival in Paso Robles (November 10-11). The Garagiste Festival premiered in Paso Robles in 2011 and is the only wine festival that exclusively features high quality wines from commercial California ‘garagiste’ winemakers. Unlike other festivals, the wines are poured by the winemakers/owners themselves, offering a rare opportunity to interact with the creative forces behind the wines, while making brand new wine discoveries. The festival expanded to the Sonoma region in 2018 to highlight the wines of Sonoma, and surrounding Northern California AVAs.
Among the 40+ winemakers scheduled to pour are:
Alta Orsa Wines, *Bard Clan Wines, *Belong Wine Co., Boonville Road Wines, Burning Bench, Calstar Cellars, Carpenter Wine, Cazadero Winery, Dane Cellars, *Darling Wines, *Elaine Wines, Enriquez Wines, *Fest Wine Co., Fields Family Wines, Forgotten Union Wines, Gondak Cellars, Greyscale Wines, Intent Wines, Kendric Vineyards, Kitson Wines, Lussier Wine Co., *Mangels Vineyards, *Manzanita Grove Vineyard, *Monroy Wines, *Moose Mountain Vineyards, Murder Ridge, Omega Road Winery, *Parea Wines, Perri Jaye Vineyards, Pine Mountain Vineyards, Prima Materia, *Puppione Family Wines, Read Holland Wines, Ricci Vineyards, Rock & Clay Wines, *Stressed Vines Cellars, *Sugarloaf Wine Co., *The Elkhoury Family Vineyard, The Grenachista Wine Co., *Thomas T Thomas Vineyards, *Tiny Vineyards Wine Co and *Tognetti Family Winery.
*New to the festival
For more information and full Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure schedule details, go to: http://www.garagistefestival.com/
Tickets are limited for Garagiste Festival Northern Exposure. Garagiste Festivals always sell out in advance. To buy tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-garagiste-wine-festival-northern-exposure-tickets-269198980397
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.
Sponsors include:
G3 Enterprises, Bank of Marin, ETS Laboratories, Laffort USA, Digital Dogma, AgWest Farm Credit, mWEBB Communications, Fortis Solutions Group, Glenn Burdette, Sonoma Valley Sun, TricorBraun winepak, WIVI.
For sponsorship info, email info@garagistefestival.com.
About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste Wine Festival (http://www.garagistefestival.com), named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, is the first and only wine festival dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan ‘garagiste’ micro-wineries who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.
In addition to being named the US’ Best Wine Festival, the Garagiste Festival was named one of the ‘Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations’ in the world by ABC News, “one of the premier wine events of the year,” by the LA Times and “Best Festival” by Sunset Magazine’s ‘Best of the West.’ The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.
*Garagiste (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.
[[1]] The Garagiste Wine Festival was named “Best of the Fests” by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards
Perlises Pick: Historic Vineyard Society 2022 Newsletter
We’ve been fans and members of the Historic Vineyard Society for some time and are deeply appreciative of the work they do registering and preserving California’s old vineyards. You can check out their website here: www.historicvineyardsociety.org.
It is our pleasure to share with you their end-of-2022 newsletter.
Dear friends, Thank you so much from all of us at HVS for another wonderful year. 2022 marked the return to a more “normal” year for us since pre-COVID, with the triumphant return of our Vineyard Tour & Dinner events at Ridge – Lytton Springs! The event included a fascinating tour of Lytton Springs and a presentation about the history of Dry Creek Valley by Ridge Vit Intern Ryan Brennan, followed by a delicious dinner by Wood Fire Smoke BBQ paired with an incredible lineup of wines from the historic vineyards of Dry Creek Valley. In case you missed it, please check out the great photos by Larry Piggins taken from the event, linked here: www.historicvineyardsociety.org/events/2022-vineyard-tour-and-dinner. In July, HVS board members participated in an informative panel tasting with the Vitis group at UC Davis, getting to speak with the next generation of winemakers and viticulturists about the importance of historic vineyards. To close out the year, in November we had the pleasure of putting on an tasting at Compline Wine Shop in downtown Napa featuring wines from five of Napa’s historic vineyards: Haynes, Alfred Frediani, Morisoli, Brandlin Estate, and Library vineyards. Our online registry continues to expand, with several vineyards added this year, including Stony Hill’s 1948 Block (St. Helena), Nicolini Ranch (Lodi, planted in the 1930s), Beatty Ranch (Napa Valley, planted in the 1910s), and Cathy Corison’s Kronos Vineyard (St. Helena, planted in 1971). We’re approaching a very exciting time as many outstanding vineyards are on the cusp of turning 50 in the next few years. As a reminder, if you see a vineyard missing from our website or information that needs to be updated, we invite you to submit the vineyard on our website www.historicvineyardsociety.org/submit-vineyard or email us at info@historicvineyardsociety.org. The registry is very much a community-supported project, and we appreciate all your support sending us vineyards to research or anything that might need to be updated online. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to remind you about a few ways to support Historic Vineyard Society. While we operate with as little overhead cost as possible, we do have a few expenses to keep HVS up and running, and your support is crucial in helping us continue our work toward promoting and preserving California’s oldest vineyards. Ways to Support HVS: HVS Annual Membership (starting at just $50/year) HVS Ah-So Wine Openers are available on our website here – a great gift for wine collectors! A One-Time Donation to HVS Do you shop on Amazon? If so, be sure to shop on Amazon Smile and choose Historic Vineyard Society to support – and a portion of your orders will be donated to HVS! We are actively planning our event calendar for 2023 and look forward to being in touch with details as soon as plans are confirmed! As always, if you have any questions about HVS, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@historicvineyardsociety.org. With gratitude, The HVS Board of Directors Mike Officer Bob Biale Tegan Passalacqua David Gates Morgan Twain-Peterson Mike Dildine |
Chef to the Stars joins Paso winery for an enchanted evening amidst the Vines
Paso Robles, California. – What makes ONX Wines, Dine in the Vines winemaker dinner the event not to miss this Summer? A celebrated Italian Chef, boutique wines, a soulful guitarist and an eclectic group of people gathered together for a magical night under the stars.
The sustainable westside winery is thrilled to host their annual Dine in the Vines event with Chef Fabrizio Giorgi this September 17th. Fabrizio hails from Northern Italy and is honored to share his love for large family meals that he learned from his Nonna. “I have had the privilege to cook for celebrities in the past like Barbra Streisand, Eddie Murphy, Randy Newman and more.”
The winery will be setting a long table amidst the vines sparking conversation and camaraderie with Winemaker, Drew Nenow and the ONX team. It will be a true farm-to-fork experience with guitarist Kenny Taylor and courses presented by the winery’s winemaking and farmstead team.
The evening’s focus will highlight local organics. It will begin a refreshing grilled peach and Ricotta bed of greens paired with ONX’s hallmark Grenache blend, Mad Crush. The second course will encompass a wild mushroom risotto with Pecorino truffle fondue and their 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Caliber. Rounding out the night will be the Chef’s succulent Petite Filet Mignon with heirloom carrots paired with Noble Intrigue, which received 95 points from Jeb Dunnuck. The finale will begin with a chocolate, coffee and raspberry coulis mousse with sea salt and almond brittle. With the closing course, the wine club exclusive, Black Orchid Petite Syrah will be shared as their special reserve library wine for the evening.
Chef Fabrizio comes from hosting tables of abundance and is at his happiest when he can serve large family meals sourced from local farms. To secure a ticket to this year’s Dine in the Vines please visit onxwines.com.
ONX Wines is a Paso Robles winery & farmstead with a 130-acre vineyard located in the dynamic Templeton Gap AVA. It is planted with 18 distinct varieties & numerous clones. Our wines are expressive yet balanced blends that reflect the vineyard estate and its complex alluvium soils.
onxwines.com @onxwines
Eve Picks: Garagiste Wine Festival Returns to Glendale with 40+ Wineries On July 22nd and 23rd
America’s Best Wine Festival [1], The Garagiste Wine Festival, returns to LA July 22nd and 23rd with a dynamic line-up of over 40 of some of the best micro-production ‘garagiste’ wineries from across California, including Santa Barbara County, Paso Robles, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Los Angeles. Events include a Friday evening Rare and Reserve party and a tasting seminar on ancient winemaking techniques made modern. All events take place at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. Tickets on sale here.
“We are excited to be back in Southern California with another slate of remarkable and innovative wineries from almost every California AVA,” said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick. “The Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure offers one of the most unique wine discovery opportunities available in the LA area. Most of these wineries do not have tasting rooms, and you will never find them on supermarket shelves, but you will find them all under one spacious roof in Glendale this July. You’ll be able to taste a wide range of California wine country’s hidden, and one-of-a-kind, gems right in your backyard. And all for considerably less than the cost of gas for a trip to wine country.”
Dubbed “tasting nirvana,” “strange and wondrous,” and “one not to miss” by the LA Times, the Garagiste Festival showcases under-the-radar, innovative, commercial winemakers who handcraft 1500 cases or less of wine and is renowned for its diversity of wines, renegade spirit, passionate winemakers, handcrafted wines and rules-breaking, ‘no snobs allowed’ ethos.
Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure is Los Angeles’ only wine festival that exclusively features high quality wines from commercial California ‘garagiste’ winemakers and, unlike other festivals, the wines are poured by the winemakers/owners themselves, offering a rare opportunity to interact with the creative forces behind the wines, while making brand new wine discoveries.
The Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure kicks off on Friday night July 22nd at 6:30 pm with the “No Repeats Rare and Reserve” party, an exclusive and intimate event (only 200 tickets available) that showcases over 50 extremely limited Club Only, Library and Pre-Release bottles, as well as some barrel samples. The event includes a taco buffet from Ibarra Catering and Eating.
Saturday’s festivities begin at 11:30am for VIP ticketholders with “Ancient Techniques in Modern Times,” a tasting seminar moderated by Garagiste Festival co-founder Stewart McLennan and featuring Nathan DeCamps of Innate Wines and Greg LaFollette of La Follette Wines. The seminar takes attendees on an exploration of ancient fermentation and aging techniques used by winemakers today to create expressive and distinctive wines.
“What is old is new again … and this seminar proves that with tastings of delicious wines vinified with techniques inspired by the past,” said Minnick. “Many of these techniques are labor-intensive and time-consuming, relying on a true ‘hands-on-every-barrel’ approach that typifies Garagiste winemaking. As with all Garagiste events, ‘Ancient Techniques in Modern Times’ is a fantastic opportunity for our attendees to taste, learn and have fun, all at the same time.”
Saturday’s main event, The Grand Tasting, starts at 2:00pm (1:00pm for early access ticket holders) and features over 40 winemakers pouring 150+ wines and 20+ grape varieties. Complimentary cheese and charcuterie will be provided, along with food samples from local artisan vendors, bottled water and a souvenir Stolzle crystal wine glass.
All events take place at Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 North Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA. There is plenty of onsite parking and easy access from the 134 and 210 freeways
Among the over 40 winemakers pouring at The Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure 2022 are:
Acri Wine Co.*, Alms Sol Winery, Amrita Cellars, Arianna Wines, Boonville Road Wines, Bushong Vintage Wine Co., Caelesta Vineyard*, DENO Wines, Dusty Nabor Wines, Etnyre Wines, Ferguson Family Wines, Forgotten Union Wines, Greyscale Wines, Intent Wines*, Kaleidos Winery, Light of Day Winery*, Marin’s Vineyard, MCV Wines, Murder Ridge, Omega Road Winery*, Optio Vineyards*, Pine Mountain Vineyards, Prima Materia*, Purple Dragon Cellars, Rails Nap Wines, RF Fine Wines, San Rucci Winery, Seven Oxen Estate, Terre et Sang, Tomi Cellars*, Topophilia Wines*, Trois le Fou*, Turiya Wines, Two Papas Wines, Wander Must Wine, Wildflower Winery* and Zobeto Wines*.
*First Time Garagiste Participants
Tickets are very limited for the Garagiste Festivals and always sell out. Tickets are available here.
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.
Sponsors include:
Bank of Marin, Cabot Cheese, Digital Dogma, ETS, Farm Credit West, Glenn Burdette, G3, Laffort, mWEBB Communications, Vinebase, WIVI. For sponsorship info, email info(at)garagistefestival.com.
The non-profit Garagiste Festivals benefit the Cal Poly SLO Wine and Viticulture program.
For sponsorship info, email info@garagistefestival.com
For more information and full Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure schedule details, go to: https://www.garagistefestival.com/los-angeles-2022
About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste Wine Festival (http://www.garagistefestival.com), named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, is the first and only wine festival dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan ‘garagiste’ micro-wineries who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.
In addition to being named the US’ Best Wine Festival, the Garagiste Festival was named one of the ‘Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations’ in the world by ABC News, “one of the premier wine events of the year,” by the LA Times and “Best Festival” by Sunset Magazine’s ‘Best of the West.’ The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.
Garagiste (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.
[1] The Garagiste Wine Festival was named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10 best Readers Choice Awards.
JORDAN VINEYARD AND WINERY MARKS 50th ANNIVERSARY WITH SOCIAL IMPACT SUMMER
HEALDSBURG, CALIF. (PRWEB) – Jordan Vineyard and Winery will bring the Sonoma alfresco hospitality experience to three cities across the country this June to mark dual milestones: the winery’s 50th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the John Jordan Foundation. For the first time in its history, Jordan will host Social Impact Summer, a multi-day culinary series that will extend Jordan’s philanthropic impact to organizations that need it most. One hundred percent of the event ticket proceeds will benefit nonprofit partners: Clayton Early Learning in Denver, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee in Nashville.
Kicking off in Denver on June 3-4, Jordan’s Social Impact Summer events will be filled with rare Jordan wines from special library vintages to 18-liter big bottles, food pairings by celebrated chefs, live music, celebrity guests and other surprises. The festivities in each city will include two epicurean events: a festive reception-style Big Bottle Party and a decadent multi-course dinner and auction, Gather in the Garden.
“We’re looking forward to ‘going big’ with social impact this summer in Denver, Dallas and Nashville,” says John Jordan, chief executive officer of Jordan Vineyard & Winery. “It is a privilege to partner with organizations with such impressive track records of serving these three communities.”
To learn more about the nonprofit partners, celebrated chefs, wines and highlights of Jordan Social Impact Summer, visit: https://www.jordanwinery.com/50th-anniversary-events/. Tickets sales opened to the general public on March 15. Event dates and beneficiaries are as follows:
- Denver: June 3-4, 2022. Kicking off in the place where Jordan Winery was born, the Denver Big Bottle Party and Gather in the Garden alfresco dinner and mini-live auction will benefit local nonprofit, Clayton Early Learning.
- Dallas: June 10-11, 2022. Festivities will include two epicurean events hosted in the gardens surrounding Arlington Hall. Proceeds from all ticket sales will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas’s Academic Interventions Project.
- Nashville: June 15-16, 2022. Co-hosted by country music singer/songwriter/producer Jon Pardi, two unforgettable evenings at the Thompson Hotel Rooftop and gardens at The Cordelle will give back to Nashville’s most vulnerable youth in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennesse.
- Healdsburg: June-August, 2022. Hosted at the Jordan Winery Chateau, a series of four alfresco dinners will highlight local and global causes that the John Jordan Foundation has supported in the last decade in an intimate dinner party setting.
As always, proceeds from Jordan Winery event tickets and wine sales fund the John Jordan Foundation, which works to fight the negative effects of poverty through investments in education, health and humanitarian causes.
About Jordan Vineyard & Winery
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, Jordan Vineyard & Winery is inspired by the great wine estates of France and the timeless connection between food, wine and hospitality. Under the guidance of second-generation vintner John Jordan, Jordan Estate is an extension of these traditions, with its iconic chateau, breathtaking views, sustainably farmed vineyards, natural habitat for wildlife and gardens for the chef’s inventive cuisine, offering a distinctive sense of place in Sonoma County wine country. A significant portion of the winery’s revenue funds the John Jordan Foundation, which works to provide disadvantaged youth and young adults with the tools needed to succeed educationally and professionally. Learn more at http://www.jordanwinery.com.
America’s Best Wine Festival Returns to Sonoma with 40+ Garagiste Winemakers April 30th
PASO ROBLES, CALIF. (PRWEB) – America’s Best Wine Festival, The Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure, returns to Sonoma on April 30th offering rare access to the region’s best, hard-to-find wines from over 40 micro-production, commercial wineries from Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lodi, Sierra Foothills and Livermore and more. The festival will once again be held at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall, walking distance from Sonoma’s historic downtown plaza. Tickets are on sale here.
Of this year’s 40+ wineries, 17 are brand new to the Garagiste Festival, including Accenti Wines, Amrita Cellars, Boete Winery, Box Wine Company, Brueskok Cellars, Cazadero Winery, Cormorant Cellars, Forgotten Union Wines, Guererro Fernandez Wines, Kobler Estate, Lussier Wine Co., Read Holland Wines, Rondure Wines, Stringer Cellars, Terre et Sang, The Grenachista Wine Co., and Wild Rising Wines.
“We are so excited to bring our Northern Exposure festival back to one of California’s most stunning wine regions, after a two year absence,” said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick. “If it is anything like our recent Paso and Solvang festival returns, it will be a joyful reunion of some of the region’s best, most exciting winemakers with one of the most passionate, dedicated and fun-loving audiences the wine industry has to offer.’
The Garagiste Festival premiered in 2011 and is the nation’s first and only festival to showcase the wines of micro-production commercial ‘garagiste*’ winemakers. It expanded to Sonoma in 2018 to highlight the wines of Sonoma County and surrounding AVAs, as well as other small production wineries from Northern California. Named ‘Best of Fests’ and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the USA,’ the festival showcases under-the-radar, innovative, commercial winemakers who handcraft 1500 cases or less of wine.
“Over 90% of Northern Exposure participants do not have a tasting room, and you will never find these wines in grocery stores or on wine country maps,” continued Minnick. “The festival offers wine lovers a singular chance to discover and meet the next great winemakers, taste their delicious and diverse wines and talk to them directly about their winemaking styles. And it is all offered under one roof in the festival’s signature ‘no snobs allowed’ atmosphere.”
The 4th annual Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure will be held on Saturday, April 30, at the Sonoma Veterans Building and includes:
- VIP Rare and Reserve Tasting (1-2pm), featuring library, club only or reserve wines, only being poured during this first hour
- Grand Tasting (2pm-5pm) featuring over 150 wines and 25 different grape varieties, and includes complimentary cheese and charcuterie, along with delicious food samples from local artisan vendors and a souvenir Stolzle crystal wine glass.
- Silent Wine Auction with proceeds supporting the Garagiste Scholarship at Cal Poly SLO, to help fund the future of California winemaking.
Among the 40+ winemakers scheduled to pour are:
*Accenti Wiens, *Amrita Cellars, *Boete Winery, *Box Wine Company, *Brueskok Cellars, Burning Bench, Calstar Cellars, *Cazadero Winery, *Cormorant Cellars, Crux Winery, Cutruzzola Vineyards, Dane Cellars, DeWitt Vineyard, Enriquez Wines, *Forgotten Union Wines, Gondak Cellars, *Guerrero Fernandez Wines, Kendric Vineyards, *Kobler Estate, *Lussier Wine Co, Merisi Wines, Montagne Russe, Murder Ridge, Passagio Wines, Perri Jaye Vineyards, Pine Mountain Vineyard, *Read Holland, Ricci Vineyards, Rock & Clay Wines, *Rondure Wines, Sosie Wines, St. Romedius Wines, *Stringer Cellars, T. Berkley Wines, *Terre et Sang, *The Grenachista Wine Co, Topel Winery, Weatherborne Wine Co, *Wild Rising Wines.
*New to the festival
COVID-19 Prevention Measures/Requirements
Please note that we are closely monitoring the current situation to ensure the health and safety of all those attending the Sonoma Garagiste Festival. Because our events are being held indoors, as the event approaches, attendees will receive regular updates regarding current protocols and procedures that may be required to attend The Garagiste Wine Festival, including any changes to policies and procedures from Sonoma County. Updates will be shared on our Sonoma 2022 Event Page, through our social media channels, and direct to ticket holders via email.
For more information and full Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure schedule details, go to: http://www.garagistefestival.com/
Tickets are limited for Garagiste Festival Northern Exposure. Garagiste Festivals always sell out in advance. To buy tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-garagiste-wine-festival-northern-exposure-tickets-269198980397
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.
Sponsors include
G3 Enterprises, Bank of Marin, ETS, Laffort USA, Digital Dogma, Farm Credit West, mWEBB Communications, Glenn Burdette, Sonoma Valley Sun, WIVI.
For sponsorship info, email info@garagistefestival.com.
About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste Wine Festival (http://www.garagistefestival.com), named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, is the first and only wine festival dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan ‘garagiste’ micro-wineries who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.
In addition to being named the US’ Best Wine Festival, the Garagiste Festival was named one of the ‘Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations’ in the world by ABC News, “one of the premier wine events of the year,” by the LA Times and “Best Festival” by Sunset Magazine’s ‘Best of the West.’ The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.
*Garagiste (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.
Stags Leap District Winegrowers Announces Esteemed Culinary Partners for Vineyard to Vintner, April 22-24, 2022
NAPA, CALIF. (PRWEB) – Offering even more reasons to attend its signature gathering, Stags Leap District Winegrowers today announced the roster of elite chefs and culinary partners for the 2022 Vineyard to Vintner weekend. The annual celebration brings Cabernet Sauvignon enthusiasts together with vintners, winemakers and principals for exclusive tastings, in-depth education and exquisite meals. This year’s event will be held Friday through Sunday, April 22 to 24, 2022.
“While renowned wines and rare library offerings take the spotlight throughout the weekend, guests will also be treated to an array of opulent menus designed to beautifully complement the power and grace of Stags Leap District varietals,” said Nancy Bialek, Executive Director of Stags Leap District Winegrowers. “We’re thrilled to welcome some of the region’s most exciting chefs to Vineyard to Vintner this year.”
Culinary partners include Michelin-starred and Wine Spectator Award-winning chef Ken Frank of La Toque; chef Daniel Gomez, who has more than 15 years of experience at Michelin-starred restaurants including The French Laundry and Cyrus; cookbook author and acclaimed Napa Valley chef Peter Hall; Top Chef finalist and fan favorite Casey Thompson of the newly opened Folk Table restaurant; chef, restaurateur and author Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen fame; executive winery chef Travis Westrope of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, along with Elaine Bell Catering; and Tracy and John Anderson, proprietors of Woodhouse Chocolates in St. Helena.
Featured Vineyard to Vintner Culinary Highlights:
Library Wine Dinners: Friday, April 22 // 6:30PM – 10:00PM
- An Illuminating Wine and Food Experience with Chef, Author and Restaurateur Tanya Holland, hosted at Chimney Rock Winery with Shafer Vineyards and Quixote Winery
- Homegrown: An Exploration of Fine Wines and Farm-to-Table Dining in Stags Leap District with Chef Casey Thompson, hosted at Regusci Winery with Lindstrom Wines and Stags’ Leap Winery
- NOLA in Napa with Chef and Author Peter Hall, hosted at Silverado Vineyards with Cliff Lede Vineyards and Ilsley Vineyards
- A Feast of Legendary Wine and Food with Chef Travis Westrope and Elaine Bell Catering, hosted at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars with Pine Ridge Vineyards, Malk Family Vineyards and Baldacci Family Vineyards
- An Evening Under the Stars with SLD’s Pioneering Families with Chef Daniel Gomez, hosted at Taylor Family Vineyards with Clos Du Val and Steltzner Vineyards
Vintner-Hosted Gala Luncheon and Appellation Collection Preview: Saturday, April 23 // 12:30PM – 3:00PM at Stags’ Leap Winery.
Guests, vintners and winemakers will join in a celebratory champagne welcome followed by a strolling lunch prepared by Michelin-starred and Wine Spectator Award-winning chef Ken Frank of famed Napa Valley restaurant La Toque, along with specialties from Tracy and John Anderson of Woodhouse Chocolates of St. Helena. Vintners will showcase critically acclaimed wines as well as a sneak preview of the Stags Leap District 2019 Appellation Collection Cabernet Sauvignons, scheduled for release in October 2022.
The full Vineyard to Vintner weekend also comprises “Digging Deeper: Vineyard Walks, Talks and Tastings,” on Saturday, April 23, and “Savor SLD,” exclusive winery tasting experiences, on Sunday April 24. Guests will have the chance to fully explore the region while tasting wines and meeting with vintners from 16 famed properties, including Baldacci Family Vineyards, Chimney Rock Winery, Cliff Lede Vineyards, Clos Du Val, Ilsley Vineyards, Lindstrom Wines, Malk Family Vineyards, Pine Ridge Vineyards, Quixote Winery, Regusci Winery, Shafer Vineyards, Silverado Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Stags’ Leap Winery, Steltzner Vineyards, and Taylor Family Vineyards.
Tickets, Schedule and Additional Information
A limited number of tickets remain available and can be purchased at http://www.stagsleapdistrict.com/V2V. The Friday through Saturday experience (April 22-24, 2022) is $1,200 per person, which includes the entire weekend’s offerings. Visit http://www.stagsleapdistrict.com/V2V for the full schedule and other details.
About Stags Leap District Winegrowers
The Stags Leap District Winegrowers is a non-profit association of vintners and growers united by the mission of enhancing the reputation of the appellation and its wines and sharing its quality with the wine-loving world. The SLDWA is comprised of 16 wineries and 9 grower members. Wineries include: Baldacci Family Vineyards, Chimney Rock Winery, Cliff Lede Vineyards, Clos Du Val, Ilsley Vineyards, Lindstrom Wines, Malk Family Vineyards, Pine Ridge Vineyards, Quixote Winery, Regusci Winery, Shafer Vineyards, Silverado Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Stags’ Leap Winery, Steltzner Vineyards, and Taylor Family Vineyards. To learn more about the Stags Leap District, please visit stagsleapdistrict.
com or find the Association on Facebook.com/StagsLeapDistrict, Instagram.com/StagsLeapAVA and Twitter @StagsLeapAVA.
Walla Walla’s L’Ecole N° 41 Winery Announces Woodinville Location
WALLA WALLA, Wash. – L’Ecole N° 41, one of Walla Walla’s early founding family wineries, has announced their plan to open a new Woodinville Location in Wine Walk Row at MainStreet Property Group’s ‘The Schoolhouse District.’
Nearly forty years after their founding, the new location will be the winery’s first Western Washington location. The design of the new space will take inspiration from L’Ecole’s Historic Frenchtown Schoolhouse tasting room located in the Walla Walla Valley. Closer to the vital Puget Sound market, it will afford the winery the opportunity to welcome visitors to gather and enjoy their many internationally recognized bottlings, including winery-exclusive releases.
“We’ve long-considered expanding our flagship Walla Walla Valley location into the Seattle area, and particularly the Woodinville area. The new Schoolhouse District incorporates modern architecture built around a renovated historic schoolhouse building – soon to be occupied by a second location of Walla Walla Steak Co. The whole prospect felt serendipitous,” said Marty Clubb, L’Ecole’s Owner & Managing Winemaker. “We are looking forward to providing a L’Ecole experience in a totally new space, yet with a familiar feel. To design the space, we are working with Boxwood Architects and my daughter, Rebecca Clubb-Olson, as our design consultant.” He continued, “with the quality team behind The Schoolhouse District, including Angela Oliveri of First Western Properties, MainStreet Property Group, and R|Miller construction – we are confident that we will deliver on the promise of a truly unique visitor experience.”
Anticipated to open in June 2022, L’Ecole will kick off its opening with a month of new vintage releases and select library offerings pulled from their Schoolhouse cellar in the Walla Walla Valley. L’Ecole’s Vins de L’Ecole Wine Club members will also be invited to join a special grand opening event. Details may be found on L’Ecole’s website.
Housed in the historic Frenchtown schoolhouse depicted on its label, L’Ecole has earned international acclaim for producing expressive, distinctive wines that reflect the unmistakable typicity of Washington State and the unique terroir of their Walla Walla Valley vineyards. L’Ecole N° 41 has been recognized as Winery of the Year by Wine and Spirits Magazine 15 times.
Garagiste Wine Festival Returns to Solvang: February 25th and 26th
SOLVANG, CALIF. (PRWEB) – The Garagiste Wine Festival returns to Solvang February 25th and 26th, 2022, offering rare access to the best small-production winemakers from the Santa Barbara County area. Tickets are currently on sale here.
‘Southern Exposure,’ which follows on the heels of a sold-out Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles last November, will again be held at Solvang’s historic Mission-style Veterans’ Memorial Hall. The event features a wide diversity of grape varieties vinified into over 150 different wines and unique blends, offering wine lovers one-of-a-kind opportunities to taste a range of the year’s most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines all under one roof.
“We are thrilled to return to Solvang after a three year absence. While the pandemic may have prevented us from gathering, it did not prevent these extraordinary winemakers from crafting their fantastic wines, and we cannot wait to showcase them next month in-person to our very appreciative and enthusiastic attendees,” said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Douglas Minnick.
The Garagiste Festival, which premiered in Paso Robles in 2011, is the nation’s first and only festival to showcase the wines of micro-production commercial ‘garagiste*’ winemakers, and was named “Best of the Fests” by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US by USA Today. It expanded to the Santa Ynez Valley in 2013 to highlight the wines of Santa Barbara County and surrounding AVAs, as well as small production wineries from across California. It has been a consistent sell-out ever since.
This year’s Garagiste Festival ‘Southern Exposure’ includes its Friday night signature “No Repeats, Rare & Reserve” event, and Saturday’s Grand Tasting, which includes a Silent Auction filled with first-rate wine packages that benefit The Garagiste Festival Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“Solvang has always been a very welcoming place for our attendees, and the stunningly beautiful surrounding area is fertile ground for some of the Central Coast’s most exciting winemakers,” continued Minnick. “The atmosphere at Southern Exposure is always lively, fun, and relaxed — true to our no-snobs allowed tradition, and the perfect way to make new wine discoveries, all while taking the time to fully savor and appreciate these fabulous wines.”
Minnick noted that in an effort to promote a more open flow and greater social distancing within the venue, for this year, there will be no VIP Seminar as in the past, with that space used to include as many wineries as possible, while still giving everyone safe and ample space to share their wines.
THE GARAGISTE FESTIVAL SOUTHERN EXPOSURE 2022 LINE UP (all events held at Veteran’s Memorial Hall)
No Repeats Rare & Reserve Tasting, Friday February 25th — 6:30-9:00pm
This intimate event with winemakers showcases limited samples of Reserve, Club Only, Library and Pre-Release bottles, as well as some barrel samples A taco buffet is included from Ibarra Catering & Eatery.
The Main Event – The Grand Tasting – Saturday, February 26th – 2:00 – 5:00pm
The festival’s Grand Tasting showcases 30 local winemakers. Complimentary cheese and charcuterie, as well as food samples from local artisan vendors will be included; but, for bigger appetites, The Ibarra Catering Truck will be on hand to provide bigger bites for purchase.
Early Access tickets are also available, providing one and a half hours of unlimited access prior to the main event from 12:30-2:00pm.
The non-profit Garagiste Festival supports the Garagiste Festival Scholarships at the Wine and Viticulture Department at Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo.
The 30+ winemakers scheduled to pour at the Garagiste Festival Southern Exposure include:
Ann Albert Wines, Bolt To Wines, Camins 2 Dreams*, Cavaletti Vineyards, Crazy Woman Cellars*, Dana V. Wines, Demeter Family Cellars, Diablo Paso, DreamCote Wines, Dusty Nabor Wines, El Lugar Wines, Entourage Wines, Familia Hicks, Imagine Wines, Kendric Vineyards, Lions Peak Winery, Marin’s Vineyard, MCV Wines, Montemar Winery, Purple Dragon Cellars, Quench & Temper, RF Fine Wines, Seagrape Wine Co,, Seven Oxen Estate Wines, Silver Wines, Steinbeck Vineyards, Sweetzer Cellars, and Sycamore Ranch Winery.
*New to the festival.
Covid Update: The Garagiste Festival has adapted its protocols to foster a safe environment that will not detract from the festival’s signature attendee camaraderie and one-on-one interaction with the winemakers (winemakers, not tasting room personnel, always pour at The Garagiste Festival). This includes using more space and greater table distancing, as well as adherence to the current county mandates. For more information and updates on festival Covid protocols, click here.
For more information and full Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure schedule details, go to: http://www.garagistefestival.com/
Tickets are limited for Garagiste Festival Southern Exposure. Garagiste Festivals always sell out in advance. To buy tickets, go to: https://www.my805tix.com/e/garagiste-solvang
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.
Sponsors include:
Visit SYV, Glenn Burdette, G3, ETS Laboratories, The Hamlet Inn, Farm Credit West, Laffort USA, Bank of Marin, Digital Dogma, The Hamlet Inn, mWEBB Communications, and WIVI.
For sponsorship info, email info@garagistefestival.com.
About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste Wine Festival (http://www.garagistefestival.com), named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, is the first and only wine festival dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan ‘garagiste’ micro-wineries who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.
In addition to being named the US’ Best Wine Festival, the Garagiste Festival was named one of the ‘Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations’ in the world by ABC News, “one of the premier wine events of the year,” by the LA Times and “Best Festival” by Sunset Magazine’s ‘Best of the West.’ The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.
*Garagiste (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.
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