Let me start out by saying that, as a rule, I don’t attend events that use tasting tickets, for a couple of reasons. I find them awkward to deal with and I actually tend to consume more wine than I might ordinarily do, as I am more tempted to finish the entire pour. I much prefer being able to taste [not drink] as many wines as possible which really helps to expand my knowledge [and enjoyment]. I am sure the people who run these festivals have reasons for choosing one format over the other.
That being said, the Trump National Wine & Beer Festival was being held on Sunday, August 16th at the Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes, a magnificent property right on the water and also right near my wife’s side of the family. And, as ticketed events go, it was fairly reasonable, at $20 for ten tastes.
A lot of tasty wine was being poured by wineries and distributors such as:
Ampelos Cellars
Andrew Lane
Archery Summit
Arrowood
Benziger
Cakebread
Cambria
Cheateau Ste Michelle
Concannon
Cupcake
Derby Wine Estates
Far Niente
Ferrari Carano
Frank Family
Gloria Ferrer
Grgich Hills
Hundred Acre
Jacob Toft
Justin
L’Aventure
Layer Cake
Silver Oak
Summerland
The above is just a partial list.
My particular favorites were:
Qupe Syrah — Always a quality product.
Cline Cellars — Their Zins and Syrahs were what got me into these varietals in the first place many years ago and it was good to see they have not lost their touch.
Clos Solene — An outstanding Roussane from Paso Robles.
I also very much enjoyed meeting Carla King-Keiser from Free Run Juice, LLC. She represents several wineries and I really enjoyed the Syrahs she was pouring from Malm and Quixote.
Finally, I want to mention the band that was playing while we were there — Heartless. I think they are primarily a Heart tribute band, but they threw in a lot of other artists as well, including some really spot on Janis Joplin.
We ended up having a very nice time. Now if they could just do something about those tickets.