The 27th Annual Ojai Wine Festival
Wow. Hard to believe this festival has been around 27 years and we had yet to attend it. It was time to remedy that.
In less than an hour and a half from leaving the Santa Clarita Valley we were at beautiful Lake Casitas in the Ojai Valley. In my previous article, I wrote about the great venue for Wine In The Pines. Well, this setting was breathtaking as well, right on the lake. I had really lucked out this weekend!
There were two levels of tickets. Springing for the premium VIP tickets gained you early entry and glasses of Barefoot Bubbly while waiting to get in. Check-in was a very smooth process.
Per the event program, the following wineries were represented:
Alta Colina
Anglim
Arcadian Winery
Barefoot
Bianchi
Boccali
Bratcher
Calcareous
Cantara
Christian Lazo
Classic Wines of California:
Allure
Fat Cat
Rancho Sisquoc
Robert Hall
Santa Carolina
Finca el Origen
Six Degrees
Ventana
CORE
Dogwood
First Crush
Fratelli Perata
Frolicking Frog
Giessinger
Harmony Cellars
Hug Cellars
J. Hamilton
Jettlynn
Le Vigne
Lone Madrone
Malibu Sundowner
Michael-David
Midnight Cellars
Mosby
Nicora
Oak Ridge Winery
3 Girls
Moss Roxx
OZV
Maggio Family
Ojai Ridge / Dufau
Panaro Brothers
Peacock
Quady
Ranchita Canyon
RITUAL
Squashed Grapes
Stone Pine Estate
Summerland
Tablas Creek
Toucan
Via Vega
Vinemark
Lots of wines, no? And no way to taste everything, but of the ones I did taste, here were a few standouts for me…
Anglim (www.anglimwinery.com) continues to impress me with their solid, balanced offerings from Paso Robles.
As did Calcareous (www.calcareous.com), also from Paso Robles, who had an awesome rose of Mourvedre, among other tasty wines.
Based all the way out on the coast west of Paso Robles, I’ve tended to forget about Harmony Cellars (www.harmonycellars.com). Big mistake, as their wines were delicious, including a very well-made Riesling.
Lodi’s Oak Ridge Winery (www.oakridgewinery.com) was pouring an impressive array of wines from all four of their labels. I especially enjoyed comparing the various Zinfandels.
The above is obviously just a sampling of what was available to be tasted.
And if you got tired of wine, there were beers to be tasted, as well as food available for purchase.
And, here’s another great reason to buy the VIP ticket – As the afternoon wore on, you could retreat to the VIP tent, where food was provided by Sakura Ojai and La Piu Bella Tavola, beer was poured (Stella Artois, Leffe Blonde, and Hoegaarden) as well as additional wine from:
Bianchi
Huge Bear
Law Estate Wines
Silver
Margerum
Hitching Post…
Not to mention samples from Remy Martin and Patron.
And speaking of Law Estate (www.lawestatewines.com), their wines really stole the show for me at this event, especially their GSM blend. A new player in Paso Robles, they haven’t even released their wines to the public yet. This is one you might want to get on board with early.
All-in-all, this was a great event, extremely well organized, with a lot for everyone.
Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest.
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After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. (2013 Update: Eve and Michael announced Eve Wine 101 Consulting. Info is here: http://evewine101.com/press-releases/) Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com.