Discover the Next Great Micro-Production Winemakers: The Garagiste Festival Returns to Sonoma April 29th
150+ wines, 20+ grape varieties, 40+ winemakers from all over Northern California, including Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lodi, Sierra Foothills, Suisun Valley, Anderson Valley, El Dorado County, Santa Clara Valley
PASO ROBLES, CALIF. (PRWEB) MARCH 10, 2023
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.
[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
“‘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 42 winemakers pouring150+ 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 Nothern California AVAs.
Among the over 42 winemakers pouring at The Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles are:
Accenti Wines, 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 Estate Wines, *Fest Wine Co., Fields Family 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, *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., Theopolis Vineyards, *Thomas T Thomas Vineyards, *Tiny Vineyards Wine Co and *Tognetti Family Winery.
*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:
G3 Enterprises, ETS Laboratories, Laffort USA, Digital Dogma, AgWest Farm Credit, mWEBB Communications, Fortis Solutions Group, Glenn Burdette, Sonoma Valley Sun, TricorBraun Winepak, WIVI.
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: Northern Exposure schedule details, go to: https://www.garagistefestival.com/upcoming-event-sonoma-2023
About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste (pronounced garage-east)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.
Media Contacts:
mWEBB Communications for The Garagiste Festivals
Melanie Webber, Melanie(at)mwebbcom(dot)com, 949-307-1723
Elizabeth Johnson, Elizabeth(at)mwebbcom(dot)com, 213-713-4865