11th Annual
Garagiste Festival
Southern Exposure
FEBRUARY 7 & 8, 2025
The 11th Southern Exposure Garagiste Festival is returning to the quaint town of Solvang in February 2025 to give you rare access to the region's best small, hard-to-find winemakers. At this engaging event, you will discover and taste amazing, cutting-edge wines from our roster of high-quality, micro-production, commercial wineries from all over California’s Central Coast.
Find out for yourself why we’ve been selling out our events for ten years and why we were named the #1 Wine Festival in the Country by USA Today! Meet the winemakers and hear directly from them about the ins and outs of their winemaking styles.
Friday Rare & Reserve Wine List
ABOUT
Most of our excellent, hard-to-find wineries do not have tasting rooms and can’t be found on “wine country” maps. Many sell out their wines quickly to their allocation lists. The Garagiste Festival gives you the rare opportunity to get in on the ground floor and discover some pretty unique wines and even enjoy a few first vintages! The wines showcased here are created from personal passion, not a marketing strategy. These are NOT supermarket wines, and the difference is astounding.
Located indoors in the beautiful Mission-style Veterans Memorial Hall, attendees can escape the usual large festival crowds and taste - with the actual winemakers and owners! - in a comfortable, quaint and personal setting. Tickets are limited so you don’t waste time in line and Early Access / Weekend Pass attendees get an extended 1.5 hours of tasting before the rest of the crowd is let in. No other event delivers this amount of one-on-one access to their winery partners.
Check out our blog post “What’s the big deal about being small?” to learn more about the core vision of our Festivals.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS & TICKETS
Weekend All Access Pass
Friday & VIP All-Day Access Saturday
See Full Details Below
$179
Friday “Rare & Reserve” Kick-off Party
Friday 6:30-9pm
$89
Saturday Early Access Tasting Ticket
Saturday 12:30-5pm
$105
Saturday Grand Tasting Ticket
Saturday 2–5pm
$79
ALL FESTIVAL EVENTS
Solvang Veterans’ Memorial Hall
1745 Mission Drive | Solvang, CA 93463
Festival Ticket Levels
WEEKEND VIP ALL ACCESS PASS — $179
For those of you who want to attend every minute of the Festival, we have created a Weekend VIP All Access Pass. Get full access to ALL of the wine and fun the Festival has to offer! Our best deal, with no coupon code required. Includes entrance to Friday Night’s Rare & Reserve Party and Saturday Early Access Tasting PLUS additional benefits below.
As part of the Weekend Pass, we will be holding a Q&A on Saturday morning before the Grand Tasting with authors Mira & Kirk Honeycutt to discuss their book "Sideways: Uncorked" which goes behind the scenes of the classic wine-soaked film - shot right in the Santa Ynez Valley! - celebrating the 20th anniversary of its release. Ask your questions, hear the stories and get your copy signed. You can't discuss Sideways without tasting some Pinot Noir, so we will also be providing a local sample to showcase the distinctiveness of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA.
Weekend Pass guests will get to enter at 11:45am to enjoy the Sideways Q&A, Sta Rita Hills wine sample, a Wine County Box Lunch from local fave Panino and special sweet treat from My Mama's Macarons to start the day off right. - ONLY 50 Weekend Passes Available
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2025
RARE & RESERVE KICK-OFF PARTY — 6:30pm-9pm — $89
Meet the winemakers as they share wines you won’t get to try anywhere else this weekend…and few other people get to try at all! This evening will showcase extremely limited Reserve, Club Only, Library and Pre-Release bottles – perhaps even some barrel samples – that truly showcase what micro-production winemaking is all about. This event is like digging for diamonds with an earth mover. You are guaranteed to find more than a few gems! Traditional Cajun-inspired buffer provided by Clean Slate Wine Bar and sweet treats by Solvang Bakery also included. Our most intimate event! Only 150 tickets available.
>> RARE & RESERVE WINE LIST COMING IN JANUARY 2025 <<
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2025
Early Access Tasting — 12:30-5:00pm — $105
Early Access guests get 1.5 extra hours of personal access with our 30 winemakers pouring 100+ wines and 20+ varietals with a very limited crowd. This give you time to taste and chat - before the crowd arrives - more than any other Festival! Complimentary cheese & charcuterie plates provided by Cailloux Cheese Shop will be available from 1:00-4:30pm, along with bottled water and a Stolzle logo glass for you to keep. Artisan vendors will also be on hand for your sampling and shopping needs.
Grand Tasting — 2:00-5:00pm — $79
The festival’s Grand Tasting is from 2-5pm with 30 winemakers pouring 100+ wines and 20+ varietals. Complimentary cheese & charcuterie provided by Cailloux Cheese Shop will be available until 4:30pm, along with bottled water and a Stolzle logo glass for you to keep. Artisan vendors will also be on hand for your sampling and shopping needs.
Our “All Wine” Silent Auction will be going from 1-4pm and is the ONLY way guests can take home these amazing wines. Don’t miss out on these unique bottles and special experiences from your favorite wineries! All proceeds from the auction support the Garagiste Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly SLO.
ARTISAN VENDORS
HOTEL SPONSORS
We hope if you need a place to stay during the Festival you will consider supporting one of our local sponsors.
TRADE AND MEDIA
Trade & Media entry begins at 12:30pm. ONLY wine bar / shop / restaurant owners and wine brokers / distributors will be allowed to purchase a Trade ticket ($20 per person). Please contact us at info@garagistefestival.com for further details and ticket information.
Members of the Media, please contact Melanie Webber at melanie@mwebbcom.com to register.
VOLUNTEERS
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Please contact our Event Manager Heather Clifford at heather@garagistefestival.com if you are interested in volunteering at the Festival. You must be over 21 years old to qualify.
DISCLAMERS
*We make no promises/ guarantees that any refreshments / food and / or beverages are free of any allergens or health restricting products. We will not be held responsible / liable for any illness that may occur while consuming of their own free will and at their own discretion.
No ONE under 21 will be admitted to the building. This includes small children and babies. We understand they will not be drinking but this is the policy of the ABC and not allowed under our event license. We appreciate your understanding.
Only licensed service animals will be allowed into the venue. Please leave your pets at home.
All sales are final.