One of the perks of living in Northern California is that it seems like there are wine-related events every weekend, many of which do not require you to be a wine club member. This can be costly – in both dollars and amount of wine consumed, so I’m all about strategically picking the best of the best when it comes to wine events. I’ve compiled a list of my absolute favorites here. Hope to see you out at some of these!
January
Winter Wineland (January 19-20, 2019)
Anyone who has been dying to try wines from Sonoma County (including Russian River, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley), should hit up Winter Wineland. For under $50 for two days or just $38 for one day, you can purchase a wristband that grants you free tastings at over 100 wineries in the area. Most places also do some fun food pairings to help soak up some of that wine, as well as offer discounts on many of the wine offerings. It’s a great alternative to traditional tastings that can cost north of the $50 wristband fee a piece!
February
SF Chronicle Wine Competition (February 16, 2019)
Many of my fellow wine lovers are always surprised to hear that neither I nor my boyfriend actually own a car. What this means is that we are some of Getaround’s best customers and have to rent a car any time we want to make the journey to wine country (which is often). For this reason, I am extra appreciative when there are events in San Francisco. One of the best events hosted in SF is the SF Chronicle Wine Competition tasting, which is hosted every February over Presidents’ Day weekend at Fort Mason Center.
During this event, wineries showcase the wines that won medals during the largest competition in the US. Unlike many of the other events I’ve included here, you can actually try wines from all over North America during this event. The best part? No one has to DD and it’s a short Uber ride back to my apartment afterwards.
April
Taste of Mendocino (2019 date TBD)
Anderson Valley is my family’s happy place (see below.) We easily spend at least 4 weekends there a year. That said, it’s definitely a time commitment to make the 2-3 hour drive each way to go up there and it would be hard to do in one day. When you want to make it easier on yourself, go to Taste of Mendocino.
Also hosted at Fort Mason, Taste of Mendocino brings Mendocino County’s wineries and food purveyors to San Francisco. It takes place in a smaller gallery at Fort Mason, making it a much more intimate setting than you would find at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition. When I went, I was even lucky enough to win a raffle for a free night at the beautiful Brewery Gulch Inn in Mendocino, which I used with my family last year!
May
Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival (May 17-19)
Pinot is my favorite varietal and probably always will be, despite my growing appreciation for all kinds of wine. So, clearly, I love an event that serves me endless pinot noir. Enter the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival.
This is a full weekend’s worth of events, starting with a casual bbq where everyone brings their own pinot and ending with open houses, where festival goers can visit local wineries for free tastings and food pairings (pro tip: be sure to stop at Handley for the duck sausages paired with pinot.)
The highlight of the event, however, is Saturday’s grand tasting, held in a redwood forest at Camp Navarro. You are only allowed to bring wine made from Anderson Valley Pinot Noir grapes, so it’s a great way to taste how different winemakers bring their individual takes to producing wine from the same fruit. You can spend the afternoon tasting delicious wines paired perfectly with food – and we’re not talking small nibbles, these are full-sized food pairings (think a lamb lollipop, a slice of pizza or a salad.)
September
Taste of Sonoma (date TBD)
I went to Taste of Sonoma for the first time this year and it was love at first sight. This event feels similar in style to some of the others mentioned, but it’s SO.MUCH.BIGGER. Sonoma produces a lot of fantastic wine and some great food and there are endless options for wine and food. The wineries are organized alphabetically in a main tent, but there are also tents on the side that host specialty areas like a bubbles lounge, a grill station and food tents.
There were so many wineries I feel like I barely scratched the surface! Going to wineries in Sonoma can add up quickly, so this event is a great way to explore wines from a bunch of places without having to travel to each of them. If you choose not to go away for Labor Day Weekend, great yourself to a staycation and do not miss this event!
November
Pinot Fest at Farallon (2019 date TBD)
Farallon, an upscale seafood restaurant in downtown San Francisco, has been hosting this event for over 20 years. The sommeliers at both Farallon and Waterbar (another SF seafood destination) team up together to handpick the 50 or so best pinot noir producers to invite to this event. This means every producer at the event is STELLAR and they come from varied regions – we sampled pinot from Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Anderson Valley and Oregon. Anyone who loves pinot or wants to explore this varietal more should come into SF for this event!
Obviously, this is just a small sample of the great wine-related events you could attend throughout the year…and my list only grows year over year. If I didn’t list your favorite event, let me know and maybe it’ll make next year’s version of this post 😉
