Expanded offerings at Paso Robles Wine Festival
Winemaker dinners, pop-up educational tastings & expanded wine seminar
The 32nd Annual Paso Robles Wine Festival is set to kick off with two winemaker dinners followed by the exclusive Reserve event, culminating with the famous Grand Tasting in Paso Robles’ Downtown City Park. Event partners include more than 20 restaurants and caterers featuring cuisine from the newest local food trucks to chefs featuring localvore freshness. Seventy-five Paso Robles Wine Country wineries are involved in the annual jubilee, showcasing the bold and rule breaking wines of the 2013 Wine Region of the Year.
The new four-course winemaker dinners happen on Thursday, May 15 at Il Cortile Ristorante and Thomas Hill Organics. Four different wineries at each restaurant have one wine paired with a course. Along with their wines, the personalities of each winery shine at these unique Paso Robles Wine Country dinner experiences.
The Paso Robles Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting event takes place Saturday, May 17 with 13 restaurants, caterers and artisans showcasing foods from around the region. New elements include Pop-Up Educational Tastings featuring rosé wines, wine and beer collaborations, and undiscovered wines. Fun, different, irreverent and educational, the tastings will take place with set times within the shaded structure of the Pop-Up Tasting Tent.
The Winemaker Seminar takes place prior to the opening of the Grand Tasting from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. This seated tasting showcases the wines from six producers who are on hand to share their story and how the wines were produced. The wines featured are a cross section of the varieties grown in Paso Robles Wine Country from Bodegas Paso Robles, Clayhouse Wines, J Dusi Wines, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, Tablas Creek Vineyard and Villa San-Juliette Vineyard & Winery. Only 10 seats remain to this special experience which sells out every year.
Tickets for the festival ($65), Designated Driver tickets ($20) and Winemaker Seminar ($25) are available; tickets are limited for all categories and are projected to sell out before the day of the event. Sunday, May 18 completes the festival weekend with individual events at more than 130 area wineries. Visit www.pasowine.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance represents wineries, growers and businesses in Paso Robles Wine Country. Centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, along California’s Central Coast, Paso Robles Wine Country is California’s third largest wine region. It encompasses more than 32,000 vineyard acres and 200 wineries. In 2013 Paso Robles Wine Country was awarded the Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Award for Wine Region of the Year. For more information, visit www.pasowine.com.
