1 Wine Dude

West Of West Wine Festival Giveaway!

Posted on by 1WineDude

Sonoma CoastThe 2011 West of West Wine Festival is almost around the corner – held in Occidental, CA, the festival will showcase cool-climate (well, cool-climate for CA, that is!) Pinots, Syrahs and Chardonnays; limited production wines from wineries that are not usually open to the public. These are West Sonoma Coast producers who are making vino that is not easy to get your grubby wine-lovin’ hands on – unless you’re selected as the winner of our latest giveaway, that is.

I’ve got one ticket to the the West of West Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting on Saturday, August 6th from 3:00-6:00 pm in Occidental, CA – a $125 value, which we’re giving away to one lucky randomly-selected commenter! The giveaway also includes free access to the Barrel Tastings & Open Houses on Sunday, August 7th (details to be provided in the Grand Tasting).

The skinny: YOU leave a comment on this post, letting us know your fave Sonoma wine recommendation (in keeping with the theme, Coastal recommendations are preferable but let’s keep it open to all of Sonoma). At 8PM ET on Wednesday, July 20 I will randomly select a winner from the commenters, who will be notified via e-mail.  Easier than suckin’ down a chilled Sonoma Coast Chard on a hot Summer night. So get crackin’, peeps!

The fine-print: This ticket admits one person to the above-described Grand Tasting event on August 6th and includes free access to the event’s Barrel Tastings & Open Houses on August 7th. No travel, meals, accommodations, “escorts,” hovercraft (though that would be awesome, wouldn’t it?), monkeys (also awesome) or anything else provided.

Looking forward to reading about your faves!

Cheers – and good luck!!

16 thoughts on “West Of West Wine Festival Giveaway!”

  1. Joe, I am so jazzed about the prospect of a new "true" Sonoma Coast AVA. I really dig cool climate Syrah and Pinot Noir, but making a single recommendation from this area is impossible for me. If you look at the members of the Sonoma Coast Vintners Association, there's my recommendation(s). I REALLY love Flowers, Failla, Hirsch, and Peay. As luck would have it, I will be finishing up a week of business in the Bay Area the weekend of the West of the West festival :) Cheers

    1. @fudp01 – thanks, great recos! I'm excited about that AVA prospect as well. A lot of the Sonoma-related AVA stuff seems very odd to me, but that one makes some sense I think from the perspective of the wine itself.

      I gotta admit, I've been looking to the coastal area of Sonoma for Pinot, especially as a bit of a curative after trying Napa Pinots, which in my experience simply do NOT measure up favorably against SC.

      Cheers!

  2. While the RR Valley offers some niftly, rich Pinots, my palate moves toward the lighter, leaner stuff from the Sonoma Coast, with both Merry Edwards and Chasseur providing some great drinking!

    1. Hi Tom – personally (talking my preferences only here), I agree with you. RRV can be great, but you gotta like them relatively big! Cheers!

  3. Very psyched to have some of you out for the festival. I promise it will be an amazing experience as we – including myself – learn more about our little slice of the coast by tasting, tasting, tasting.

    Joe, I assume by "cool, for California" you are making an east vs. west coast dig. Cause if you mean "cool for California" weather compared to the rest of grape growing regions of the world, the "true" West Sonoma Coast – let's speak of my area, Annapolis, in the northwest corner – is colder (has fewer degree days) than Burgundy not to mention Oregon almost every year. Not to say whomever has colder weather is de facto better as there is a limit (hello 2010 and perhaps 2011). But this brings us to the point of this festival and the seminars: to educate folks on why the slice of the coast next to the ocean – the West Sonoma Coast – is the perfect spot for making complex, elegant and balanced pinot, chardonnay and syrah.

    Come on out and check it out.

    BTW: we are down to the final 20 tickets to the seminars, Grand tasting and Dinner. Buy your ticket today at http://www.westsonomacoast.com.

    Andy Peay
    Peay Vineyards

    1. Thanks, Andy. As any 1WD reader can tel you, I'm totally prepared to get schooled and have to east crow on my Left/Right Coast digs – I welcome the opportunity! :)

  4. Failla, Freestone, and Merry Edwards are Bombdiggity for Chard and Pinot! Haven't had Hirsch or Chasseur yet but they are on my list!

  10. Only 7 people want to win??? I will be in Santa Rosa 8/10-13, but unfortunately can't make West of West :( My rec is for lodging and not a wine. Wife and I stayed at Acorn Ridge Cottage in Sebastopol and loved it. Great place, cheap and we found it on VRBO.

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