Ladies and gentlemen … start your engines: Season is here! With COVID-19 (somewhat?) in the rear-view mirror, there are local wine and food festivals aplenty!
Truth be told, I’m the kind of dolt who, most of the time, hears about local events after they’ve happened. I’ll casually turn on the news and see a reel of people gleefully enjoying themselves at some fun festival and think to myself, “How did I miss this?” There’s usually a Homer Simpson-style “Doh!” that accompanies my lack of event awareness.
Well, not this year, friends. I decided to be a little more proactive and emerge from my hole in the ground to see what was going on in the months ahead. So get your calendars out; get your pencils sharpened; and take note of these upcoming gastronomic celebrations.
The first event to kick off season is the Palm Springs Pinot Noir Festival, otherwise known as A Passion 4 Pinot—which, as you can imagine, is a tasting dedicated to the glorious pinot noir grape. Some 75 of some of the greatest producers in North America are slated to gather together at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort and Spa for a day of sampling decadent food and beautiful wine. This year, the grand tasting was slated for Saturday, Jan. 28, from 2 to 5:30 p.m., featuring top producers like DuMOL, Williams Selyem, Tongue Dancer, and Peake Ranch just to name a few. This is always my favorite wine event in the valley, and it is worth every penny for admission. From the food, to the breathtaking venues, to rubbing elbows with some of the greatest winemakers in the business, no detail is overlooked—and you’re guaranteed to have a great time!
For the truly-pinot passionate, the festival also hosts limited dinners featuring specific pinot noir-producing regions like the Russian River Valley and Anderson Valley (although both dinners were sold out at the time of this publication) and a limited buffet luncheon on Friday, Jan. 27, focusing on the pinot noirs from the Santa Lucia Highlands. Learn more at palmspringspinotfest.com.
Next on the agenda is the Greater Palm Springs Food and Wine tasting, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Classic Club in Palm Desert. This one-day-only event is filled with iconic local restaurant participants like Mastro’s Steakhouse, Wally’s Desert Turtle and Wildest on El Paseo. Wineries include well-known producers such as Duckhorn, Daou, Lone Madrone and Mark Ryan. The $45 general-admission ticket not only gets you into to the tasting, but also gives you access to the Desert Woman’s Show—an indoor expo showcasing beauty products, fashions and accessories from some of the desert’s best-known boutiques, plus fashion shows throughout the day, and seminars focused on women’s health and graceful aging. There is no doubt that this event offers a lot of bang for your buck; it draws thousands of attendees year after year. Learn more at www.desertwomansshow.com/food.
The new kid on the block is the Desert WineFest, held at the Civic Center Park in Palm Desert from 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25, and noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 26. A blend of wineries, craft breweries, food trucks and artisan merchandise from small boutiques will all be presented to sample and purchase, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the local YMCA and the Desert Cancer Foundation. This event is the offspring of the hugely successful LAWineFest, which just celebrated its 17thyear and is known for creating a laid-back, fun-filled wine experience in a beautiful sun-kissed location. Yep, I’d say Desert WineFest will be right at home here in the valley. Get details at www.desertwinefest.com.
The Grand Poobah of wine and food events here in the valley is the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival. Held in huge, air-conditioned event tents Friday, March 24, through Sunday, March 26, you would never know you’re standing in the parking lot of the Gardens on El Paseo. This three-day gastronomic extravaganza offers attendees bites from local restaurants, tastes from world-renowned wineries, and goodies from specialty merchants. Two separate tents feature live cooking demonstrations hosted by celebrity chefs like Gale Gand, Tyler Florence and Curtis Stone, plus many others. If you’re a food and wine super-nerd (meant as a compliment!), you can snag tickets to the celebrity chef reception Friday night, where you can meet and mingle with some of the Food Network’s culinary stars, or kick the weekend off by grabbing a seat at the James Beard four-course luncheon. During this 2 1/2-hour feast, celebrity chefs will prepare your gourmet lunch with wine pairings and share insight into their recipes, the ingredients and how the dishes come together. There’s even a wine-and-cheese pairing seminar and a Sunday brunch with bubbles! Yes, you might need to be rolled out of there by the end of the weekend, but you definitely won’t be hungry. Or sober. Visit www.palmdesertfoodandwine.com for more information.
So let the gluttony begin, and don’t forget to buy a bigger pair of pants. There will be plenty of time to get that beach bod back, but first … there’s wine.
Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with two decades in the wine industry. She can be reached at [email protected].
Vine Social: Get Out the Bigger Pants, and Find a Designated Driver—Because It’s Wine-Festival Season! is a story from Coachella Valley Independent, the Coachella Valley’s alternative news source.