Wine tasting festivals abound in coming weeks, Modesto wine columnist reports

Russ Winton
·2 min read

Are you still feeling cabin fever from being stuck inside after all those nasty atmospheric rivers? Do you need a quick, fun getaway weekend? Check out the next four weeks.

On May 18-21 is the Lodi Wine Experience held at Lodi Lake with 40-plus wineries. Also, the 40th annual Paso Wine Festival with 150-plus wineries and the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival with 30-plus wineries. All offer winemaker dinners, wine seminars and Grand Tastings.

Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) is hosting the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience on Sunday, May 21. Twenty-five different Zinfandels will be tasted with gourmet food bites at the beautiful gardens of the Villa Chanticleer. Saturday, June 3, is the 14th annual Taste of Calaveras Food and Wine Experience. Ironstone Winery will welcome 25-plus wineries, famous chefs and live music. The Carmel-by-the-Sea Culinary Week is June 2-10. The kick-off party is June 2 from 3-5 p.m. at the Carmel Plaza. During the week, 30 restaurants will be offering special curated menus. June 10 is the 30th annual Monterey Winemaker’s Celebration. It will be on Dolores Street in downtown Carmel.

Now it’s your turn. Get out your smart phone, google the events and get all the details. If you like, order tickets, Don’t wait. He who hesitates is lost and the cabin fever will only get worse.

Trust your palate

The Navigator and I were invited to a dinner party and we did a blind tasting during the appetizer round. The guests were all experienced wine tasters. The bagged wines were an Australian Shiraz and three Red Blends, from Portugal, Spain and Italy. The votes were evenly distributed. Yes, we all have different palates. Trust your palate and drink what YOU like.

What’s on our table

The 2020 Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah won the Best of Class award under $28 in the SF Chronicle Tasting. The SRP is $11, sale price is around $8. You do the math. That is a real steal. This week’s deal is the 2017 Waterdog Vinho Tinto by Jose Maria Da Fonseca from the Setubal Region in Portugal, just $6.99 at the Grocery Outlet. A nice splurge for Mother’s Day would be the Lucy Rose, $24, the Lucy Pico Blanco, $26, or the Lucy Gamay Noir, $30, or maybe all three. A dollar donation from each bottle sold goes to breast cancer research, ocean conservancy or to the firefighters in Big Sur.

Cheers!

Questions? Comments? Find me on Facebook or at rgwinton@yahoo.com.