California wine and winery guide with wine country tours, industry news and resources. Special wine events abound during harvest time, from winery lunches, tastings, crush events, seminars, food and wine festivals, winery concerts and vintage wine auctions. Local restaurants feature seasonal cuisine; balloon rides offer spectacular aerial views of the vineyards; bocce ball courts invite cheerful recreation; and winery museums and gardens provide artistic diversions.
Paso Robles Wine Country is centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California's Central Coast. As California's fastest growing wine region and largest geographic appellation, the 24 square mile territory encompasses more than 26,000 vineyard acres and nearly 200 wineries.
California Wine Events |
Paso Robles Wine Festival
Downtown City Park
May 20, 21 &22
Paso Robles
Wine Country Alliance |
Now in its 29th year, the Paso Robles Wine Festival celebrates wine country by bringing more than 90 wineries to the Downtown City Park. In addition, local artisans and chefs will be found throughout the weekend engaging their cuisine in a dance that highlights the best of both food and wine.Travel beyond the Park and become encompassed by Paso Robles Wine Country; more than 140 wineries will be hosting events throughout the weekend. Open house festivities, live music, winemaker dinners and more await those looking for the inspiration behind each wine. More Information |
14th annual Anderson Valley
Pinot Noir Festival
May 20-22, 2011
Anderson Valley
Winegrowers Association |
Taste Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from 40 wineries while enjoying gourmet small bites and music in the vineyards at Goldeneye Winery. Learn all about Pinot Noir at the technical conference on Friday (includes lunch). Join us for a casual BBQ at Navarro Vineyards Friday evening and dine with the winemakers at Saturday evening dinners held in Anderson Valley and on the Mendocino coast. On Sunday, visit the wineries during their open houses for special tastings, seminars, food pairings, and more. It's a weekend of food, wine and entertainment not to be missed! |
25th annual Ojai Wine Festival
June 12th
12-5 pm
The Rotary Club of Ojai-West
Lake Casitas |
The Rotary Club of Ojai-West presents the 25th annual Ojai Wine Festival: June 12th, 2011 at Lake Casitas form 12-5 pm. Come soak in the beauty of Lake Casitas while participating in one of the most enjoyable wine tastings in California. Wine and beer tasting, food, live music and dancing, arts and crafts vendors, free boat rides and a silent wine auction, are just some of the fun you can experience at our 25th annual Ojai Wine Festival. Over 60 wineries participate with more than 250 selections of wine. New this year- we have the exclusive VIP Lounge with wines and beer by the glass. Buy tickets early and save: Presale General Admission and VIP Tickets go on sale in February 2011. Call 805 646-3794 for details. |
West of West Wine Festival
West Sonoma Coast Vintners
August 5 & 7
Occidental, California |
Get the WOW factor: the first-ever West of West (WOW) Wine Festival offers both wine lovers and the wine trade an insider taste of some of the most acclaimed cool-climate Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Syrahs on the market today. Created by the West Sonoma Coast Vintners (WSCV), a new association of wineries and growers on Sonoma's coastline, WOW will be held August 5 7, 2011 just one hour north of San Francisco in the quaint coastal hamlet of Occidental, CA. WOW offers unparalleled access to small production, limited release wines tasted in the terroir where they were grown, a front row seat at exciting seminars featuring prominent guest speakers, and admission to a delectable Whole Hog Feast at the 130-year-old Union Hotel. Join us in August and experience first-hand the extraordinary wine, food and culture of the West Sonoma Coast! Call (707) 824-9000 for more information. |
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Contact Us for more information. |
California has nearly 8,000 wine type acres that are certified organic, and much of the fruit is used by wineries that label their wines “organic” or “made with organically grown grapes.” Both are made with grapes grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides for a period of at least three years with third-party inspection. The key difference between the two is that wines labeled “organic” do not have added sulfites to sustain prolonged shelf life and must have laboratory certification that the wine contains 10 parts per million or less sulfites. Labels for “Organic” and “made with organically grown grapes” are approved both by the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau and FDA’s National Organic Program.
More than a dozen California wineries practice biodynamic agriculture. The methods are based on principles developed by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920’s. Find out more about Australian wine.
Biodynamic agriculture is a holistic system where soil is nurtured through natural remedies, and planting, harvesting and bottling take place according to the positions of the planets and lunar phases. Natural animal and vegetable matter is applied to soil to strengthen it, and various homeopathic herbal and mineral preparations are added to help the soil maximize light and heat for photosynthesis.
There are currently only thirteen (14) states that allow some form of interstate wine sales with California. These states are as follows: California, Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Illinois, West Virginia, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Missouri.
Limited interstate wine sales are allowed with Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.
Interstate wine sales are simply prohibited with Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennesse, Utah and Vermont.
Visit California Wine Info for a complete list of all California wineries by name, region and growers associations.
The California Wine Institute is the public policy advocacy association of California wineries. The Wine Institute brings together the resources of 624 wineries and affiliated businesses to support legislative and regulatory advocacy, international market development, media relations, scientific research, and education programs that benefit the entire California wine industry.
California Wine Industry Background & Statistics
Harvest & Winegrowing
Directory of Wine Institute Resources
California Wine Events Calender
Wine Law From The Wine Institute
Vintner Links
Society for Enology & Viticulture: www.asev.org
American Vineyard Foundation: www.avf.org
California Association of Winegrape Growers: www.cawg.org
California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation: www.cdpr.ca.gov
UC Coop Extension-Nevada/Placer: ceplacernevada.ucdavis.edu
UC Dept. of Viticulture & Enology: wineserver.ucdavis.edu
UC Integrated Pest Management Project: www.ipm.ucdavis.edu
UC Sustainable Agriculture Research: www.sarep.ucdavis.edu
US Dept. of Agriculture: www.usda.gov
Pesticide Information by Chemical: www.ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/ghindex.html
Other Wine Industry Information Links
UC Davis Dept. of Viticulture & Enology
American Society for Enology & Viticulture (ASEV)
Cornell University/New York Agricultural Experiment Station
California State University Fresno
Northwest Berry & Grape InfoNet
UCD Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center
UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management: Grapes
Washington State University Wine and Grape Program
Texas Tech University Wine Marketing Research Institute
Australian Wine Research Institute
Charles Sturt University, Australia
National Wine & Grape Industry Centre, Australia
Cooperative Research Center for Viticulture, Australia
Viticultural Decision Support System, Australia
Dept. of Viticulture & Oenology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim, Germany
Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Canada
Institut Jules Guyot, Universite de Bourgogne, France
Faculte d'Oenologie, Universite de Bordeaux 2, France
Faculte d'Pharmacie, Universite de Montpellier 1, France
Laboratory for Wine Microbiology, Food Science Deprtament, University of Guelph, Canada
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