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A Celebration of Sonoma's Best
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10-7-11
Last weekend, Michael and I exhibited my art at the Sonoma County (CA) Harvest Fair. What a party! This is the celebration of the awards and medals given to Sonoma County's wine releases for 2011. The tasting was judged by Professional WineKnows. The show is a 3 day event. The doors opened at noon on Friday, with tasting beginning at 1. When 3 PM rolled around without much happening, Michael walked to the on-site Wine Market (where all the entry wines were offered at 10% off each bottle, 15% off 6 or more, & 20% off for cases). He found 2 Pinots he wanted to taste: A Clear Coast which took Best of Class - $24.99 or lower for $14.99, and a Rodney Strong which took a gold in the same class for $20.00. And so we had our first tasting in our booth. It certainly made a slow, albeit interesting, day better…
Friday ended with a Gala featuring all the wines entered. (Tickets were $60 per person on line, $70 at the door - unlimited wine tasting and competition food tasting, glass included - we may splurge on tickets for 2012...)
The fair takes place in the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa (CA). The biggest building at this venue is devoted to wine tasting. The room is arranged by appellation. Each section features it the wineries, owners, wine makers, and their entourages posting their awards, boasting their vintages, and toasting good fortune! Pours are 1 oz.
On Saturday, Michael decided to bring me there, help me open up, then buy a few bottles to take home. He'd see how things were going before driving home to stack 2 cords of wood. (Remember - this event takes place 20 minutes from our house!) Rain was in the forecast. He bought 2 bottles of the RS Pinot, along with some others. Things were slow, so he left.
Our booth was in the second largest building, directly across from the wine tasting. It was filled with all kinds of merchandise, but short of the Vegematic / Sham-Wow type stuff: wine racks carved from burl wood, free-trade clothing, Sonoma and wine oriented t-shirts (with and without glitz), manly vests and hats from Australia, hand-painted glass ornaments from Germany, as well as those made with "loving hands", hand-crafted, heirloom, and commercial jewelry, BBQ sauces, jams & jellies, taffy apples and brittles, 'green' grocery totage, carved "Welcome to our Cellar" signs, tin reproductions of antique business signs, sponsor booths, and a cat artist! The foot traffic was comprised of all kinds of people. Some of my mailers came in, one of which left me 3 tasting tickets... Did a few sales, met some nice folks, made a few contacts.
There was also a Microbrew Beer Tasting that happened on Saturday, and a Port & Chocolate tasting. (Neither one of us participated in these - but people seemed happy when I cruised by).
We decided on Sunday, the same routine would take place. But this time, Michael would watch the 49ers game before finishing the woodpile, and then join me to close up. He came back to the booth with a case of wine "to cellar". Unfortunately, the Clear Coast Pinot had totally sold out, and things were beginning to look sparse with the Best of Class and gold medal winners in certain price ranges. The silver and bronze winners were still along the walls...
I decided to hit the tasting room at 1:15. That would give me time to check out the listings (in the booklet you receive with your ticket), wander around to find where their appellation was, and where my chosen winery was located in that area. I went back to my 1st choice: Cabernet Sauvignon $45 & over, Best in Class 2007 Rodney Strong - Alexander Valley/Brothers Ridge $75. One ounce went back to the booth with me to start my day. It was lovely! (Two hours later, I had my second taste, $34 - 44.99 Best in Class 2009 Heart's Desire Cab - Sonoma County $40. Also good, but not AS good...) Did some sales, made a few contacts, met some nice folks...
The rest of the fair is hometown fun without the county fair type smarmy-ness (no games, real midway, or rides). There are llamas, rabbits, and other animals being exhibited, pumpkin weigh offs, flower arrangement and table-setting displays, honey, cake, and pie judging, art, craft, and photography competitions, the annual Grape Stomp, cooking demos, music, food, and kids' activities.
You may want to think about a trip out here for next year's fair (Oct. 5-7, 2012). We're seriously thinking of making this an annual event!
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