America’s Best Wine Festival comes home to America’s Best Wine Region with 50+ of California’s most innovative, micro-production wineries; a dedicated rare and reserve tasting; live music, an ‘Oak and Barrel’ tasting seminar and bonus ‘Passport Day’ with local winery discounts
America’s Best Wine Festival, The Garagiste Wine Festival, returns to Paso Robles, California’s most experimental wine region,[1] to celebrate its 15th anniversary on November 7th and 8th. Paso Robles, which has also been named America’s Best Wine Region,[2] is the birthplace and home base of the Garagiste Festival and is renowned for its wide range of small-production winemakers, its diversity of grape varieties and its unpretentious vibe, all of which is reflected in the over 50 micro-production winemakers who will personally pour over 200 wines under one roof at the festival.
All events take place in the heart of Paso Robles at the Paso Robles Event Center. Festival Tickets are now on sale at: https://www.my805tix.com/e/15th-paso-garagiste-wine-festival
“Paso is not just our home base, it is core to the garagiste ethos (or, as we call it, the ‘Gospel of Garagiste’) which embraces innovation, a renegade spirit, a down-to-earth approach, and, most importantly, brilliant small-lot wine-making and delicious wines,” said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Douglas Minnick.
Among the wineries pouring at the Paso festival are many Garagiste Festival first-timers, including Amalgam Wines, Chateau Margene, Deux Seraux, Grosso Kresser Estate, Kiler Canyon Vineyard, La De Vi Wines, Landsby Wines, Mustard Creek Vineyard, Terranean Wines, and Uncommon Earth who will be sharing their wines side-by-side with a wide range of some of the best Paso and Central Coast-based small-production winemakers. Wines from over 25 different grape varieties will be featured, including unusual blends, single varietal wines, sparkling wines, and more — all under one roof.
“While both the Paso wine scene, and our festival, have grown in renown and size since we launched our first festival here in 2011, staying close to our roots has been key to our success. And this is exactly what attendees will discover as we celebrate our 15th anniversary by showcasing the new (and some old) vintages and styles our veteran garagiste winemakers have been nurturing, while also introducing a new crop of emerging micro-production winemakers,” continued Minnick.
“Understanding Oak Varieties: Tasting the Winemaker’s Spice Rack” is this year’s signature tasting seminar on Saturday, exploring how oak, one of the most important tools in the winemaker’s tool box, impacts wine, as well as how winemakers make oak treatment decisions, the wide variety of options they have to choose from, and more, all led by local winemaker and barrel expert Ryan Render. Moderated by Garagiste Festival co-founder Stewart McLennan, the seminar introduces attendees to wine samples that showcase different oak flavors and treatments as they learn the nuances of barrel making and oak types, from forest origin to grain influence to toast levels and aging options.
“No one knows more about oak and barrel than Ryan Render who has years of experience working with leading barrel-making companies and is himself a winemaker whose wines have been featured at The Garagiste Festival since the very first Paso event in 2011,” said Garagiste Festival co-founder Stewart McLennan. “Ryan will share the secrets of the ultimate winemaker’s spice box with attendees, enhancing their understanding of wines and expanding their palates as they taste some terrific oak-influenced wines.”
Dubbed “tasting nirvana,” “strange and wondrous,” and “one not to miss” by the LA Times and the festival that delivers “the WOW factor” by Paso Robles Daily News, the Garagiste Festival showcases under-the-radar, innovative, commercial winemakers who handcraft 1500 cases of wine, or less. It is the only wine festival that exclusively features high quality wines from commercial California ‘garagiste**’ winemakers, and, unlike other festivals, the wines are poured by the winemakers/owners themselves, offering a rare opportunity to interact with the creative forces behind the wines, while making brand new wine discoveries.
Since its inception in 2011, proceeds from the Garagiste Wine Festivals have supported the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.
Event Line Up
Friday, November 7th The Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles kicks off at 6:30pm at the Paso Robles Event Center with the Rare & Reserve Tasting featuring a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience library, sneak peeks, club only, barrel samples, and vintage verticals along with an Italian-inspired buffet from local Steins BBQ & Catering.
Saturday, November 8th Festivities begin at 11:30am for VIP ticketholders with the seminar, “Understanding Oak Varieties: Tasting the Winemaker’s Spice Rack” with winemaker Ryan Render and Garagiste co-founder Stewart McLennan. The Grand Tasting follows, starting at 2pm (1pm for early access ticket holders) with over 50 winemakers pouring over 200 wines, as well as complimentary cheese and charcuterie from Vivant Cheese, and the popular silent auction benefiting The Garagiste Scholarship. The day continues with the Keep It Rockin’ After Party from 5:30-8:30pm, featuring free beer, live music from Burning James & The Funky Flames and the opportunity to mingle with the winemakers.
Sunday, November 9th Garagiste Passport Day with special events and deals at festival tasting rooms only for Festival ticketholders.
Among the winemakers pouring at The Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles are:
915 Lincoln, Absolution Cellars, AmByth Estate, Amalgam Wines*. Bella Luna Estate, Bon Niche Cellars, Boutz Cellars, Burning Bench, Caelesta Vineyards, Cairjn Wine Cellars, Chateau Margene*, Ciento Cellars, Concur Wines, Copia Vineyards and Winery, Creekcut, Cutbow Wines, Deux Seraux*, Diablo Paso, El Vinero Wines, Emercy Wines, Etnyre Wines, Grosso Kresser*, Hayseed And Housdon, IIWII Wines, Kaleidos Winery, Kiamie Wine Cellars, Kiler Canyon Vineyard*, Landsby Wines*, La De Vi Wines*, Mastro Scheidt Family Cellars, MCV Wines, Mustard Creek Vineyard*, Pelletiere Estate, Red Door Ranch, Resting Roots, RF Fine Wines, Rockbound Cellars, Ruakh Wines, Saint K Wines, Stilson Cellars, Terranean Wines*, Tercero Wines, Ulloa Wines and Uncommon Earth*.
*First Time Garagiste Participants
Tickets are very limited for the Garagiste Festivals and always sell out. Tickets are available at: https://www.my805tix.com/e/15th-paso-garagiste-wine-festival/tickets
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.
Sponsors include:
Paso Robles CA, ETS Laboratories, Farm Credit West, AgWest, Bellasera Hotel & Suites ,G3 Enterprises, Glenn Burdette, Fortis Solutions Group, Laffort USA, Le Grand USA, MWWine School, New Times SLO, Adelaide Inn, Best Western Black Oak, Oxford Suites, La Quinta Inn & Suites, The Ava Hotel, and The Oaks Hotel.
For sponsorship info, email info(at)garagistefestival(dot)com.
For more information and full Garagiste Festival Paso Robles schedule details, go to: https://www.garagistefestival.com/paso-robles-nov-2025
[1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/paso-robles-california-wineries-17818352.php
[2] https://pasowine.com/best-wine-region-of-the-year-2023/
