America’s Best Wine Festival, The Garagiste Wine Festival, returns to Solvang on February 6th and 7th with over 30 of Santa Barbara County’s and the Central Coast’s innovative micro-production winemakers. Marking its 12th year in one of America’s most charming small towns and most vibrant wine regions, The Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure’s line-up includes a Grand Tasting of over 150 ultra-premium wines, a ‘Rare and Reserve wine tasting, and a special tasting seminar with Greg Brewer, a pioneer and star of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Tickets are now on sale: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/garagiste-wine-festival-12th-annual-southern-exposure-tickets-1968859221933?aff=oddtdtcreator
“We are happy to back in Solvang for the 12th year, and to return to a region that continues to produce some of the most exciting wines anywhere in the world,” said Douglas Minnick, co-founder of the Garagiste Festival. “The festival is a terrific opportunity for wine lovers and enthusiasts, who may have put off that wine country tour this year, a chance to experience the stunning diversity of 150 unique wines, all in one day— and for about the cost of one tasting room fee in Napa.”
“It’s no secret that this has been a tough year for the wine industry, but our festival has always been about supporting and showcasing the small wineries who are ahead of the trends in our industry and craft their wines as a labor of love – and who love talking with our attendees,” continued Minnick. “We love being able to connect these wineries with wine lovers who are looking for new wine discoveries, and who love the community our festivals offer.”
Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure Line-up
The Festival kicks off on Friday, February 6th at 6:30pm with a “Rare & Reserve” Tasting & Buffet, showcasing extremely limited wines (not available anywhere else over the weekend) including Club Only, Library, Pre-Release bottles, and barrel samples, along with a Cajun-inspired buffet by local favorite Clean Slate Wine Bar, and sweet treats from Solvang Bakery.
Saturday begins with “Original Garagistes: A Deep Dive & Tasting with Greg Brewer” (VIP and Weekend Passholders only) at 11:30am. Moderated by Garagiste Festival Co-founder Stewart McLennan, the seminar explores the winemaking vision of Greg Brewer, who helped map, define, and establish the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Brewer was Wine Enthusiast’s 2020 Winemaker of the Year and is one of the reasons that Sta. Rita Hills has almost legendary status as one of the most renowned cool climate wine regions in California.
“We are looking forward to sharing Greg’s story, as well as some of his wines, in Solvang. Greg, whose identity as winemaker is synonymous with the terroir of Sta. Rita Hills, started like many of our garagiste winemakers, small-lot and driven by passion. Today, he is a national powerhouse,” said McLennan.
The Festival Grand Tasting is Saturday at 2:00 pm (1:00 pm for Early Access ticket holders) and features 30+ winemakers pouring their latest releases, as well as cheese and charcuterie from Cailloux Cheese Shop, a classic Garagiste Festival glass, and the festival’s Silent Wine Auction of first-rate wine packages benefitting the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund at CalPoly’s Wine and Viticulture Department.
All events take place at the Mission-style Veterans’ Memorial Hall on Solvang’s Mission Street.
Dubbed “tasting nirvana,” “strange and wondrous,” and “one not to miss” by the LA Times, the Garagiste Festival showcases under-the-radar, innovative, commercial winemakers who handcraft 1500 cases or less of wine and is renowned for its diversity of wines, renegade spirit, passionate winemakers, handcrafted wines and rules-breaking, ‘no snobs allowed’ ethos. 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.
The 30+ winemakers scheduled to pour at the Garagiste Festival Southern Exposure include:
10 Ninths*, Barieau Wines*, Bocce Ball Wine, Bodega de Edgar, Chateau Caroline*, Chris Caruso Wines, Common Thread Wines*, Decemil Estate, Diablo Paso, Dusty Nabor, El Vinero Wines, Fates’ Lieutenant*, Final Girl Wines, Fuil Wines, Hayseed and Housdon, J. Dirt Wines*, Kaleidos Winery, Kiler Canyon Vineyard, Lyons Vineyard Estate*, Malibu Wine Company*, Montemar Winery, Nisi Wines*, Pars Fortuna, Pelletiere Estate, Rooted Vine Cellars*, Songs Wines, St. Avalo Wines*, Sycamore Ranch Vineyard and Winery, Tomi Cellars, V1no Juan.
*New Wineries.
For more information and full Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure schedule details, go to: http://www.garagistefestival.com/
Tickets are limited for Garagiste Festival Southern Exposure. Garagiste Festivals always sell out in advance. To buy tickets, go to: https://www.my805tix.com/e/garagiste-solvang-2025/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:
Vinland Hotel & Lounge, Visit SYV.com, AgWest Farm Credit, ETS Laboratories, Fortis Solutions Group, G3 Enterprises, Glenn Burdette, Laffort USA, MWWine School, The Winston, Sideways Inn, Hotel Hygge, Flying Flags RV Resort, Santa Barbara Independent, and New Times SLO.
