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Wine Road Announces Upcoming Event Season

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20th Annual Wine & Food Affair to Kick Off the Season in November

Healdsburg, CA, October 8, 2018—Wine Road, an association of wineries and lodgings in Northern Sonoma County, announces their upcoming 2018 – 2019 event season featuring their three signature annual events: Wine & Food Affair, Winter WINEland and Barrel Tasting. All three events allow guests to visit participating wineries stretching across Sonoma County’s Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River Valleys throughout the event weekend.

Wine & Food Affair: November 3-4, 2018, 11am – 4pm
Wine Road’s event season kicks off with the 20th Annual Wine & Food Affair, featuring two full days of tantalizing food and wine pairings along the Wine Road. Each participating winery offers a taste of gourmet cuisine prepared by a local culinary artist paired with the wine of their choice. Popular pairings in past years include Bacon Fudge Brownies with Syrah Port; New England Clam Chowder with Chardonnay; Mac & Cheese with Pulled Ham paired with Pinot Noir; and Braised Meatball Sliders and Zinfandel. Each food and wine pairing is listed on the website’s participating wineries page, with recipes posted the week before the event. Advance tickets are now on sale online for the weekend ($80), Sunday only ($60), and Designated Driver ($30).

Winter WINEland: January 19 – 20, 2019, 11am – 4pm
After the hectic holidays, Winter WINEland is the “all about the wine” event that provides the perfect winter escape in which visitors can enjoy a less crowded wine country tasting adventure. The event follows a Vintages, Varietals and Verticals format with participating wineries selecting to focus on one of the three. Wineries offering vintages will open older vintages not typically available for tasting; varietal wineries will focus on one varietal for the weekend, perhaps pouring 3-4 different types of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc.; and vertical wineries will offer a vertical tasting of a wine, for example a 2013, 2014, 2015 of their estate cabernet. Making the weekend that much more interesting is the Winter Décor Competition held between the wineries each year, ending with the winner receiving the perpetual trophy (and bragging rights for the next year). Advance tickets will begin online on November 6, 2018 and are $45 for the weekend, $35 for Sunday only, and $5 for designated drivers. 
 
Barrel Tasting Weekends, March 1-3 and March 8-10, 2019, 11am – 4pm
For the 42nd year, Wine Road will host its annual Barrel Tasting, offering two weekends of barrel sampling and the opportunity to purchase “futures” at over 100 wineries. Buying “futures” is essentially a chance to buy, often at a discount, a wine that is still aging in the barrel now, then come back to the winery (or have the wine shipped) when the wine is bottled, typically within 12-18 months. Many wines are so limited, buying futures is the only chance to purchase them. In addition, Barrel Tasting is widely heralded as an educational weekend where wine lovers of all levels learn about the work put in to making wines after harvest, but before the wine is bottled, often hearing directly from the winemakers during the event, as Barrel Tasting is a favorite event amongst Wine Road winemakers. New this year, are Friday night “Toast the Future” events at three signature wineries that do not participate in Barrel Tasting Weekends, but this year are opening their doors to 30 guests for a welcome reception, with heavy appetizers, barrel wine along with their current vintages. Advance tickets to Barrel Tasting will go on sale online Sunday October 7, 2018 and are $50 for the weekend, $40 for Sunday only, $5 for designated drivers and $95 for Friday night reception and the weekend.

Winemaker Breakfasts
All three events host a Winemaker Breakfast and Q&A on the Saturday morning of each event at 9am, with the winery location of each breakfast varying from event to event. The breakfast is an open forum in which guests get to meet and chat with winemakers in a casual setting with Q&A. This is not a wine tasting experience, simply breakfast and conversation. Tickets to each breakfast are $20 per person and must be purchased for this added event during event registration.
 
ABOUT WINE ROAD NORTHERN SONOMA COUNTY:
The Wine Road is a travel resource for those looking to visit the region, which is famous for its renowned wine producers and cuisine, scenic beauty, and wine country lifestyle. Made up of 200 wineries and 54 lodgings throughout the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River valleys in Sonoma County, something is always going on along the Wine Road. To plan your next trip, please visit: www.wineroad.com. For additional information, or to request a free map, call 800.723.6336 or via e-mail at info@wineroad.com, or visit the Wine Road on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

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