(Jan. 27, 2025; Los Angeles, Calif.)—Allison Levine, president of Please the Palate, and Chris Kern, founder of the Forgotten Grapes Wine Club, are thrilled to announce the second annual Festival of Forgotten Grapes on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at Mica Studios in Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights neighborhood.
After a successful inaugural event last year, Levine and Kern are excited to once again shine a spotlight on wine grape varieties that are often “forgotten” in the world of California wine and showcase an impressive group of wineries championing these lesser-known grapes.
The 2024 Festival of Forgotten Grapes featured 75 unique varieties as more than 120 different wines were poured. The 2025 iteration of the festival will include even more lesser-known grapes and wineries with more than 40 wine brands, offering a mix of returning and new wineries from Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, Lodi, Livermore, Los Angeles, Sonoma, Dry Creek, San Diego, Ventura, Bakersfield, Gilroy, Sacramento, and Sierra Foothills.
“We created this festival to highlight the hundreds of unique and lesser-known wine grapes that are grown here in California,” says Levine. “This means that there will be none of the usual suspects of California wine, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Petit Sirah, Pinot Grigio or Syrah. Instead, we will be honoring producers who are going against the grain and opening up our guests’ palates to new and exciting expressions of California’s terroir.”
The Festival of Forgotten Grapes is for the wine lover looking for something new and off the beaten path. While the nine “usual suspect” varieties make up 93% of the total wine production in the state, Cinsault, Counoise, Nebbiolo, Marsanne, Roussanne, Gruner Veltliner, and other rare “underdog” grape varieties from all over the world are grown in California and will be on pour for attendees, offering a tasting experience unavailable anywhere else.
Attendees will not only be able to taste and learn about these wines in a fun, casual environment but can also select their favorites for purchase to be delivered to their homes in one easy package for a flat delivery fee, no matter how many different wines or producers. Delivery is for Southern California residents only (Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties) and will be fulfilled within two to three weeks of the event.
“Land in California is expensive, and it’s a risky move to make wines from grapes that people might not have heard of,” says Kern. That’s a cycle we are hoping to break with this event by giving winemakers a chance to not only share their special bottlings but also easily make sales and gain new customers.”
VIP access to the event begins at noon with exclusive access to a pre-tasting seminar hosted by the L.A. Vintners Association that will explore the little-known history of wine growing and winemaking in Los Angeles. VIPs then will be able to taste privately from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., before general admission access opens from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. VIP tickets are $99, and general admission tickets are currently available at an early bird rate of $59 until Jan. 31, when they will go up to $69. Tickets are available for purchase at www.festivalofforgottengrapes.com.
Food will be available for purchase at the event, including pizza from Hi Fi Pizza; charcuterie skewers, chicken Caesar wraps and micro tiramisu cannoli from Hi Fi Hospitality; and empanadas from Fuegos LA.
