As a Sonoma County native, over the years I’ve attended the Taste of Sonoma Food & Wine Festival on multiple occasions. However this year I went with the express purpose of interviewing strangers about why they decided to attend. I learned some interesting facts!
The ‘Taste of Sonoma’ festival has been offered for more than a decade at different locations around Sonoma County. This makes perfect since, because Sonoma County is not only home to more than 500 wineries, but also some of the most famous gourmet food in America, served at top restaurants across the nation.
Examples include the Sonoma Liberty Duck, Rocky and Rosie Chicken, Point Reyes and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses, Mycopia Gourmet Mushrooms, organic vegetables from Kendall-Jackson Culinary Gardens, and fresh Pacific Dungeness crab, oysters, salmon, and halibut.
“Sonoma County has dozens of microclimates that make it ideal for many agricultural endeavors, from apples, wine grapes, dairy for milk, ducks, chickens, seafood, and a stunning array of cheeses that rival the best cheeses of France,” reported Michele Anna Jordan, author of 24 books to date, including The New Cook’s Tour of Sonoma.
This year’s event was held at Kendall Jackson Winery, with over 1200 people attending to taste wines from 80 wineries and food from 11 different establishments, ranging from food trucks to gourmet caviar purveyors. While there, I had the opportunity to interview several attendees to understand more about why they choose to engage in this special type of culinary and wine tourism.
Customer Motivations to Attend ‘Taste of Sonoma’
“We caught a flight from Albuquerque this morning just to attend the Taste of Sonoma festival, and we will catch a late flight home tonight,” reported Danielle Wartman, an Office Manager at ABQ Pediatric Dentistry. “Every year I look at the list of food and wine festivals around the U.S. and decide which ones to attend during my vacation. I thought this one looked intriguing.”
Her companion was good friend, Dr. Erin Stockton, a dentist with Copper Canyon family dentistry. “This is the first one I’ve ever attended, but I really like trying all of the food, and I’m excited about touring the Kendall-Jackson Culinary Gardens,” stated Erin.
Danielle added that she usually brings her husband to these types of festivals, but that Erin was a mother of four small children, and she felt that Erin needed one day of fun away from work and home, while Dad watched the kids in Albuquerque.
Some of their favorite food and wines were the cabernets from Roth Winery, the eggplant slider from Black Pig Meat Co, and the cheesy tacos from Galvan’s Eatery Mexican Cuisine. They commented that they enjoyed the relaxed mellow vibe of the event.
Another couple that flew in for the event was Kori and Daryl Norsell from Riverside in Southern California. “This is our tenth year to attend Taste of Sonoma,” said Kori, a retiree. “We enjoy it so much that two years ago on our 30th wedding anniversary, we brought our adult children with us, and they loved it so much that they came again the next year.”
“We mainly come for the wine,” stated Daryl, a Program Director for Radio KCAL 96.7 Rocks, “and we like the fact that it is organized by appellation so we can easily find the regions and wineries we enjoy.”
They noted that over the years, the event has been held at different locations, but they prefer the Kendall-Jackson venue because there are plenty of places to sit down, relax, and enjoy the food and wine – not to mention the air-conditioned VIP section inside.
Their favorite wines included a GSM red blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) from Seghesio Winery, everything from Ridge Winery, and “any rosé we could find – we love rosé wine.” Food highlights were the bell pepper and cheese tacos and the mushroom arancini from John Ash Restaurant.
A third couple were back for their second year. “We love wine, especially from Napa and Sonoma, and we like being able to try small new wineries we haven’t heard about before,” reported Nick Moezidis, the CEO of Napa Technology, based in Henderson, Nevada.
“For example, last year we discovered Kokomo Winery and joined their wine club. I think this is a great marketing event for wineries, because you get to taste so many different wines, and find new ones you enjoy,” he continued.
“But we still like tasting the classics, such as Silver Oak,” added his companion, Brittany Schmidt, Studio Manager with Breathe Diversity Pilates in Santa Rosa, California. “I especially enjoy meeting new people and trying all of the delicious food and wine.”
Some of their favorite food and wines were the chicken kabobs and herb fritters from the Persian Version Restaurant, as well as “the pie guy” at Sonoma Crust Pizza, and some of the “great GSM red blend wines that are here today.”
‘Taste of Sonoma’ Nominated for Best Wine Festival Award
So overall, from this small sample of interviews, it appears that people attend Taste of Sonoma for a mix of motivations, with some focusing more on the wine, whereas others want to sample local cuisine.
Michael Haney, Executive Director of Sonoma County Vintners, summed this up well: “Taste of Sonoma is an opportunity for guests to experience delicious wine and food right where it is produced, in the heart of our world-class wine region. Whether it’s tasting wines, enjoying the delicious culinary creations, the experiences in the themed lounges, garden tours and the Insider Wine Tours, there is truly something for everyone.”
The Taste of Sonoma Festival must be doing something right, because they were just notified that they were nominated by USA Today as one of the Best Wine Festivals in their Top 10 Readers’ Choice Awards.
The 12 Major Wine & Food Festivals in Sonoma County
Following is a list of the twelve major wine and food festivals held every year in Sonoma County, with links for those that are upcoming this year.
1. Wine Road’s Winter Wineland (January)
2. Wine Road’s Barrel Tasting (March)
3. Passport to Dry Creek Valley (April)
4. Healdsburg Food & Wine Festival (May)
5. Taste of Sonoma (June)
6. Press Democrat Food and Wine Festival (June)
7. Big Wine Fest (June)
8. Bodega Bay Wine and Seafood Festival
9. Russian River Valley Wine Weekend (August)
10. Wind to Wine Petaluma Gap Festival (August)
11. Sonoma County Harvest Fair (October)
12. Wine Road’s Wine & Food Affair (November)
NOTE: Portions of this article were originally published in Forbes.com. Republished here with permission.