I attended the Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans’ Wine Sun, Wind and Wine Festival at Mer Soleil Winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
This annual event showcases wineries from all over California that produce wine with grapes from the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA.
SLH is best known for it’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and almost all of the wine featured at this event were from these varietals.
This festival was a fantastic opportunity to try single vineyard SLH Pinot Noir from a variety of different producers in one place.
While I have had single vineyard wines from this appellation before this was first time I was able to try so many different vineyards. I learned about the difference in soil types, elevation and clone varieties. It was interesting to taste the difference in terroir and style between the vineyards and winemakers.
What is a festival without food? Another feature of the event was tastings of delicious small bites from gourmet restaurants and caterers. From candied pork belly bites to Seafood Paella there was plenty of tasty things to sample. What a nice treat!
When I wasn’t tasting through Pinot Noir or nibbling on small bites, you could find me at the “Bubble Bar” a designated area to taste sparkling wine from SLH.
Make sure to put the Sun, Wine and Wine Festival on your calendar for next year!
