Taste Alexander Valley

Read Tracey A’s excellent review to find out the «What» about «Taste Alexander Valley».
Why should you consider this event the next time it comes around? Well, it is fun and cost effective. Sofie and I visited 4 wineries on Saturday and on Sunday. I suppose we could have visited more, but we were more about enjoyment than doing a check-​list.
Having food along the route helped out a lot! I don’t like spitting out wine or dumping my glass — the food made it possible for me to drink everything I was served — and the pairings were rather thoughtful! Who would have thought about pairing Mac’n Cheese with Chardonnay (White Oak) — or serving a dab of gorgonzola on a piece of chocolate (Breathless)?
Taste Alexander Valley gave us very good documentation of each winery — that plus Unilocal reviews enabled us to select the best wineries and know which special experience offered at the winery we should schedule.
Another nice feature of the event is the ability to walk-​in, taste a wine and decide if you want to stay without being «put-​out» by plunking down you normal $ 10 tasting fee only to find out after the first sip you made a horrible mistake. You can just «disappear» and move on to the next place without wasting time «trying» to like the place.
we liked being able to walk in and get down to business without having to go through the normal «this is how much, this is what we offer» introduction. The wineries were super organized — some with numbers written on the sidewalk (good for those of us who don’t spit and dump) telling us where to go.
Sofie and I met the same people at some of our stops from the previous days event so we started to become pals — exchanging information about the stops and comparing notes. It was fun!
I called Sofie the night before the event to say «We are going!» — and she was not too excited because she was pretty thrashed from a hard week «at the office» — but being part of the team she went along with my plans. She had a good time and we had a lot of fun. I highly recommend this experience if you have an opportunity to participate in the future.

What is this «Taste Alexander Valley» thing, you ask?
* It’s an annual event in which 25+ wineries offer «free» tastings (most often with food accompaniments) to those with a wrist band and matching glass.
* It begins with a Friday night event but the wine tasting events are held from 11 a.m. — 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
* Tickets can be purchased separately for each day or as a package for two days of wine tasting. Two days of wine tasting runs about $ 80; one day runs about $ 60. Many of the participating wineries also offer special deals on bottles purchased.
What is this «Alexander Valley», you ask?
* It’s more than 76,000 acres of land sitting at the northern end of Sonoma County. More than 15,000 of those acres are planted with grapes.
* To participate in «Taste Alexander Valley» a winery must produce wines made from grapes within the Alexander Valley. There are many more wineries in this area than those that participate in this event but there are plenty more participating than you’ll be able to get to.
* Wineries participating in this event are centered in Healdsburg, Geyserville, and Cloverdale. Mapping out your day is part of the fun.
Although I had passes good for two days I was only able to attend one day of tasting during which I made it to five wineries, three of which I was one of only a handful of patrons. Each winery I visited offered a full complement of tastings and each offered food, ranging from bite sized tastes to what I’d call a small lunch. The food pairings not only showed off the wines but served the added purpose of sopping up some of the alcohol. It’d be easy to get wasted during this event and some people do (designated driver tickets are available at a reduced cost).
«Taste Alexander Valley» just marked its 18^th year. It’s a great way to spend a day or two sampling a whole lot of wines from places you might never have made it to otherwise. You’ll likely meet a lot of winery owners and winemakers in the process and, with discounts ranging as high as 35%, you can also score some great deals.
If you plan well you’ll likely find yourself alone in several of the small wineries making for a very intimate and special experience. «Taste Alexander Valley» is a fabulous excuse to head up north and consume a whole lot of alcohol and I can find no fault with such a plan. Mark your calendars and book your rooms. Taste Alexander Valley 2016 is less than one year away.