What’s a Garagiste? Why would you want to go to a Festival about garages? Pronounced garage-east, the word garagiste comes from Bordeaux meaning small-lot wine makers who sometimes worked out of their “garages” — basically any place that wasn’t a chateau. Working independently, and thinking for themselves, these renegades refused to abide by rules or traditions. Today “Garagiste” is a movement of innovative winemakers; back in 2011, California’s Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles was the first to showcase the wines of American garagiste winemakers at an event that also raises money for scholarships for the next generation of winemakers.

Founded by garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals offer opportunities for wine lovers to taste rare, premium, hard to find wines from these new and innovative limited-production winemakers.  

“The  many extraordinary winemakers innovating under the radar in SLO County and Paso were the inspiration for the Garagiste Festival, which shines a spotlight on these micro-production winemakers,” says festival enthusiast, co-organizer, wine writer, and PR professional Melanie Webber. “Just as they did in Bordeaux, these garagiste winemakers are having a lasting impact on the US wine industry, keeping it fresh, on its toes and helping to lead the future.”

Following on the success of that first Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles, ten years ago organizers added another one in Solvang which returns to the Santa Ynez Valley on Friday night February 9th with a Rare and Reserve tasting followed on Saturday February 10 with a tasting and Silent Auction. In the beautiful and historic Veteran’s Hall, over 30 wineries will pour over 150 wines from grapes grown in Santa Barbara County, many of them grown organically, biodynamically, and sustainably. 

What makes Garagiste Festival special is it’s the only wine festival that exclusively features high quality wines from commercial California ‘garagiste’ winemakers. You get to meet and speak with the winemakers and/or owners as they pour tastes for you so you can find out for yourself how the grapes are grown and how the wines are made, and learn the story behind what’s in your glass. Most of these wineries are too small for tasting rooms, and rarely when you visit a tasting room do you get the opportunity to interact with those who grow the grapes and produce the wine. 

The 10th anniversary of the Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure kicks off a series of four events in 2024 featuring small producers from different regions of California. After Solvang on February 10, then event moves to Sonoma April 27, Los Angeles June 22, and finally Paso Robles, November 8th and 9th, where the event began in 2011. 

And it’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day. Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick says “that romantic ambience, coupled with the opportunity to discover some of the most exciting micro-production wines California has to offer, makes it the perfect place to celebrate Valentine’s Day.”

On Friday night only, some of the Original Garagistes from the very first festival in Solvang will pour  including Casa Dumetz, Hoi Polloi, Kaena Wine Co., and Kessler-Haak Vineyards. 

During the Grand Tasting on Saturday, February 10th, you can bid on Silent Auction items benefiting The Garagiste Festival Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Wineries pouring on Saturday in Solvang include: 

Absolution Cellars, Alamar Wines, Alamati Wine, Bocce Ball Wine, Boutz Cellars, Bucakloose Wines, Cairjn Wine Cellars, Chris Caruso Wines, Civilization Wine Co, Cordon Wine, CrossHatch Winery, Diablo Paso, Dusty Nabor Wines, Entity of Delight, Fuil Wines, Gagnon Cellars, Hayseed & Housdon, Kaleidos Winery, MCV Wines, Montagne Russe, Montemar Wines, Murder Ridge, Pine Mountain Vineyards, RF Fine Wines, Riding Monkey Wines, Stiekema Wine Co., Tercero Wines, Tomi Cellars, Wildflower Winery and ZANOLI Wines.  

New wineries to the event include: Alamati Wines, Bocce Ball Wines, Buckaloose Wines, Chris Caruso Wines, Crosshatch Winery, Entity of Delight, and Riding Monkey Wines.

The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department. To read the press release on the event, click here For more information, click here: http://www. garagistefestival.com. Tickets usually sell out so purchase your tickets in advance here: https://www.my805tix.com/e/garagiste-solvang

“As a wine educator in Paso, I know that the next generation of these bright, smart and creative winemakers needs a foundation of knowledge from which to soar and an incubator in which to develop their talents,” says Melanie Webber. “Cal Poly’s Wine and Viticulture department is one of the best of these which is why the Garagiste Festival, since its inception, has supported The Garagiste Scholarship, helping enable that new crop of winemakers to thrive.”

Read Melanie’s lovely essay about being inspired by her wine students here; Melanie’s essay was a finalist in the 2023 Jancis Robinson wine writing contest (which I won in 2022; read my essay here).

As a college teacher myself, I have a soft spot for students and for silent auctions that support scholarships so I always bid on several items, and over the years of attending, I’ve taken home special wines, some of which I’ve written about here. So the other night as I was thinking about the upcoming Garagiste Festival, I decided to look in my cellar for something to have with fresh seared ahi tuna, and came across a Steinbeck sparkling wine– and a sparkling rose which I will be writing about next week for Valentine’s Day. 

So your first question — and I can’t blame you — is this Steinbeck vineyard related to THAT Steinbeck? As in Grapes of Wrath  writer John Steinbeck? Nope, just a coincidence that John Steinbeck lived and wrote in Monterey County just north of Paso Robles where the Steinbeck Vineyard and Tasting Room are today.

However, it was the Steinbeck name that led me to purchase my first bottle of Steinbeck Vineyard wine when I was a member at Erberle. 

Howie Steinbeck partnered with Gary Erberle in 1978, not long after he bought the land planted with vineyards from his grandmother that they had planted  in the 1880s with 25 varieties of grape cuttings from a UC Davis experimental project. Howie planted vines for Eberle in the late 1970s into the 1980s, then added vines to his land, selling the grapes to Eberle and others. Howie’s daughter Cindy joined the business and in 2006 when they began making wine from their grapes, she handled the tasting room and selling wine. Today her son Ryan handles the viticulture while her daughter Stacey helps her mom. Stacey’s husband Bryan Widstrand makes the wine following his studies and four years interning in Australia. 

2021 Steinbeck Sauvignon Blanc de Blanc, Paso Robles 

ABV: 12.5%
SRP: purchased as part of a silent auction at Garagiste Festival 
Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc
30 cases produced
this wine was purchased at a fundraising auction 

I looked but didn’t find this on the website. I hope they make it again! But making sparkling wine is a lot of work and rarely pencils out.

However, Bryan Widstrand will be at the 2024 Rhone Rangers Experience February 18 participating in the seminar to discuss his 2021 Cuvee Rhone Sparkling from Steinbeck Vineyards & Winery.

I also couldn’t find anything specific about their sustainable practices being certified, although I recall talking with winemaker Bryan about whether they would qualify for Slow Wine Guide. 

Appearance:  Lemon yellow, delicate bubbles

Aroma: Chamomile, green apple, brioche, lemon curd, fresh fennel fronds.

Palate: Fresh, clean, fine fizzy bubbles on the tongue, lots of tart bright fresh Meyer lemon, nice roundness, fennel, slate, iron, limestone, nice minerality, a hint of fresh edamame with sea salt. The wine has a refreshing brightness from the Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and reminds me of a Cremant from Bordeaux. I’d love to see how this wine would develop with more bottle age. 

Pairing: Anything that you’d pair a Sauvignon Blanc with would be even better with this wine! Think beurre blanc and halibut or swordfish; black cod and capers; Ceasar salad. Fabulous with my rich ahi and pesto pasta cutting through and refreshing my palate.

Lots of great wine festivals and events coming up! More details soon about Rhone Rangers Feb. 18 in Paso Robles and World of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara the first weekend in March!