I missed posting both Saturday afternoon and Sunday. There was just too much happening. On Saturday we bused out to five separate Vineyard Walks where we got a little exercise, appreciated the beauty of the vineyards, tasted a little wine, and feasted on lunch courtesy of our generous winery sponsors: Michel-Schlumberger, Quivira, Rodney Strong, Alexander Valley Vineyards, and Saralee’s Vineyards.
Following that we had two very useful breakout sessions. This was where much of the meat of the educational aspect of the conference existed as we heard from experts in our industry from Snooth, Inertia Beverage, Cruvee, Stormhoek, and other leaders. I hope others blog about the six individual sessions so the good information gets distributed. That evening we were treated to dinner and wine courtesy of Sebastiani Vineyards and a talk by keynote speaker Alice Feiring, all taking place in Sebastiani’s impressive barrel room.
On Sunday we wrapped up with an Unconference, the best opportunity for participants to voice their own opinions on whatever subjects they chose. We capped it off with lunch and a Luxe Sonoma tasting given by the Sonoma County Vintners and Sonoma Grapegrowers Commission, featuring five hard-to-find wines from Sonoma County.
In all, an incredible and packed weekend that we will plan to repeat next year!