CALIFORNIA WINE FESTIVAL CARLSBAD, CA, AVIARA RESORT, JUNE 23, 24, 2023

California Wine Festival, Southern California’s premier wine festival event producer, announces its return to the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort for two days of palm tree-lined tasting events on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24. Guests will be able to try samples from renowned winemaking regions across California, paired with gourmet appetizers from many of North San Diego County’s top restaurants, in addition to experiencing lifestyle exhibitors, live entertainment and stunning, expansive vistas.

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This seriously is one of my favorite events in San Diego. I love that it’s so low key, so easy, so uncrowded with easy access to plenty of wine and food samples. No, it’s not as huge as some of the other better known events but that’s what makes it so great - you want another glass of wine, you just walk up and they pour it for you! No fighting in lines, no being pushed aside, no waving your arms to get someone’s attention, it’s so civilized. And no, you don’t need to get all dressed up! I mean you could, but you don’t have to.

Overlooking lush green landscape beneath string lights at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort’s The Gardens, Friday evening kicks off with a Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting, an intimate experience for wine aficionados. A sparkling wine reception begins the evening of sampling specialty reserve wines and offers tasting room exclusives and limited-production wines hailing from vineyards based in California’s most esteemed wine producing regions. Locals’ favorite North County restaurants will serve delicious hot and cold appetizers to pair with the best-in-class wines.

Throughout Friday evening, guests will have the ability to participate in a silent auction, bidding on coveted items such as exotic wines, tasting tours and dining certificates. Proceeds from this auction will benefit Golden Rule Charity, an organization dedicated to helping people in the hospitality industry during unexpected hardships.

SATURDAY’S BEACHSIDE WINE FESTIVAL
The ultimate wine tasting experience continues with a Beachside Wine Festival taking place at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort's Heron Lawn on Saturday, June 24th. The al fresco afternoon event will allow guests to improve upon their culinary education and exploration through one-on-one conversations and tastings with culinary and wine talent descending upon Carlsbad from California’s most distinguished wineries and local restaurants. Guests will have the opportunity to experience hundreds of premium California wines and regional craft brews. Fine wines can be paired with artisanal cheeses, breads, olive oil, fresh-cut fruit, decadent desserts and more. The VIP Pavilion will feature a selection of reserve-level wines as well as craft brews along with special seating just a stone’s throw away from the resort’s award-winning golf course overlooking the Batiquitos Lagoon nature preserve.

The festival highlights rare and reserve vintages and well-known bottles from California’s best vineyards based in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Temecula and beyond. Notable wineries attending include: Adobe Road Winery, B.io, Bellante Family Winery, Bernardus Winery, BONDLE Wines, Capriccio Sangria, Carol Shelton Wines, Carruth Cellars, Cuvaison Winery, Doffo Wines, Double Bond Wine, Goldschmidt Vineyards, HALL Wines, Halter Ranch, Kessler-Haak Vineyard & Wines, Le Vigne Winery, Lloyd Cellars, Michael Mondavi Family Wines, Miner Family Wines, Navarro Vineyards, New Zealand Wine Navigator, Pasmosa Sangria, Russian River Vineyards, Stonehouse Cellars, Wilson Creek Winery and Wine Guy & Wine Gal.

GOOD EATS TO GO WITH ALL OF THE GREAT WINE!

Top restaurants from North San Diego County and beyond will serve delectable appetizers to accompany the festival’s top-notch wine selections and include: Butterfly Brittles, Carlsbad Cookie Company, Gino Angelini Authentic Italian Sauces, Goufrais Southern California - Cocoa Confection, Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken, Icelandic Glacial, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Kelly’s Croutons, Kerrygold, Marsatta Chocolate, Mendocino Farms, Orfila Vineyards Tasting Room & Kitchen, Ponto Lago, Señor Grubby's and Grubby’s Poke, Seven Barrels Olive Oils and Aged Italian Balsamics, SiSi Cakes and The Real Empanada.

LIVE MUSIC TO SET THE VIBE!

Live entertainment will provide the perfect soundtrack to a relaxing weekend enjoying coastal California living. Friday’s Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting will feature soulful, acoustic melodies from former American Idol finalist, Adam Lasher. Saturday’s Beachside Wine Festival will once again feature Upstream, SoCal’s premier live reggae, calypso, soca and steel drum band.

California Wine Festival in Carlsbad's Park Hyatt Resort Aviara - Get Tickets for 2023!

May 22, 2022Food Festivals, Things to Do in San DiegoLocal WallyComment

California Wine Festival in Carlsbad, CA - San Diego’s Annual Wine and Food Festival by the Coast

What a fancy way to spend an afternoon, sipping wine and snacking on tasty bites at a 5 star resort on the San Diego coastline. That’s exactly what the California Wine Festival in Carlsbad is all about, an annual event held at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad every May.

Before I go further here’s the link to get more info on the 2023 California Wine Festival in Carlsbad (North San Diego): Official Site for the Wine and Food Event

OK, so what is this? And is it WORTH IT?

HALL WINES at the California Wine Festival in Carlsbad, CA

Wine, Food, Music, and Plenty of Space!

With dozens of tents you can spend hours just sampling the various wines - yes, unlimited wine! And if you know me you know that I love good wine and there was plenty there to sip, including Hall Wines from Napa with their incredible cabs

Ketel One at the Carlsbad Wine Festival at Aviara

And yes, just to spice things up a bit you can sip some vodka, get a perfect gin and tonic, sip some Belching Beaver beer. Look, if you can’t find something you love to drink then you’re not looking very hard. And unlike some food events where the lines are so outrageously long that your wine buzz is long gone by the time you get to the front the lines here were refreshingly short - find a favorite and just keep going back!

Food Trucks - Yes, it’s Included!

There were great food options scattered around, like big bites of cheese (and butter) from Kerrygold and delicious poki bites from Senor Grubby.

Tasty bites to be sure - but then I found the food trucks! I expected to pull out my credit card but whoa, it was included! Red Oven Pizza was there - incredible wood fired pizzas - along with Belinda’s Taco Truck and The Groovy Greek Food Truck. Belinda’s was handing out street tacos with various fillings (the spicy pork, wow) and cheesy quesadillas that were perfect for one hand snacking. The Groovy Greek Food Truck was handing out full sized greek bowls which were insanely good - I mean, GREAT! I’ve been to plenty of "Tastes of ____” or food festivals where you frankly leave a bit underwhelmed, but these three food options left me plenty satisfied. OK, yes, a bit stuffed but can you blame me?

Is the California Wine Festival Worth it?

With ticket prices (in 2022) starting at $70 per person, yes, absolutely worth it. Look I went to McDonald’s for the first time in over a year and the crappy two cheeseburger combo was nearly $10! A tiny house wine pour at an “order at the counter” restaurant just set me back $12. So for $70 you get all the wine you want, unlimited delicious food, a live band, a great setting, it’s so worth it. Gather up your friends and have an afternoon to remember.

Need more convincing? How about FREE parking (that never happens)?

For those of you wanting to really go all out there’s also a VIP tent with early entry for $45 more, and a Sunset tasting event with rare and reserve wines to go with the main event for $175.

Info on 2023 California Wine Festival in San Diego