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West Sonoma Coast Vintners, an association of wineries on Sonoma’s coastline, will host the second annual West of West Wine Festival from August 3rd to 5th. The event will be held in the coastal hamlet of Occidental and will feature some of the most acclaimed Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Syrahs on the market today.

The Festival begins with Welcome Dinners hosted by member wineries on Friday night, August 3rd. These dinners offer a rare opportunity to dine with winemakers in their home or winery. Saturday begins with morning seminars, interviews and flight tastings, followed by the first of two Grand Tastings on Saturday afternoon and Whole Hog Feast Celebration in the evening. The second Grand Tasting will be on Sunday afternoon in the tasting tent.

The West of West Wine Festival is your best opportunity to experience the extraordinary wine, food and culture of the West Sonoma Coast.

2012 Schedule:

August 3, 2012
Welcome Dinners:
7:00pm - 10:00pm Be an honored guest of one of our member vintners as you taste wines in the terroir where they were grown and enjoy Sonoma’s renowned local cuisine prepared by talented chefs.

August 4, 2012
Seminars - Wine lovers and wine industry insiders come together for a series of in-depth seminars exploring the West Sonoma Coast.

Wines Tell The Story; One Winemaker’s Journey
10:00am - 11:00am Jordan Mackay of San Francisco Magazine interviews Ted Lemon of Littorai about the early 1990s on the West Sonoma Coast and why he thought it offered an amazing opportunity for terroir based wines.  Taste Littorai wines from along the journey.

Exile on Main Street
11:30am - 12:30pm  A tasting of young and mature Chardonnay moderated by Eric Asimov of the New York Times with David Ramey of Ramey Wine Cellars and Kerrin Laz of Dean & Deluca.

Flying Blind
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Compare and contrast Pinot Noirs from the same sub-regions from within the West Sonoma Coast. Panelists inclue Alder Yarrow, Vinography.com, Geoff Kruth, Court of Master Sommeliers and Farmhouse Inn, Jon Bonne, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Editor and Regina Martinelli, Martinelli Winery.

WOW Grand Tasting
3:00pm - 6:00pm An unparalleled opportunity to taste the wines of more than 40 producers and growers; many of them hard-to-find gems, all of them pure expressions of the West Sonoma Coast.

Whole Hog Feast
6:30pm - 10:00pm The festivities continue with a celebration featuring locally-raised heritage pigs slow-cooked to perfection and paired with food-loving West Sonoma Coast wines! Live music follows.

August 5, 2012
WOW Grand Tasting
1:00pm - 4:00pm A second opportunity to taste the wines of more than 40 West Sonoma Coast producers and growers.