Sonoma County wineries ready to welcome thousands of visitors during Wine Road Barrel Tasting

Like homing pigeons, a flock of wine-lovers will be descending on the Alexander, Russian River and Dry Creek valleys for the Wine Road Barrel Tasting event March 2 and 3.

This tasting marks the 46th year for this storied event. With many iterations over the years, its longevity is a testament to its appeal to serious wine-lovers.

These savvy oenophiles want to taste wine in barrels and buy their favorite samplings (coined futures), betting on the aging process to further develop their greatness.

“The focus remains on tasting from the barrel and meeting winemakers,” explained Beth Costa, executive director of the Wine Road, a trade group representing 130 vintners and 30 lodgings in the region.

“This is a unique event for those interested in the winemaking process and being able to ask questions with the winemakers, winery owners and vineyard managers,” Costa said. “This is not a food pairing. There is no music. It’s very wine focused.”

The event is expected to reel in about 2,000 people to a 30-mile radius with more than 50 wineries participating. Drawing visitors from across the country, the barrel tasting is expected to have the bulk of its traffic from the greater Bay Area and Sacramento, along with locals.

Finding the sweet spot

“We seem to have found the sweet spot of just enough attendees, plenty of winery options and one weekend is manageable for the wineries and their staff,” Costa said.

In the past the event unfolded over two consecutive weekends, with its fee fluctuating over the years, Costa explained. It began as a free event, rising to $2 or bring your own glass, to $5 and then $10.

“The $10 price and two weekends really took a toll on the winemakers, the community and us,” Costa said. “We had to rein it in, and raising the price and cutting back to one weekend has done the trick.”

In 2009, 21,000 people flocked to more than 100 participating wineries, then priced at $10 a pop. But many complained of disruptive, overindulgent, rambunctious behavior by a younger crowd often arriving in large groups by limo or tour bus.

Some who were turned off by the partiers swore they would never return to the event; organizers and participating wineries vowed they would find ways to rein in the revelers.

Today the price tag is $95 per person for the general public for a two-day pass and $75 for Sunday only. It has made this event less of a spring rite of passage for boisterous millennials, and more of one that attracts baby boomers with a bit more disposable income.

The biggest age demographic for the past two years has been 50-59, followed by 40-49, then those over 60, Costa said.

“Having to cancel the second weekend due to COVID in 2020, then not being able to host the event at all in 2021 and 2022 — we really are starting over, reintroducing people to the concept of barrel tasting.”

Navigating Barrel Tasting

The term “futures” makes wine lovers giddy, especially the wine-half-full optimists. Futures refer to the barrel samples and the excitement about investing in bottlings that will typically be ready for the market in 12 to 18 months.

About half of the participating wineries will sell futures and they often come with discounts.

What’s key is to plan your route carefully. At the wineroad.com website, you can scout out a list of wineries that will be participating, so calculate how many you want to visit and plan accordingly. The wineries are open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

“We continue to have visitors show up with their spreadsheets in hand, showing where they bought futures last year, their list of wineries to visit this year and their budget for wines to buy,” Costa said. “For some it’s an art, how to make the most of the opportunity to try these limited production wines.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.