SoWal Wine Festival Sandestin

SoWal Wine Festival - Sandestin (FL)

Once again we attended the SoWal (South Walton Beaches) Food and Wine Festival - a four-day extravaganza with winemakers, distillers, and mixologists alongside culinary bites by South Walton’s best chefs. More than seventy booths/tables poured over six hundred different labels. 

This was the 39th year for the festival, held again at the Grand Boulevard Center in Sandestin. Once again the festival events spanned four evenings/afternoons of wine, craft brews and distilled spirits with accompanying culinary treats.

Of course, in addition to the food and wine tasting tents on the streets and common areas of Grand Boulevard was the grand Charity Auction in the main tent. 

There was also live music by Nashville Singer Songwriters provided by the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, featuring Aaron Barker, Bridgette Tatum, Clint Daniels, and Dylan Altman, 

Proceeds from the gala South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival weekend support Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation, benefiting children in need in Northwest Florida.

To take it all in, capture all three days of the wine festival, Friday through Sunday via the VIP access ticket that includes Bitters, Brews & Bartenders, VIP Tasting, and both Saturday & Sunday Grand Tastings. This ticket excludes Winemakers & Shakers, which is held Thursday evening at Chan’s Wine World Wine Bar in Destin. 

Our Pour Boys wine group came to town and attended the entire weekend event two years ago, featured in these pages in this blogpost - Pour Boys gather for SoWal Wine Festival.

This year’s event seemed to have fewer wine producers as a percentage of booths of wines, beers and distilled spirits, as we focused on the wines served by producers, winemakers, distributors or retail representatives. Perhaps it’s because we missed the VIP tasting on the Friday night. 

There was also a tent featuring food specialities, paired with the featured wines… 

This year there was a special focus on wineries from Oregon’s Willamette Valley Wineries Association with a dedicated tent of a dozen producers pouring over sixty wines.

Being primarily Bordeaux varietal enthusiasts, we found several favorite producers and select labels, although they were a small fraction of the overall event participants. 

Some of the highlights of the producers met and their wines tasted .. 

Fisher Vineyards featured a vintage selection of their Sonoma County Fisher Coach Insignia Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, a label we know well and hold in our cellar going back more than two decades. This is the label that pays homage to the family legacy of the Fisher Coach manufacturing company that was a major supplier to General Motors automobiles. 

 

Titus Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 was served by the producer winemaker Eric Titus. I always appreciate the effort expanded by these folks given the vast number of events per year and the demands on their time running the business, and producing the product over and above marketing and evangelism. 

 

Often, producer’s will pour special offerings typically only available through them directly, at the winery, or through their on-line club offerings. Here is a selection from Whitehall Lane, Napa Valley, and one such label which we acquired to compare with a couple of their exclusive labels that we discovered and acquired at the winery during a visit - Whitehall Lane Cellars Winery Visit and Tasting.

Two labels we missed, perhaps because they weren’t showcased to the general audience, but would’ve been key selections had we known, from producers and labels we know well,  were discovered in the retail pavilion after the event -  

Caymus Special Select from Napa Valley and Tignanello, the original super Tuscan, from two legendary producers - both labels that we hold, but have not tasted from the most recent 2023 vintage being featured. 

A surprise producer and label represented, due to the rare appearance of Rhône valley selections was from a favorite producer, whose labels we hold several vintages dating back several decades - Chateau Beaurenard of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. 

This prompted us to serve a rare vintage selection of their flagship label, from our son’s birth year vintage, at a family dinner, the following weekend back at home.

Chateau Boisrenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1990 

The selections featured large global/national brands, as well as smaller boutique individual and family producers. 

One of our favorite labels that we hold in our cellar dating back the legendary two decade …

Domaine Serene pouring their flagship Willamette Valley Evenstad Reserve 2023 

It’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost in all the producers and the vast number of labels being poured, in many case five or six by a single producer, so its important to focus, and be selective in what you’re tasting. It’s more than anyone can really take in in one day, lest succumb to ‘pallete fatigue’. To do it justice requires two or three days, and preparation and planning, if you’re so inclined. 

And of course the complimentary food specialties … 

Great fun for any enthusiast … for an afternoon, or a weekend!