We are thrilled to be bringing the 12th Anniversary Garagiste Festival back to downtown Paso Robles. Discover and taste amazing, cutting edge wines from over 50 high-quality, micro-production, commercial winemakers.

Most of these excellent, but hard-to-find, artisans do not have tasting rooms, and can’t be found on “wine country” maps. Many sell out their wines quickly to their allocation lists. The Garagiste Festival gives you the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and meet these winemakers in person as they share their wines and their stories.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to taste rare, hard-to-find, world-class wines and meet the artisans who create them. You are going to love what you taste!

11:30am–8:30pm VIP All-Day — $159

1–5pm Early Access — $99

2–5pm Grand Tasting — $79

5:30-8:30pm Rockin’ After-Party — $25

Saturday Seminar

11:30am-12:30pm

The day begins by bringing back one of the most popular features of the Garagiste Festivals, it’s our engaging, educational and unique winemaker panel and tasting seminar. 

The seminar is only available as part of the VIP All-Day and Weekend Pass tickets, which also includes a Wine Country Box Lunch* from local favorite Jeffrys BBQ, early access to the Grand Tasting (at 1pm) and entry into the After Party. To purchase one of these tickets please visit: www.garagistefestival.com.

Coming Full Circle: The Path from Enology Student to Living the Garagiste Dream

The Garagiste Festival was founded back in 2011 to bring attention to the many small, artisan wineries, who were making fantastic wines, but often working in obscurity, AND to support the education of future wine industry professionals thru charitable donations, now in the form of The Garagiste Scholarships at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

With over a decade of Festivals behind us, it is our great pleasure to showcase a panel consisting of Cal Poly SLO Wine & Viticulture graduates, who will not only share their wines, but their experiences - good and bad - from fledgling student to starting their own commercial winery. 

Learn what inspired them to become winemakers: how the reality differs from the classroom, what motivates their winemaking choices regarding grape varieties and methodologies, as well as their hopes and dreams for their up-and-coming wine labels — all while enjoying a taste of the fruits of their study and labour.

The Full Circle panel will not only celebrate the beneficiaries of The Garagiste Festival's charitable cause, but also allow attendees a window into what lies behind the wine study curtain on the road to becoming a Garagiste. 

Panelists: Jordan Crabtree (El Vinero Wines), Philip Lamontagne and Janie Wilheim (Lumina / Dream Dweller)

Early Access - $99 | November 11th, 1:00-5:00pm | Paso Fairgrounds

Get an extra hour from 1-2pm with a limited crowd. Find your favorites amongst our lineup of over 50 winemakers who will be pouring over 200 different wines from 1-5pm. Includes unlimited tastes, complimentary cheese & charcuterie available from Vivant Cheese during the Grand Tasting and bottled water, along with a souvenir Stolzle crystal wine glass.

Grand Tasting - $79 | November 11th, 2:00-5:00pm | Paso Fairgrounds

Find your favorites amongst our lineup of over 50 winemakers who will be pouring over 200 different wines from 2-5pm. Includes unlimited tastes, complimentary cheese & charcuterie plate available from Vivant Cheese and bottled water, along with a souvenir Stolzle crystal wine glass.