Sonoma County Harvest Fair
The experience
What's special
The Sonoma County Harvest Fair has celebrated the region's agricultural and culinary bounty since 1975, built around one of California's premier regional wine judgings - a panel of wine professionals blind-tasting more than 900 wines made entirely from Sonoma County grapes. Its public centerpiece is a Grand Tasting where guests sample the Gold and Best of Class winners from over one hundred local wineries in a single afternoon, paired with bites from area restaurants, an art show, and the World Championship Grape Stomp. In recent years the event has shifted to a dressed-up, one-night gala format built around the live reveal of the Sweepstakes-winning red, white, and sparkling wines.
What people love
The draw most consistently highlighted is the once-a-year chance to taste all of the competition's Gold and Best of Class Sonoma County wines side by side in one room, a breadth no single winery visit can match. Coverage frames the gala as a glamorous, celebratory evening - two lounge areas, local-restaurant food, live entertainment, and the buzz of the on-stage Sweepstakes reveal - with a VIP pass offering an earlier, less crowded first hour for those who want a calmer tasting.
Last time around
The most recent held edition was the 50th-anniversary gala on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, drawing more than 1,300 attendees. It capped a competition of over 900 Sonoma County wines from 149 wineries, judged by 21 wine professionals, that produced 114 double-gold, 236 gold, and 33 best-of-class medals, with the Sweepstakes winners revealed on the night (Bucher Wines 2023 Three Sixty Pinot Noir for red, Raymond Burr Vineyards 2024 Vermentino for white, Breathless Wines Blanc de Noirs for specialty). Chief wine judge Debra Del Fiorentino called it the best gala in the fair's history; the 2026 edition continues in the one-night Awards Gala format on October 10, 2026.
Listen
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Lineup
Lineup not yet announced. Email me the day it lands.
Getting there
Nearest airport: STS.
Where
Camping
Camping details not yet on file.
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