5th Annual Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure

Urban Exposure…Bringing the California wine country to the City…

This event is dedicated to showcasing the wines of 48 high-quality, limited-production, commercial winemakers who are making under 1500 cases per year from all over California. We are thrilled to be holding this year’s Festival in the historic, Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club in Santa Monica.

Our mission is to support the small guys and girls who don’t have big marketing budgets or the time to get out there and sell their wine. These small-lot wines can be very hard to find. Over 60% of these winemakers don’t have a tasting room, so this is a singular chance to discover the next great winemakers early…and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge! Come on down and meet these artisans in person and taste their passion. We know you’ll find plenty of new wines to love.

Have questions? We’ll answer them. Just contact us at info@garagistefestival.com.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

PUBLIC GRAND TASTING – JULY 21st

2:00-6:00pm – VIP Early Access – $99

This ticket allows attendees to enter the Festival one hour early to taste and meet the winemakers with a smaller group of tasters. Unlimited tastes of over 200 ultra-premium, hard-to-find wines, including exclusive tastes of “Rare & Reserve” wines* ONLY being poured from 2-3pm for VIP Attendees. Includes bread, cheese & charcuterie, artisan food samples, as well as a souvenir Stolzle crystal wine glass. Only 125 tickets available.

3:00-6:00pm – Grand Tasting – $69
Unlimited tastes of over 200 ultra-premium, hard-to-find wines provided by over 45 wineries from all over California. Includes bread, cheese & charcuterie, artisan food samples, as well as a souvenir, stemless Stolzle crystal glass.

Please give yourself plenty of time to reach the venue and park
so you don’t miss out on any of the tasting action.  

Eventbrite - 5th Annual Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure

*Rare & Reserve Tasting: What does this mean exactly? Well, given the already small case lots our wineries make, tasting these wines will almost be like finding a unicorn. Wine club only, library wines, first vintages sold out long ago…and yes, a bit of future casting is on the agenda as well with some pre-releases you’ll get to brag about months – and perhaps years – before your friends get to try them. This is the best of their best and we wanted to give you a truly memorable experience, more than just an extra hour to taste with fewer people on hand. Though that’s certainly nice, too.

**Due to the size of the venue and the nature of this wine-focused event, designated driver tickets are not available. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at info@garagistefestival.com.

SILENT AUCTION

This year’s event will feature our Wine Only Silent Auction filled with some of the best bottles our winemakers have to offer. No fillers, just damn good vino. Bid early, bid often and get to take your favorite wine home that day!

All proceeds from the Silent Auction go to the Garagiste Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly SLO.

FESTIVAL LOCATION

1210 Fourth Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401

The SMBWC is an historic, two-story building and has limited handicap accommodations for guests. A full flight of stairs will be needed to reach some of the wineries and food. Ramps will be provided to access the first floor of the building, if necessary.

It is located between Wilshire Blvd and Arizona Avenue. The venue is a mere half mile walk north of the Santa Monica Station off of the Expo Line. Please consult the LA Metro website for a map and all the train schedules.

EVENT PARKING

We hope you’ll take advantage of the ease of the Metro if convenient for you (and/or consider) using Uber or Lyft to eliminate the stress of driving to the venue. The general range for parking at various garages in the area is around $10 for the event time period in the surrounding area. There are 4 public structures on Fourth Street alone, as well as many other parking lots in the area.

FESTIVAL CHARITY

Since inception, the non-profit Garagiste Events (producer of the Garagiste Festivals) has benefitted San Luis Obispo-based Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program, as part of its mission of furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry.