It’s a little known secret, our fascination with the garagiste wine movement.  What are the garagistes you ask?

In short, the garagistes refers to a group of winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing “vins de garage”, “garage wine”. A group emerged in the mid-1990s in reaction to the traditional style of red Bordeaux wine, which is highly tannic and requires long ageing in the bottle to become drinkable. The garagistes developed a style more consistent with perceived international wine tastes.

Present day, here in California, some of the garagistes we’ve come to know and respect are primarily based out of Paso Robles.  Four times a year they gather for the public at the Garagiste Festival, a traveling wine-tasting festival covering Northern, Southern and Central California.  The festival was co-founded by Stewart McLennan and Douglas back in 2011 to give fellow small production wine-makers an added marketplace for their wines.

We attended the latest event, the 6th ANNUAL URBAN EXPOSURE: LOS ANGELES, in Glendale this past weekend.  We were thrilled to speak to so many talented winemakers, discover their technics and praise their passion.  We look forward to future events both in LA and elsewhere!  Check out www.garagistefestival.com