I was curious if anyone has attended the Festival of undiscovered grapes in LA or SJ? Any feedback/ thoughts? I just signed up for pouring at the San Jose event so hopefully a good time to be had…?
2 Likes
Haven’t heard of it, but will look into it.
I’ve poured at the one in LA in the past - this is th first one they are doing in San Jose. Will be pouring at it and hoping the turnout will be good - zero experiences with tastings up there.
Cheers
I signed up a couple of weeks ago to attend the upcoming San Jose event. Sounds interesting, very much like the old Seven % Solution tastings which might have been my favorite annual wine events ten years ago. Definitely looking forward to this new event.
1 Like
Any link to the event?
Any list of grapes?
Any Grk???
I’m coming to N CA sometime between January and March, want to set the schedule over next weekend. This could be a wheelhouse weirdity.
Hey Dan,
Here is the link:
https://festivalofundiscoveredgrapes.com/2026-san-jose/
I had to chuckle when they said they do not allow Syrah. Too mainstream for them.
If you are a chenin or grenache fan, stop by my booth and say hello.
cheers
Sweet, I’m excited to try your wines as it has been too long.
1 Like
Thought I’d bump this discussion since the Festival of Undiscovered Grapes event in San Jose is coming up in a few weeks, on Saturday 1/31. The lineup of producers looks really strong, with lots of people I know plus others I’d like to check out.
FWIW, since I’ll be writing about the San Jose tasting for the Grape-Nutz website, the event organizers have offered a discount on tickets if you use the discount code of GRAPENUTZ10
Looking forward to the event and hope to see some Berserkers there!
3 Likes
Ken,
Turns out I won’t be on the West Coast until late February, I’m sorry I will miss this and will try to plan ahead to make it next year. This is right up my geek alley (I don’t keep a list of grapes I’ve tried, but from a count years ago I know I’m well over 100).
I looked at the website, but it doesn’t speak to something important to me:
Is there any way to get a complete list of the grapes that will be presented???
This would be really important to me and might get me to order some wines without going to the tasting.
Thanks.
Dan, there’s another Festival of Undiscovered Grapes event on 3/28 in Los Angeles if you’ll still be on the West Coast then.
As far as a list of grapes / wines, I suspect they may not yet have that info from the participating producers. I’d definitely be interested in that info prior to the event too. I’d suggest contacting Allison Levine of Please the Palate to see if she can help you with that.
Dan, here’s a list of the wines and grape varieties that producers will pour at the San Jose event this Saturday. The producers pouring in LA will be somewhat different but there’s a good deal of overlap. This looks like it will be a really good event. Hope this info is helpful. Cheers!
1 Like
Ken,
Many thanks. It’s good to see such a mix of producers, from icons like Ridge, to long-time stalwarts like Dry Creek and J Lohr, to the ~90% of the producers I’ve never heard of.
I may dip my toe in. I’m only going to be in California for a week next month, all in the north, but next year I intend to plan a trip to include this event.
1 Like
Thanks, Ken, but is there a link to those lists? Those images are low res and I can’t enlarge them enough in my browser to make out the grapes.
Sorry, I don’t think there’s a link - the event organizer emailed the list to me and told me it would be ok to post it here.
Surprised the images are too low-res for you to see easily - they’re very clear on my iPhone with Safari.
PSA
Join us at the 1st Festival of Undiscovered Grapes in San Jose on Saturday, 1/31!
Come learn about 100+ different grapes that make up the 7% of California wines that aren’t made from Cab, Chard or your other typical grapes.
Where
Rotary Summit Center
88 S. 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
When
Saturday, January 31st from 2-5pm
Tickets:
Use Code WILDREJOICEBOGO at checkout for Buy One Get One free!
Really looking forward to this tasting 
1 Like
Hey Sean,
They are also doing a VIP entrance at 12pm with a VIP seminar featuring Lodi Wines with MS David Glancy, then 1pm VIP tasting. Not sure they have a strict VIP policy so worth reaching out to Allison if this is of interest. As well, they are asking us wineries to show up as early as 10am which is quite the marathon day for us wineries. Stop by and say hello if you get a chance.
cheers
1 Like
Already have the VIP tickets 
Yes I will be stopping by
2 Likes
Great to see you Sean, Larry, and other wine berserkers there at the event. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the attendance for the first event in San Jose. Very spirited group of wine lovers and tried some very nice wines. While I didn’t have time to taste all producers, some standouts for me were:
Stolpman Gamay Noir
Vigo Cellars Picpoul Blanc
Trailmarker Rose
Tercero Counoise & Carignan
Rideau Viognier
Ridge Carignan
Thatcher Mencia