Wine Lands 2014 - What to Drink at Outside Lands

Last year, one of my favorite articles that I wrote, was a summary of my top picks for the Wine Lands tent at Outside Lands. I'm excited to present my guide for Wine Lands 2014. The list is in the order that they appear on the website and not in order of favoritism. I also want to add that the wineries bring 3-5 types of wine so not all of the wines listed below. I will try to give as many suggestions as possible to help guide your wine time at the festival.

Another fun fact for first time Outside Landers - you can purchase wines by the glass or do wine tastings. Some of the vendors below make really interesting wines and if you have a gap in your band lineup schedule, I definitely suggest taking advantage of being able to taste a variety of wines all in one spot. The subheaders will take you to each of the wineries sites if you're interested in seeing their whole portfolio of wines.

Bonny Doon Vineyard

With that said - I'm so excited about the first winery on my list. I'm a member of a handful of wine clubs, but this is the only one that will be at Outside Lands. I've always been a big proponent of putting your money where your mouth is and last month when I finally got a chance to visit the Bonny Doon tasting room, I walked out with well over a case of wine. As my boyfriend knows, I tried through a lot of their portfolio. I was able to find out which wines will be at the festival so I'm only writing about those here but you can look forward to a more detailed post on Bonny Doon in the future

• Vin Gris de Cigare - I'm a huge rosé fan so it's no suprise this is at the top of my list. This wine is dry and crisp and will be absolutely perfect if next weekend ends up being one of those rare hot SF days.
• 2013 Albariño - Albariño is an amazing Spanish grape and I'm so happy that it's becoming more popular. If you don't want to cool off with the amazing Vin Gris, this is another refreshing dry wine that you'll enjoy.
• Proper Claret - The Claret is an interesting blend at Bonny Doon. It's a Cabernet based blend for people who aren't a fan of Cabernet. Coming in at a low 13% alcohol, it's much leaner and silkier than a typical Cab based blend (helped in part by the other grapes - Petite Verdot, Tannat, and a touch of Petite Sirah).

Obviously, I'm a huge Bonny Doon fan. If you're going to go for the tasting option at any of the wine booths, make it this one. I also know I've gotten off to a typical long winded start but this is the winery I'm the most familiar with so the rest won't be so crazy. This is also just a highlight of all of the DEWN options - this winery makes so many wines and they are all unique and delicious. I've barely touched on their wine portfolio, and if you like the wines at the festival, I strongly suggest you visiting their tasting room just north of Santa Cruz.

Broc Cellars

I've had the pleasure of tasting Broc's wines several times and they always impress. Below are the wines you can find at Wine Lands 2014. Everything is pretty new so I haven't had a chance to taste them yet so I'm really excited to pay this booth a visit and get to know their new wines. 

• 2013 Broc "Love White" California (Marsanne/Roussanne/Grenache Blanc)
• 2013 Broc "Love Red" California (Carignan/Valdiguiè/Petite Sirah)
• 2013 Broc "Vine Starr" Zinfandel Sonoma

Broc has a lot of other great wines and they're tasting room is just over the bridge on 4th Street in Berkeley so I hightly suggest you pay them a visit!

J. Lohr

This is one of the most important things I will say in this blog post - J. Lohr wine can be found throughout the festival, not just in the Wine Lands tent. Specifically, you can buy glasses of the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir throughout the festival so if you're late for a set and Wine Lands is feeling far away - fret not! I definitely took advantage of this and had several glasses of the Pinot Noir last year. J. Lohr makes good quality wine and they will definitely fulfill your wine needs when you are looking for a more convenient glass. Be sure to check out their booth at Wine Lands though if you are interesting in some of their more limited wines. 

Menage A Trois

And now I have another important point to make. I'm not one to shut down anyone's wine tastes and say you shouldn't drink something. However, Menage a Trois at Outside Lands isn't a good deal. There's no issue with the wine itself but it's a very familiar and easy to buy wine. Wine Lands is full of hard to find, smaller lot, local, unique wines. I suggest trying those. For fans of Menage a Trois - pick up a bottle at the market for you to enjoy when you get home. 

Preston Farm and Winery

I have really fond memories of visiting Preston. It was an amazing day in the Dry Creek Valley and after doing some wine tasting in the Sonoma heat, some of my party needed a break from the next winery. Luckily, my heat beat friend is a big cat lover and Preston had a couple of very friendly kitties on their property and she had plenty of company while the rest of did our tasting.

Now I'm not expecting Preston to bring cats to Outside Lands so let's talk about wine. I walked home with a bottle of the Preston Barbera that day. It was definitely the most unique of all their wines and Barbera is a varietal that I'm falling more in love with every day. Lucky for you guys - the newest vintage of Barbera will be making an appearance at the festival as well as the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc and 2012 Petite Sirah. 

Scharffenberger Cellars

The Pink one is the Brut Rosé

Scharffenberger specializes in sparkling wines. I'm never one to say no to bubbles and sometimes they're just fun for celebrating the everyday. Outside Lands is a little bit more than an every day occasion so this is the definitely the booth to stop by if you're looking to toast to your time at the festival. 

There are two options for sparkles at Scharffenberger. The first is the Brut is you are looking for a dryer option. The second is the Brut Rosé which is little fruitier and less dry than it's non-pink counterpart. I suggest trying both and picking your favorite.

Wind Gap

Last but definitely not least is Wind Gap. Sadly, it's been a while since I tried Wind Gap wines (which I'm looking forward to changing next weekend). My personal favorite Wind Gap wines are the rosé, Grenache, and Trousseau Gris. Trousseau Gris is a very fun and unique grape and it sounds like the 2013 Wind Gap Trousseau Gris is especially lively. This is definitely a booth where you're going to want to taste through all the options.

Just look for this lady 

So those are my picks for Wine Lands 2014. I'm definitely going to be spending a lot of time at the Wine Tent so look for me there! However, that's not the only thing I'm looking forward to next weekend. Stay tuned for a few more posts on what to look forward to at Outside Lands! Also check back here - I'm hoping to get more details on Wine Lands and plan on updating this post accordingly.