San Francisco and its East Bay Cities are a lot like Napa and Sonoma when it comes to the wine scene. In this equation San Francisco is Napa, and the East Bay is Sonoma. San Francisco scores the bulk of the attention and spotlight, while Oakland and its neighboring communities quietly go about their business with people in the know. Over the past 15 years, the wine scene in the East Bay has steadily improved. More and more urban wineries have set up shop in Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda. Restaurants with serious wine programs continue to flourish, and more wine stores continue to open and thrive.

That quiet ascendancy has also been marked by the introduction of the Oakland Wine Festival Oakland Wine Festival, now in its third year. This event is finally giving East Bay residents the opportunity to taste a ton of wine and good food without having to make a trek across the bridge.

The event takes place on Saturday July 15th at the Claremont Club and Spa and is a full day packed with different events. The day begins with a blind tasting event, which will level the playing field for 100 different wines. That will be followed by a winemaker luncheon (currently sold out), a retrospective tasting for Silverado Vineyards, the grand tasting event, winemaker dinners, and more.

In short, there’s more wine than you can shake a stick at in Oakland on July 15th. Go forth and swirl.

2017 Oakland Wine Festival
Saturday July 15th, 2017
Grand Tasting 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Claremont Club and Spa
41 Tunnel Road
Berkeley, CA 94705 (map)

Tickets for the event are quite reasonable. The Grand Tasting will set you back only $35, while a winemaker dinner costs only $85. Tickets can and should be purchased online in advance, though some will likely be available at the door as well.