Hanging out with friends under the redwood trees is a delightful way to spend an afternoon. Now imagine you could do it with live music, great food, and excellent wine. Voilá, you’ve got the Big West Wine Festival in Guerneville, California.

I have yet to make it to this event myself, but it’s absolutely one I want to get to eventually, as it’s got a great lineup of wineries (leaning natural and low-interventionalist), excellent music, and a great vibe.

Big West Wine Fest has been going for a few years now, but it’s gotten so popular for both producers and attendees that they’re now splitting it into two days.

Here are the wineries for Day 1: Absentee Winery, Accenti Wines, Arnot-Roberts Winery*, Birdhorse Wines, Buddy Buddy Wine, CARBONISTE, Cary Q Wines, Cormorant Cellars, Corner Booth*, County Line Vineyards and Eye Cyder, Cruse Wine Co., Deux Punx, Elkins Wines*, Erggelet Brothers Wines, Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!, Forlorn Hope, Garage Gal*, Gondak Cellars, Guthrie Family Wines, Horse & Plow, Iruai Wine, Joseph-Jibril, Keltom Roots, La Onda*, Las Jaras Wines, Laughing Gems, Little Trouble Wine Co, LOTIS Wines, Maison des Plaisances, Martha Stoumen, Monte Rio Cellars, Nue Wilde, Old World Winery, Overshine Wines*, Slow Dance Wines, The Grenachista Wine Co., Two Shepherds, Vai e Vem, Wavy Wines

Here are the wineries for Day 2: Ashanta, Breaking Bread Winery, Broken Glass Wines*, Catch & Release Wines, Delphinium Wine, Desire Lines Wine Co., Detour Wine Co., Enfield Wine Co., Filomena Wine Co., FRES.CO, Hirsch Vineyards, Idlewild Wines, Isa Wines, Jolie Laide Wines, Jupiter Wine Co., Keatley Wines, Las Vivas, Lil Boy Wines, Lula, Marchelle Wines, Marioni Wine, Martin Pohl Wines, Matt Crutchfield Wines, Moona Wines*, Nelsen Barter*, North American Press, Osa Major, Pax Wines, Rootdown Wine Cellars, Ruby Blanca Wines, Ruth Lewandowski Wines, Ryme Cellars, Tansy Wines*, Terah Wine Co, Tessier Winery, Trail Marker Wine // Kid Sister Wine, Unturned Stone, Virgo Magic Wines, Ward Four Wines, ZUMO

That’s a pretty sweet set of wineries on either day, featuring many of my absolute favorite California producers. So get yourself some tickets and spend the most delicious day in the redwoods that you’ll ever experience.

2025 Big West Wine Festival
Saturday June 14th and Sunday June 15th
1:00 PM to 7:00 PM each day
Solarpunk Farms
15015 Armstrong Woods Road
Guerneville, CA 95446 (map)

Tickets are $87.21 inclusive of taxes and fees for one day, or $151.23 for both days. This event will likely sell out, so you’d best purchase your tickets in advance online. Somewhat unusually, kids are welcome at this particular tasting, and get in free. Note that parking is brutal in and around downtown Guerneville even without a major event. There will be a designated parking lot at the Guerneville School, and while spaces last they are $40. But cars with 3+ passengers park for free! Carpool, baby!

Once you get there, make sure you stay hydrated, eat well, and don’t swallow all the wine.