Chef Charlie Palmer's cult two-day blowout hits its 19th year in 2026 with a new home — Appellation Healdsburg, his just-opened flagship resort — after two decades anchored at Hotel Healdsburg and Dry Creek Kitchen. The format holds: Friday's Taste of Pigs & Pinot turns sixty hand-picked Pinots loose in the blind-judged Pinot Cup, with pork in every conceivable form from Palmer and a bench of Sonoma kitchens including SingleThread, The Matheson and Diavola. This year's twists: an all-father-and-son chef lineup and the event's first all-female Gala winemaker roster, with Sonoma names like Blue Farm and Merry Edwards pouring. Proceeds fund the Palmer Family Education Foundation; tickets are gold dust.
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Late March (2026: Mar 20-21)
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Held over a Friday and Saturday in March at Appellation Healdsburg. Friday's Taste of Pigs & Pinot is the grand walk-around tasting with the blind-judged Pinot Cup; Saturday brings winemaker seminars, comparative pours and the ticketed Gala Dinner, with a benefit auction threaded through the weekend. Passes are sold by event — single sessions or a full-weekend package — and both the marquee tastings and the gala routinely sell out well ahead, so set a reminder and buy the day tickets release. Proceeds support the Palmer Family Education Foundation.
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~19 years · ~60 hand-picked Pinot producers · Healdsburg · March
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Tiered (Taste GA, Gala, lodging packages)
Saturday is the dress-up half of the weekend. Days run to intimate winemaker seminars and comparative Pinot tastings before the black-tie Gala Dinner, a multi-course collaboration among Palmer and a rotating cast of guest chefs — recent editions have leaned into father-and-son kitchen duos and showcased all-women winemaker lineups — each course poured against a coveted bottle. A silent and live auction runs alongside, turning trophy lots and once-off culinary experiences into scholarship dollars. It is a serious wine crowd in a small town, which is part of the charm: world-class Pinot, a whole hog's worth of pork, and everyone within arm's reach of the chef whose name is on the door.
