Sonoma County Harvest Fair

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair celebrates the county's farms, food and makers, and its wine side is a professional competition for wines made from Sonoma County grapes. More than nine hundred wines are entered and judged for Gold, Double Gold and Best of Class medals. It all comes together at an evening gala at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, where the medal winners pour, local restaurants and caterers serve savory bites, and the three Sweepstakes wines are announced live on stage.

It is the rare chance to taste a whole county's prize list in one room. Instead of hunting medal winners winery by winery, you can work through the Golds and Best of Class wines side by side and see which bottles rose to the top. Dishes from the winners of the fair's Professional Food Competition share the tables. Guests are encouraged to dress up, with a best dressed prize in the mix, so the night has the feel of a hometown party with an unusually good wine list.