Thank the wine gods: LAWineFest is back. The summer event has become a favorite among vino enthusiasts and casual imbibers alike, and this year it returns to Raleigh Studios on May 30-31 for their tenth anniversary. Along with the copious amount of wine available, attendees can sit in on seminars like "How to Taste Wine" and "Cheddar is a Verb" (hell yeah it is); snack on food from The Grilled Cheese Truck, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Kogi BBQ and more; and listen to live music. If you haven't bought tickets yet (slacker!), we highly suggest you cancel your weekend plans and snag one here. Why? Well, a couple new features have been added for their tenth anniversary, making it one of the best drinking events this summer.
So what's new?
A boutique wine garden
We know! We know. You're at a wine festival; why would you possibly need to spend an extra $20 on what is, essentially, a wine tent within a wine tent? This is for all the über wine geeks out there, the ones who seek out rare varietals and the newest wines. The boutique wine garden will feature exclusive small-batch pours from emerging wineries in Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Paso Robles and more. Bragging rights totally included.
Popular Choice Awards
Power to the people! This year, LAWineFest is letting attendees vote on their favorite wines with a Popular Choice Awards. Using the wine app Quini to note the five pillars of wine tasting—eye, nose, mouth, finish and opinion—the crowd will be able to vote from 1-4pm on both days, and the winner will be announced at 4:30pm on Sunday. There are incentives for voting, too: for every 5 votes, guests will win wine swag; for every 10, they'll be entered in a drawing to win one of several $100 gift cards.
New participating wineries
Along with some old standards, there are a slew of new wineries setting up shop at Raleigh Studios this year: Fetzer, Cambria, Byron (all from California), Bodega Norton (Argentina) and more. It's the perfect way to sample new wines you've never tried before, which you can then order with Drizly, a wine delivery service that's also new to the festival this year.
Can't make it to this year's LAWineFest? Check out our list of where to go wine tasting in LA. Plus, there's always the Friday Night Wine Tastings at Barnsdall Art Park.