Lodi Grape Festival 2012

I had the chance to hang out for a bit yesterday afternoon at the Lodi Grape Festival, located at the festival grounds in Lodi, CA. Great food, great wine, fun booths! I'm always a little sad when the Grape Festival rolls around because I know it'll be the last festival I end for the year, but excited because I know that I'm that much closer to the holidays!

The event was packed with families and friends as they strolled down the many isles, enjoying great eats like Lockford Sausages, funnel cakes, and chocolate covered treats! The Pacific Coast Producers Pavilion housed the vintage dresses of almost all the Lodi Grape Festival Parade Princesses and Queens, a parade that has since converted to just the festival itself. I have pictures for the cars driven and the dresses worn, but that I didn't want to bog you down with picture overload.

Inside the Pavilion, McCay Cellars had a wine tasting room and I had the privilege of trying a few wines from their amazing. The Rose was amazing and my personal favorite! If you're in the area and looking for some great red wines, their Zinfandel and Paisley are perfect for any event. Times for the wine tasting are from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Keith Watts, primary grower for McCay Cellars, broke down the wines for me. It was the first time I'd ever done real wine tasting. While my experience didn't have me placed at their real tasting room off of Pine Street in Lodi, they made sure I and their other customers were still getting a great time.

For more information on the Lodi Grape Festival, visit http://www.grapefestival.com/LodiGrapeFestival/.
For more information on McCay Cellars, visit http://www.mccaycellars.com/.