Get ready for a weekend of swim and sips at Ace Hotel’s inaugural Golden Grapes Wine Festival, Dec. 1-2, in Palm Springs.
The two-day event will begin with a pool party hosted by Evan Enderle and Bon Appétit’s wine editor, Marissa A. Ross, founders of Wine Not? on Dec. 1. You’ll be able to catch some sun and tanning while tasting their favorite natural wines via the Little Bus at the Swim Club Pool and listening to jams by DJ Frosty.
“Palm Springs has been my second home since I was a kid and being able to combine it with my favorite thing in the world - wine - is a dream come true,” said Ross.
Believe it or not, this is the very first wine festival in Palm Springs. Wine festival founder, Christine Soto, owner of Dead or Alive wine bar in Palm Springs, says the festival highlight on Dec. 2 will be “how many California winemakers will be in one room together for attendees to meet and interact with.”
Attendees will be able to sample wines reflective of the California terroir - organic and biodynamic in their process, while meeting the masterminds behind the “new guard” of winemaking. You’ll find vintners from Broc Cellars, Scholium Project, Scribe Winery, Methode Sauvage, Red Car Wine, Halcyon Wines, and Whitcraft Winery.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY ACE HOTEL & SWIM CLUB
The wine festival will be held at The Commune of the Ace Hotel & Swim Club.
Taste a Santa Barbara highlands grenache from A Tribute to Grace or a Cabernet Franc from Lieu Dit of Santa Ynez Valley. You’ll find quality wines from far-flung places like the Sierra Hills and Mendocino. With over 35 vintners scheduled to appear from all over California, they’ll be plenty of wine to go around and plenty of chances to mingle and toast the wine makers.
“I'm not reinventing the wheel when it comes to wine festivals,” says Soto. “But as far as I know this is the only event dedicated to independent California winemakers who are committed to low intervention winemaking, terroir, and redefining the California-style on their own terms.”
The wine festival will be held in The Commune from noon to 5 p.m. Dec. 2. Tickets are $75 ($85 at the door) and will include unlimited tastings, small bites, and expert insights from the winemakers and live music from the jazz duo, The Mattson 2.
For more details, visit acehotel.com/goldengrapes or call 760-325-9900.