12 Mar Please The Palate Pick of the Week: World of Pinot Noir 2022

The last public event I attended in 2020 before Covid had us all lockdown was World of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara. Two years later, the first public event I have attended since that March 2020 is World of Pinot Noir 2022. Celebrating one of my favorite wine grapes, seeing so many familiar faces, and feeling like life is getting back to normal, the World of Pinot Noir is the Please The Palate pick of the week. More than 150 Pinot Noir producers were showcased at this year’s World of Pinot Noir. There were producers from Sonoma, Napa, Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Monterey, Cienega Valley and Oregon, as well as Spain, Chile, Argentina, and France! There were seminars, lunches, dinners, and the grand tastings! To keep us safe, Covid-protocols were in place. Vaccination proof was required. It was a full weekend of Pinot Noir! On Friday, I started with the West Coast Blind Tasting Challenge in which we blind tasted wines in order to highlight, differentiate and celebrate the diverse and wholly unique Pinot Noir regions stretching from Oregon to Santa Barbara. I then enjoyed lunch exploring Pinot Noir from North to South with Patz & Hall and Fess Parker wines. I finished the day with the Grand Tasting. It was so wonderful to see so many friendly faces again. On Saturday, I was tasting the Secret Gems of Burgundy at 9:30am! Lunch with Maggy Hawk Wines from the Anderson Valley was next. The afternoon was filled with more wine at the Grand Tasting and more smiling faces! And I capped off the day with a dinner toasting the new SLO-Coast AVA. It was great to be back at World of Pinot Noir! Stay tuned for more stories about what I learned in the various seminars and tastings!