News you can talk about & Trends you can watch

Wine

Month-long Celebration of the World of Pinot Noir

Red Grapes on Vine

March 5, 2021 — The annual World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) event is being celebrated all month during March 2021.  Normally held on the first weekend of March at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, the 2021 event will be entirely virtual. This year, the largest annual gathering of Pinot Noir producers and fans is not just going virtual, it’s going bigger and longer.

Dubbed “WOPN Wine Month”, every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday throughout March will feature a series of virtual tasting seminars, events, auctions, and winemaker happy hours via Zoom, Instagram Live and Facebook Live.

“Each year, our 3,000-plus attendees often say they’d love even more content and more opportunities for intimate experiences with winemakers,” says Laura Booras, president of the World of Pinot Noir Board of Directors. “This year, we actually have an opportunity to grow those opportunities.”

Wine glasses for tasting S_stockS

New this year is the WOPN Wine Case Experience.  Early sign-ups received a carefully selected case of hard-to-find pinot noirs handpicked by our esteemed World of Pinot Sommelier Team ($600). Then, each Wednesday, David Glancy, Master Sommelier and Founder of the San Francisco Wine School, hosts an exclusive winemaker seminar and discussion featuring three of the 12 wines.

Every Thursday, WOPN presents a different deep-dive tasting seminar. These winemaker panel discussions feature esteemed personalities in the winemaking community and delve into sites such as Bien Nacido, the terroirs of the Santa Lucia Highlands and explore the rugged elegance of the Sonoma Coast. Each tasting seminar will feature a collection of wines for purchase.

In addition to the eight tasting seminars, WOPN will host a series of free live Facebook and Instagram winemaker discussions and Happy Hours every Wednesday at noon (PST) and Friday at 5 p.m. (PST), respectively.

WOPN’s popular annual silent auction also is virtual. Bid throughout the month on large-format bottles, exclusive library wines, and one-of-a-kind experiences from scores of producers from around the world.

To see the detailed month-long schedule, and for information on purchasing wines for the seminars, please visit the World of Pinot Noir website. https://www.worldofpinotnoir.com/