Livermore Valley wineries resume outdoor tastings
Let the tasting begin. Livermore Valley wineries are reopening their scenic properties for socially distanced outdoor sips of the latest vintages.
The opportunity to welcome back customers came with Alameda County’s decision to allow outdoor dining starting June 19 for the first time since the COVID-19 sheltering in place and other restrictions went into effect.
“We’ve missed everyone and know we can all work together to stay safe and healthy,” said Chris Chandler, executive director of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, in a statement.
State and county guidelines require that all alcohol be served with food, so the members of the LVWA that have decided to participate are partnering with a permitted restaurant or food vendor or using a commercial kitchen.
Advance reservations are required and no more than six people can attend any tasting. Although most Bay Area counties are insisting that such groups be limited to people living in the same household, Alameda
County has instituted a “social bubble” policy that allows others to gather.
There are more than 50 member wineries, but only a handful decided to open up on Father’s Day weekend, including Wood Family Vineyards, the Singing Winemaker at Tesla Vintners, Cuda Ridge Wines and Las Positas Vineyards. Dante Robere Vineyards, Three Steves, Fenestra, el Sol and Mitchell Katz joined that lineup last weekend, and still more plan to reopen by midJuly, when the food service requirement evaporates.
For example, the valley’s historic wineries — Wente and Concannon, both of which date to 1883 — are opting to wait before hosting the public. Wente has been shipping its wines to consumers while Concannon has been offering curbside pickup.
As more wineries open up, their events will be listed on the association’s website, www. Lvwine.org.
Meanwhile, if you had tickets to Taste Our Terroir, the Livermore Valley’s big oenophile bash scheduled for July 23-26, don’t despair. (And if you hadn’t ordered tickets yet, it’s not too late.) The celebratory weekend event, hosted by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association and Foundation as a fundraiser for local school meal programs, has gone virtual.
A virtual Tapas & Tempranillo
party is slated for 6 p.m. July 24 via Zoom. Tickets ($130) include four wines from Dante Robere Vineyards, Las Positas Vineyards, Murrieta’s Well and Page Mill Winery, tapas recipes for your party of four and a charcuterie board from Bay Area Redwood to hold those tasty bites. Buy your tickets (or transfer your Taste Our Terroir tickets to this event) at www. lvwine.org, then pick up the wines and other supplies between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. July 23 at 3585 Greenville Road in Livermore.
There’s also a Celebrate Chardonnay Zoom event at 5 p.m. July 25 with winemakers Lisa Lee from Charles R Vineyards, Rosie Fierro from Rosa Fierro Cellars, Elizabeth Kester from Wente Vineyards and Rhonda Wood of Wood Family Vineyards. Tickets ($95) include four bottles of wine and two crystal wine glasses — pick them up between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. July 23 at 3585 Greenville Road in Livermore.
And the auction, which includes vacations, wine and wine tasting experiences, will be held at lvwf.org July 23-26 to raise funds to help local schools distribute 1,100 meals per day to hungry children through the summer and fall.