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The World's Best Wine Festivals + My Favorite $19 Summer Red [The Barrel Dork Digest]
Published 3 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Wine Friends —
This week could not go by fast enough. Tomorrow morning, a couple girlfriends and I are heading out to Willamette Valley wine country for a slow, leisurely day at two of my favorite wineries.
I spend a lot of time out in the Valley for work — harvesting grapes, bottling for Flipturn Cellars, securing winery equipment, pouring at events, the list goes on. But this weekend I get to go as a regular wine-loving citizen. No work brain. Just me, my friends, some incredible views, and great glasses of wine.
We're starting the day at Ambar Estate in the Dundee Hills, and I've been looking forward to this one since I visited last year for the first time. The architecture alone is enough reason to go — the tasting room has floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open up to the vineyard with Mount Hood in the distance. But the thing that really blew me away was the food program. Chef Heidi Whitney-Schile leads the kitchen there, and her approach to wine pairing is genuinely thoughtful and delicious — seasonal, elevated without being fussy, and perfectly matched to what's in the glass. They do curated pairings, vineyard table dinners, and an à la carte menu that makes it really easy to settle in and stay a while. Which we will.
My last tasting at Ambar Estate
After that, we're heading over to Sequitur — the project of Michael Etzel, who co-founded Beaux Frères (one of the most iconic names in Oregon wine) and has now dedicated himself to this 12-acre estate in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. The vineyard is organic and biodynamic (and has goats!) — and Michael and his son are doing some genuinely exciting things in the cellar, including aging Pinot Noir in Italian clay amphora.
Petting the goats at Sequitur!
I'll be sharing stories, photos, and all the wine details from this trip in next week's newsletter — so stay tuned!
What are YOUR wine plans this weekend? Whether it's a special bottle you've been saving, a trip to your favorite local winery, or something fun you're popping for a summer BBQ — I want to hear about it. Hit Reply and let me know!
With that, let's get into this week's wine digest.
Cheers,
Want to build a home wine collection you'll actually drink — and feel confident about? My Wine Cellar Blueprint course walks you through everything: how to find wines you love, how to buy better at shops and when ordering at restaurants, how to store and serve like a pro, and how to build a personal collection that fits your life.
5 Wine Festivals Around the World That Are Worth the Plane Ticket
I just wrapped up working the Memorial Day Indie Wine Mixer in McMinnville for Flipturn Cellars, and it reminded me all over again why wine festivals — when done right — are one of the best ways to learn about wine.
If you haven't heard of the Indie Wine Mixer, I just posted a Reel on my Instagram breaking down why this event is so special. The short version: it's a celebration of Oregon's small, independent producers — the winemakers who are also the farmers, the marketers, the people pouring your glass, and the ones juggling all of it on a shoestring budget. Founded in 2022 by Erich Berg of Ricochet Wines in McMinnville, it's grown into one of the most fun wine events in the state.
Wine festivals have a special kind of magic. You discover producers you'd never find otherwise. You ask the winemaker a question and get a real answer. You drink something that makes you go, "wait, where has this been all my life?"
So this week, I'm sharing five unique wine festivals around the world that are genuinely worth building a trip around. Full transparency — I haven't made it to any of these yet, but a few of these are on my bucket list!
La Batalla del Vino ("The Wine Battle") — Haro, La Rioja, Spain
Every June, in the small town of Haro in Rioja, people wake up before dawn, hike up to the cliffs above the city, and then... throw buckets of red wine at each other: Water guns, wine skins, plastic bottles — all filled with Rioja, all aimed at laughing strangers. It is beautiful chaos. And then you dry off and spend the rest of the day actually tasting the wine that makes this region famous.
Photo Credit: Decanter Magazine
Bordeaux Wine Festival — Bordeaux, France
Held every two years in June along the Garonne River, this one is grand in the best possible way. You walk the quays tasting wines from hundreds of Bordeaux châteaux, join winemaking workshops, take river cruises, and watch a spectacular light and sound show projected onto the city's historic buildings at night. It's big, it's beautiful, and somehow it doesn't look snobby. For Bordeaux, that's impressive.
Vendimia Harvest Festival — Mendoza, Argentina
Every March (Harvest season in the Southern Hemisphere), Mendoza erupts in a multi-day harvest celebration with folkloric music, parades, traditional dancing, and there's even a crowning of the National Harvest Queen. All of this happens with the snow-capped Andes as a backdrop, and some of the world's best Malbec flowing freely throughout.
Marlborough Wine & Food Festival — New Zealand
Marlborough is home to some of the most iconic Sauvignon Blanc on the planet, and this festival is a love letter to it. You're tasting wine in a valley ringed by snow-capped mountains, paired with fresh seafood prepared by top local chefs. If you've ever wanted to combine a wine trip with one of the most stunning landscapes on earth — this is it.
Stellenbosch Wine Festival — South Africa
South Africa's wine scene is dramatically underappreciated, and the Stellenbosch Wine Festival might be the best way to dive in. Over 200 wineries pour their best bottles across a weekend of live music, incredible food, and the warmest hospitality you'll find anywhere. If you're already dreaming about a safari, tack a few days in Stellenbosch onto the itinerary. You'll leave with a suitcase full of wine and a whole new appreciation for what South Africa is doing.
Have any of these been on your radar? Or have you been to a wine festival somewhere that absolutely blew your mind and isn't on this list? Hit Reply and tell me. I am always updating the list.
Vine To Glass
Wine Of The Week: 2025 Artuke — Rioja, Spain
AKA the Chilled Red I Keep Reaching For This Summer
If you read last week's newsletter, you know I'm fully in my chilled red era right now. As we kick off summer, I have zero interest in sipping a heavy, tannic red wine in 80-degree weather. What I want is something light, bright, refreshing — something that drinks like it knows it's warm outside.
So the 2025 Artuke from Rioja, Spain has been on heavy rotation in my house these last two weeks.
The Producer
Artuke is a small, family-run winery in Baños de Ebro — a little village in Rioja Alavesa, the cooler, higher-elevation side of Rioja that borders the Basque Country. The name "Artuke" is a combination of the two brothers who run it: Arturo and Kike de Miguel. Their dad, Roberto, was a fourth-generation grape grower who stopped selling his fruit to the big Rioja bodegas about thirty years ago and started bottling it himself — hand-selling it out of his van across the Basque Country.
Arturo and Kike grew up watching that. When they took over, they brought a terroir-first, artisan philosophy that puts them firmly in the "Rioja 'n' Roll" camp — a group of young producers shaking up what Rioja wine can look, taste, and feel like. Forget heavy oak aging and the rigid classification system. Artuke is about bright, fresh, site-specific character from organically farmed, old vines.
And this wine is their entry-level bottle, made with carbonic maceration — the same technique used for Beaujolais. If you've ever had a Beaujolais Nouveau and thought why is this so refreshing and fruit-forward?, that's why. The grapes ferment whole inside their own skins, which keeps the tannins low and the fruit super vivid.
My Tasting Notes
Give this a 20-minute chill in the fridge before pouring, and here's what you get: fresh sour cherry, ripe strawberry, a little raspberry, and a gorgeous floral note. The mouthfeel is smooth, velvety, easy. The finish is clean. The whole thing just feels effortless in the best possible way.
This is what summer wine drinking should feel like.
What I'd Pair It With
A charcuterie board on the porch
Grilled salmon, chicken thighs, or sausages off the BBQ
A mild manchego or aged gouda
Pizza night
Or just, honestly, poured slightly chilled into a glass on a warm evening. That's enough.
The Price
About $19 — and that is genuinely outstanding for what you're getting. This is a producer that Tim Atkin (one of the most respected voices in Spanish wine) classifies as a First Growth. Their top wines are considered some of the elite bottles in all of Rioja. And this entry-level bottle gives you all that for under twenty bucks.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned enthusiast, my weekly newsletter makes wine fun, approachable, and exciting. Join now to boost your wine confidence, discover incredible bottles, master food and wine pairings, and create the home wine collection of your dreams. Each week, you’ll get wine lessons, bottle recommendations, and everything you need to elevate your wine journey. Plus, you’ll receive my free Food & Wine Pairing Cheatsheet — your go-to guide for effortless pairings. Ready to dive into the world of wine? Join now!
