Each year, The Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley® hold a Passport to Dry Creek Valley® which is usually the last weekend in April.  During this two-day event, you have exclusive access to 40-50 participating wineries to taste their wines and enjoy a buffet of food offerings.

Some wineries have live entertainment, some wineries create a theme party for the weekend, and everybody has a lot of fun.  The Passport weekend has grown over the years to include some vineyard tours in the mornings before the tastings start, and some wineries have special Passport Pricing on wines for visitors who drop by on the Friday before the event.

Tickets go on sale February 1 each year.  In order to experience the best of both the food and wine offerings, these are the top ten destinations we would recommend based on the wineries that usually participate:

Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves – delicious Zinfandels, particulary the Lily HIll

Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery – Absolutely beautiful gardens and good food at the prettiest winery in Dry Creek

Frick Winery – Excellent choice for starting the day, before the lines get long – check out their Cinsaut and Merlot

Fritz Winery – Lots of great wines, particularly their whites

Kokomo Winery – Of all the wineries pouring at 4791 Dry Creek Road, this is the best

Mauritson Family Winery – incredible food (usually from Charlie Palmer), and you should hunt down their Rockpile Zinfandel

A. Rafanelli Winery – the food buffet has to be seen to be believed, and they make a great Cabernet Sauvignon

Seghesio Family Vineyards – wide range of well-made varietals (both whites and reds) and usually a great food selection

Talty Vineyards and Winery – for their Zinfandel, and you definitely need to go here if they are doing the lamb tacos

Wilson Winery – for their Carl’s and Tori Vineyards Zinfandels, and the tri-tip is to die for