Stomp or sip: It's time to celebrate California Wine Month

Explore the state’s magical sparkling, white, rosé and red juice at events throughout San Diego and beyond

San Diego Union-Tribune

Sept. 13, 2019 12 PM PT

We consider every month is California Wine Month, but September is when the state’s wineries, tasting rooms and
eno-centric restaurants pull out all the stops to celebrate the state’s magic juice, whether sparkling, white, rosé or red.

While we’d rather sip than stomp, at least two wine events this month feature grape stomping — the Ramona Grape Stomp and Coasterra’s 3rd Annual Wine Fest (which will showcase San Diego Critics Challenge winning wines).

September is also the perfect time to visit your local urban tasting room or bona fide rural winery, like Escondido’s Hungry Hawk Vineyards, which features live music on the weekends throughout the month.

California Wine Month

Events throughout September. Various locations, including the Ramona Grape Stomp (2-7 p.m. Saturday, Ramona Outdoor Community Center, 421 Aqua Lane, Ramona. $10 for five tastes. ramonagrapestomp.com), live music at Hungry Hawk Vineyards (2:30-5:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 29. 3255 Summit Drive, Escondido. 760-489-1758. hungryhawkvineyards.com), and Coasterra’s 3rd Annual Wine Fest (noon-3 p.m. Sept. 28. 880 Harbor Island Drive, Harbor Island. $40. 619-814-1300.) cohnrestaurants.com/coasterra/post/coasterra-wine-fest) For a statewide listing of events, see discovercaliforniawines.com/california-wine-month

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Michele Parente

Michele Parente is the Dining, Wine + Lifestyle reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Her areas of expertise include the Valle de Guadalupe wine region, fashion, television, women’s issues and coverage of aging, such as the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia and family caregiving. Michele is the former Sunday and features editor, where she oversaw profiles, special projects, such as the Legacy of WWII and in-depth reports on a variety of topics. She joined the U-T in 2003, supervising coverage areas that have included features, fashion, TV, Food, Consumer Health and Arts & Entertainment. Previously, Michele was the assistant features editor at The Oregonian, in Portland, as well as the Portland City Hall reporter. She spent 10 years at New York Newsday as a reporter on the crime, education, state legislature and New York City Hall beats. She was part of a team that won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting. A native New Yorker, Michele received her B.A. in political science and Italian Literature at UC Berkeley. In 1980, she studied at L’Università di Urbino, in Italy. One of her life’s goals is to make her way through each of the world’s great wine regions.