A Pinot Fest to Remember

22 years of celebrating Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

“In 2019 I attended my first Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival and, boy, was it memorable! I didn’t really “attend” as I was the organizer of the event. We were challenged from the very beginning, and Mother Nature was very unkind to us that week when she gave us the gift of an atmospheric river three days before.”

This is something very unwanted when you are expecting 800 people for an outdoor wine event held in the redwood forest in three days! I should mention this was the third time it had ever rained at the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Fest, and at the end of this year’s event, it rightfully earned the name of Mud Fest.

Movement of the Tents, Tables & Layout

When we realized how bad the rain was going to pour, we rented all of the tents and walls still available from Bright Rentals and stitched together a new event layout. The open-air event was originally straddled around a beautiful redwood grove on the lawn at Camp Navarro. We had some space constraints that we solved with a 100ft tented (muddy) walkway.

Behind the Scene Logistics:

Anderson Valley had 8 inches of rain in four days!
The wine event layout changed five times that week (tents, tables, and area themes)
One tent had to be picked up and lifted to another location as the rain pooled
Many trenches were dug to help move out standing water
Cardboard and carpets were placed everywhere to mitigate falls
Tables were strategically located to redirect traffic
The lake where the band stage was would have been wineries, food and you!

The End Result Was Somewhat of an Obstacle Course!

A Visit from Our Inner Child

We messaged to our wine festival guest to prepare for mud and rain and we purchased all of the available rain ponchos and rain booties we could get to arrive in time. Guests arrived in galoshes and rain jackets and, despite the tight quarters and everyone getting muddy, we all seemed to love it!

We built a stage and placed the band in the lake that had formed and swelled into what became the food tent. To brighten up the low lighting, we draped string lights everywhere. We also kept the south side of the event open to allow some light in, as well as to share the beauty of the misty-magical redwood forest surrounding us.

The Beauty of Anderson Valley Pinot Drinkers

One of the most surprising parts of the day was that everyone showed up! We expected a loss of 10-20% of ticket holders considering how bad the rainstorm was. Nope- they all showed up, AND we sold several dozen tickets more at the door!

Everyone was in high spirits and enjoying the mud-madness, making the best of the situation with many declaring it to be the most memorable Pinot Fest on record! Early in the event, I found I had formed a strong connection to the event artwork prepared by Gerald Reis, realizing that there was one hell of a story to tell, and one I would share for the rest of my life. So, I bought it!

~ Courtney DeGraff, Executive Director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers

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