ZinFest

Zinfest is all about who you go with and the people watching. There are far better (and less expensive) ways to enjoy Lodi’s wine than to wait in the lines of people fighting over a tiny sip of wine.
If you truly are interested in learning more about the wines and wineries, get there early. You’ll beat the sloppy crowds of people looking to get hammered.
In my opinion, not really worth the ticket price.

It was really an amazing time. Lots of choices and amazing wine and people. Totally recommend attending.

Zinfest 2015 was awesome! This was our first time attending. We definitely will be back next year. The weather was perfect and the crowds were not to bad. The music in the main pavilion was great– oldies but goodies. Most of the wines were delicious– the food was good. I loved how they had free water and bread to munch on. I didn’t see anyone out of control–

my review is simply from the working aspect of the festival. I am a staff member of wine and
logistics went off without a hitch. the food was delicious gorgeous and generous. the wine was (I heard) yummy and the pores were generous. the music was good the meal service went fast from appetizers to desert. the restrooms were good and clean. the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves. I had a good time looking forward to doing it next year.

I’m not sure the previous poster was at the same event that we attended.
The Vintner’s Grille on Friday night, while a bit pricey, was a fantastic evening of wine, food, and a bit of dancing. The ONLY negative to the whole affair would be that the band didn’t seem to be in sync at at some times played out of tune. A little more practice needed there.
The small foods during the tasting were delicious and seemed to be constantly available by a very professional staff of servers. The wine pours were generous, yet there was no obvious drunkeness, just happy people enjoying a very mild evening.
The dinner (several dishes) was served «Family style» and our head server kept things moving without being obtrusive, plus she asked which wines our table of 10 preferred and made sure we always had one.
Saturday’s event was as well organized as the dinner. The layout of Lodi Lake and the spacing of the wine tables kept the crowds from bunching up. We never waited more than 2 minutes for a pour and, contrary to the previous poster here, I saw neither big pours or sloppy drunks. The servers, many of whom were winery staff, poured the appropriate size for a taste (1 ounce) but were happy to pour again after they served the people in line behind you.
The food was good and plentiful, we had no problem finding a table for 4 to sit and eat, and there was water everywhere. Not just in bottles but a trailer set up with taps (similar to beer taps at a pub) where a person could rinse their wine glass and top it off with ice-​cold fresh water.
For the entire day we only saw one dropped glass which was quickly swept up by the volunteer staff.
We have attended several wine events over the years (First Sip, Barberafest, The Big Crush) and this is probably the best one out there. Far more civilized crowd than a brewfest (I’ve pulled taps at several and they get ugly after 3 – 4 hours).
A nice touch was being able to purchase wine on the way out. Good for the consumer to be able to target specific wines and good for the producers to take advantage of the «impulse» buy

Oh ZinFest, day 2, at Lodi lake, how you don’t seem to disappoint when it comes to getting people drunk. This is such a good idea gone bad. Let’s just list out the pros first to be nice and then the long list of cons.
Pros
–You get to «taste» several different wines from 50+ wineries in Lodi. (FYI– A taste is a 1 oz pour by standards of the festival).
–Tons of food vendors
–Live music
–arts and crafts
–free water and bread (though I didn’t see many utilizing this).
–Lodi Lake
–day 1 and 3 are classier events for the people who really do want to taste and learn about wine.
–first aid is very attentive when it comes to injuries.
–plenty of shaded areas for people to stand under
–easy purchase of tickets for food $ 1 = 1 ticket. Easy math for the tipsy ones.
Cons
–it is nicknamed «drunk fest» for a darn good reason
–the festival itself is just too long 12pm — 5pm of drinking wine leads to very bad drunks
–not all vendors follow the rules when it comes to how much they pour, leading people to get too intoxicated too fast.
–it seems to be an event of «look at me» in my ugly poor wardrobe selection with a lot of bits and pieces hanging out and a place for those in Lodi to want to be seen just to be seen and don’t even care or know about wine.
–poor exiting of attendees out of the park when the event is over. The attendees like to linger around because they want to keep getting drunk.
–When a person is cut off from a winery for being too intoxicated, there should be a protocol for them to be removed from the event.
–Wine glasses are dangerous and I saw a lot of people injured from them. Since pours are not regulated properly, possibly go to crappy plastic glasses for safety? (lame!)
–poor organization of the event in general from giving people the proper wrist bands to having them exit the facility.
–not enough places for people to sit.
–The protocol for last call of pours. Possibly mark it on the ticket? Flyer? Instead of pulling the wine off the tables and telling people it’s over.
–it’s impossible to taste all the wines from the wineries, especially when you are being poured more than the regulated «taste.» If all the vendors held to the rule of a one ounce pour, there would be smaller lines and less drunk people (line moves faster when you pour the correct amount, eliminating drunk stories by attendees who are looking to get their $ 45/​$ 55 worth. It’s a good deal, get over yourself).
Advice to make this festival better:
–Change the time to only 3 hours
–Increase the ticket price to eliminate those who are just trying to get a cheap buzz and not actually enjoy and taste wine. (If you know anything about tasting wine in Napa Valley, $ 25-​$ 40 or more is standard for tasting only a few wines).
–Lodi is being compared to Napa Valley, but this event makes Lodi look like trash. You do not see this type of behavior in Napa or in the bay area at wine events.
–Vendors need to be held responsible for their actions. Eliminate those who pour heavy or drink while pouring wine. It sets the bar low for attendees and makes them think that it is in fact drunk fest. Hence the nickname.
–Make it mandatory for all vendors to follow rules or be revoked from the festival. After all, safety of the guests should be the highest priority. Not hooking people up with a glass of wine. They won’t remember what you were pouring and can’t even purchase wine unless it’s on their way out. And, the drunker they get, the less likely they will remember which wines they liked or will purchase them.
Why did I give this 2 stars when it only deserves 1? Because it has the potential to be a classy event like Napa and the bay area in which we thrive to be like. I only compare to Napa and the bay area because I have witnessed the way this type of event should go down in these locations. You do not see people this hammered or obnoxious. It really makes Lodi look like trash and gives those from out of town the idea that we can never be as classy as we claim to be with the wines that we produce, which are very nice. I think that ZinFest could lose a few «regulars» and gain more people who appreciate the wine that Lodi has to offer. Again, raising the ticket price and making the event shorter will help weed out those that make it drunk fest.