A hearty paella made by the culinary team at Post Ranch Inn (Photo: Laura Ness)
November 14, 2025 – A spectacular drive down Highway 1 to Big Sur on a clear day heralded a brilliant day to come. The ocean gleamed blue and the sun melted any trace of fog before it could form. It was the kind of day that lulls you into thinking that the ocean is your friend and that there is no place on earth more soothing and welcoming than the coast of Big Sur. Those of us who know better just tuck this fleeting feeling in the back of our emotional wallets for the days when the other side of Mother Nature comes out with a vengeance.
As I turned into the entrance to Post Ranch, I could feel the world melting away, and for a few hours of sipping and sauntering through the lush gardens, bathed in sunlight and heavy with crop, I indulged in a bounty of talent from local winemakers, restaurants and caterers. Life was good. There was Champagne, there were oysters, there was sunshine.
There was even a table filled with cut flowers, floral tape and pins, beckoning attendees to adorn themselves. Cole Thomas of Madson Wines did just that and was sporting a lovely corsage of berries on his dark blue shirt that looked like the color of the ocean at Rocky Point.
Cole Thomas of Madson Wines (Photo: Laura Ness)
Music and laughter filled the air, bees buzzed, women wore dresses and hats. This year, Big Sur Food & Wine swapped “Pinot Walkabout” for “Sip and Saunter,” marking a switch from Pinot Noir to Anything Goes. And indeed, it went, with lots of imports, including a few gems and more than a few duds. Thankfully, there were still quite a few local and Central Coast neighboring wines to enjoy.
The food was amazing, as always, with my top nods to Jerome Viel’s zippy Japanese scallop crudo with microgreens and yuzu, and the over-the-top truffle gnocchi with sauteed golden chanterelles in Meyer lemon butter sauce with shaved porcini courtesy chef Obdiel Luna and his adorable team from La Bicyclette. Their display featuring a bounty of real porcini mushrooms was especially clever. That dish was superb with the 2016 ROAR Soberanes Pinot Noir that Adam Franscioni was pouring out of a magnum.
There were fun nibbles from chef Jessica Yarr, including smoked beets on rye crackers and an avocado mousse, and a hamachi crudo with shiso, pickled chili shoyu, apple and sesame by chef Wes Wilcox of Stationaery. There was cheese to be had from Stepladder Creamery (they have several cheese clubs – good gift idea), and a magnificent pan of paella created by the culinary staff of Post Ranch Inn, featuring Fogline Farms chicken, Starbird black mussels, Monterey squid, Bilbao chorizo and Bomba rice with plenty of saffron. It looked absolutely awesome, but I had my hands full delivering food to stranded winemakers. This is not an event to wing solo.
Truffle gnocchi with shaved porcini mushrooms from La Bicyclette chef Obdiel Luna (Photo: Laura Ness)
I spied Post Ranch executive chef Reylon Agustin giving tours of the magnificent gardens, pointing out the century old apple tree under which rapt guests were standing, holding glasses of Champagne while the dappled sunshine created ethereal leaf shadow tattoos on their faces.
Among the wine gems that are still dancing in my head (where there is no room for sugar plums) were the wines from Clendenen Family Vineyards, a tradition carried out by the family of the late Jim Clendenen who founded Au Bon Climat. The 2023 Grenache Gris from Rancho La Cuna in Santa Maria was especially thirst quenching. The 2020 Mondeuse from Bien Nacido was fun and a bit rustic, the perfect foil to the duck confit bolognese with gemelli pasta cooked up by executive chef Anthony Kresge of Pasatiempo Golf Club. He and events manager Giselle Peoples were dishing out warm and hearty bowls of the delicious stuff to the delight of all those winemakers who were stationed in the chillier outposts of the tree-shaded garden.
As I brought Anthony a big glass of the Au Bon Climat Mondeuse, followed by a generous glass of Closerie Des Lys Cremant de Timoux sparkling poured by Abbey Chrystal of Vin59, I thanked him for feeding the crowd, as his sunny spot became a gathering spot for all the culinary staff from establishments who ran out of food early. They were grateful for the warm sustenance.
Natalie Siddique and Ryan Pace of Outward Wines (Photo: Laura Ness)
My top wine discovery of the day was Outward Wines, including a generously textured, creamy pear and gingery 2024 Chenin Blanc ($36) from the 53-year-old Shell Creek Vineyard in the limestone-studded highlands of Paso Robles; a 2024 100% whole cluster Syrah ($38), sizzling with white and black pepper, bright boysenberry and cardamom, from two vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley, and an outdoorsy pine-scented 2023 Cabernet Franc from the 1,500 ft dry-farmed Massa Vineyard in Cachagua ($38). Each wine was precise and clean, reflective of the rugged fresh air labels and a love of the great outdoors. Outward Wines proprietors Ryan Pace and Natalie Siddique actually met on a rock-climbing trip. Their wines reflect their ethos; honest, direct and unpretentious.
This was the first time the couple had made a Cab Franc from the granitic soils of the Massa Vineyard and they were thrilled with the result of 50% whole cluster, performing gentle hand pour-overs to minimize extraction and encourage a bit of carbonic. The wine was pressed and aged in neutral French oak barrels for 10 months and exhibits violets, raspberries and wild strawberries on the palate, lifted by distinct green peppercorn. They also made a Cabernet Sauvignon from Massa that year. We hope they can retain access to that site, but who knows?
Chef Anthony Kresge from Pasatiempo Golf Club with helper Giselle at Big Sur Food & Wine (Photo: Laura Ness)
Not new to me, but certainly a reaffirmation of their prowess, were wines from Scar of The Sea and Lady of the Sunshine, made by Mikey and Gina Giugni, respectively. The 2024 Albarino from Bassi Vineyard was a silky lime and nectarine-laced beauty from a seaside vineyard just 1.2 miles from Avila Beach. The Lady of the Sunshine Gamay from a vineyard in the Sierra Foothills was lively and lean.
It was gratifying to see some local wine talent, too, including the debut at this event of Ryan Kobza of Kobza Wines who was pouring a sparkling Riesling from Wirz Vineyard, along with a still 2022 Riesling from 50-year old vines and a 2021 Mourvedre from 100+ year old vines. I applaud his fondness for old vineyards like Wirz and his dedication to keeping their names and their stories in front of wine lovers. It’s the stories that matter. That’s why I keep documenting this crazy business.
This seems like a good time to bring up a fantastic book by my colleague Rusty Gaffney, The Prince of Pinot, who many know from his in-depth coverage of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers of the Santa Cruz Mountains in his widely read newsletter.
He recently released “Drinking California Pinot Noir History from Old Vine Vineyards,” a tome dedicated to 31 Pinot Noir vineyards over 45 years old, along with reviews of 129 wines from these old beauties. It’s a fascinating trip through vineyards you likely know, like Chalone, Lazy Creek, Cole Ranch, Calera, Hyde, McHenry, Brosseau and Hirsch, as well as many that may be new to you.
Gaffney references local winemakers like Jeff Pisoni, Nathan Kandler, Jeremy Weintraub, Michael Michaud, Randall Grahm and Richard Alfaro, along with those from Mendocino and south of us on the Central Coast. The history is amazing and helps draw a throughline between all these vineyards and fellow Pinotphiles. May their memory never be lost and may their legacies and the vines they leave behind be rich and fruitful.
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
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