I tried registering for tickets prior to the event. The web site claims tickets will be on sale online until Friday, 5/18 @11:59. I tried to get tickets Friday evening at around 8:45 and they weren't available (see screenshots for evidence). We may still go I and hopefully the lines and our experience will be better than my negative experience so far. UPDATE: I still give one star for my above review of online registration. However, we went and there was no line to get tickets, and we had a great time. Great value as you get to try lots of wine for a relatively low price (compared to a day of wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma. Good people watching, spectacular location, safe and very well laid out. My only complaint was the long lines for food. read more

First time at Zinfest 2k16 and not sure based on other reviews I was a little nervous. So as soon as we walked up I was a little nervous to see literally 100's of people waiting out front. A little confusing based on the fact they make you buy your tickets ahead of time...this was all due to the fact that they have people that need to put wrist bands on you? So this is what took away the star for me. The logistics need some serious help! Now you couldn't pick a better spot in Lodi than Lodi lake park for this festival. They have everything spread out really well on both sides of the lake so things aren't so super crowded. I thought they had tons of selection of all the great wineries from the Lodi area and even though based on the some the other reviews I would much rather hang with these locals and who this attracts....besides based on how many grapes Lodi is trucking to Napa might as well stay here anyway. Lol! We had a great chance to sample all of our favorites plus some new choices. They also give you the opportunity to have wine by the glass as well. One super nice perk was the free bottles water and bread. I personally thought they could have had more food options knowing how many awesome food trucks are in the area but did enjoy sampling some of what they had. Also for the size of the venue could have had a few more vendors to look at while wine tasting. Either way had a great time and would for sure come back again. read more

See all

So much fun! Pace yourself though and take advantage of the free bread and water! Grab the bread while you can they ran out about halfway through. I recommend the wine school too as you can hear from experts about the ins and outs of making wine with a bunch of free tastings brought to you in your seat instead of walking around! There's a ton of wineries to taste and it's a beautiful location by the lake. There are a ton of drunk people by the end of the festival so if you make it that long be on the lookout around you (people do stupid stuff like throw glass wine glasses). Overall Thumbs up from me! read more

I was pleasantly surprised by this 5 hour festival last weekend. You get a glass and over 40 wineries to taste from. It's very easy to get to, we got ride to and from because I live here. The entire set up is quite impressive. Large white tents for shade, free bottled water, great tasting food and of course the wine. Very organized and genuinely friendly staff from each winery. To buy food you need food tickets, bring cash. It's a beautiful setting at Lodi Lake. There is a designated smoking area right near one of the congested areas in the back, which I thought was weird, we found out the hard way while we were eating our food and everyone around us started smoking. Other than that, a fun time to wine taste, most of the Lodi wineries are here, no need to drive just find them on the map. My favorite Michael David was here in full force. read more

ZinFest - Wineries Near Me - Lodi, California

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. read more

ZinFest - Wineries Near Me - Lodi, California

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. read more

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 read more

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- read more

ZinFest - Wineries Near Me - Lodi, California

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

my review is simply from the working aspect of the festival.I am a staff member of wine and roses.Catering 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. read more

See all

I thought ZinFest was fantastic! The Friday night dinner was amazing. Wine & Roses did a great job catering! The band was great and the decor was beautiful! As far as wine dinner's, this is one of the best! As far as Saturday, the event was very well organized! Volunteers we're everywhere and so friendly! I saw 1 broken glass through my time at the event and the volunteers were there right way to clean it up. Wineries were all pouring 1 oz pours, in fact, I heard people complaining about the 1 oz pours. I assume these guests don't know the difference between a wine tasting and a drunkfest. These could be the people mentioned in Laurie's post. The Piano Bar (which did not serve wine) was a great element to the event. The Cooking School and Wine School were amazing. Teo Torres did an amazing job hosting the Cooking School and we very much enjoyed ,not just tasting Lodi wine, but we also enjoyed learning about Lodi wine. Nice touch! There were lots of places to sit, the entertainment was great! Free water (which I saw a lot of people using) and complimentary bread was a great touch. How many other festivals offer this feature? Not many! The EMT's were always riding around as were the Lodi police. I saw people trying to sneak into the event by boat and security was right on top of those guests. This event couldn't have been better organized! Great event! I event met a couple from West Virginia that come specifically for the event while waiting in line to enter the event. During the event, I met a huge group from Canada that also comes specifically for the event. The event organizers have to be doing something right to get guests from out of state just for this event Keep doing what your doing Lodi! read more