The first time I had wine, I was 15. My friends and I attended a local production of Godspell, and after the show, the theater company held a small auction to raise funds. One item up for bid was a (cheap) bottle of vino that had been relabeled “Water Into Wine,” and my group got the bright idea to pool our funds to bid $100 on it. The company overlooked our youthful faces to award us our prize — and since we looked helplessly at the cork, Judas himself even opened it for us. We each poured some into a paper cup and raised what would be our first toast to one another. It tasted terrible, but that feeling of buzzed camaraderie was deliciously joyous.
It’s no wonder that, back to the days of Ancient Greece and Dionysus, mortals discovered in distilled grapes a link to the divine. I felt that connection again at Gay Wine Weekend, an annual event from Out in the Vineyard in the San Francisco Bay Area where queer people convene and imbibe. This year, my first experience there, marked the 15th anniversary of the weekend, where wine takes center stage at a succession of events in the Sonoma Valley that includes, fittingly, a wine auction supporting Face to Face, a local HIV charity.(With bids going upward of $2,500, my 15-year-old self could never!)
Gay Wine Weekend ends with a splash at the Closing Pool Soirée.Matt Bradle
My adventure began with check-in at the host hotel, The Lodge at Sonoma, a 10-acre campus in the heart of wine country. The price tag was high; a night went for $900+ during our July stay. (A drag racing event at the Sonoma Raceway likely bumped up the cost, which can go as low as $250 during off-season months.) But the décor and fireplaces in the main building epitomized wine-country luxury; the heated pool was inviting; and the cottages, interspersed along winding trails throughout the grounds, were quite spacious (and boasted fireplaces, capacious beds, and outdoor patios).
After check-in, I headed to the VIP reception at the on-site Stone Cottage, where about a dozen local vineyards poured tastes from their best bottles. I also enjoyed a plate of surprisingly delicious vegan Rebel Cheese. Before long, it was time for GWW’s first big event, the Winemaker Dinner. I took advantage of the Lodge’s free shuttle to the nearby Sonoma Plaza, where some of the region’s best restaurants, tasting rooms, and shops are located. At the girl & the fig, I feasted on several courses that included stone fruit salad, a pan-seared scallop, and duck confit, followed by profiteroles for dessert. (Don’t skip the artisan bread.)
Paired with the meal were offerings from Three Sticks Wines. I can’t say enough good things about their offerings. In addition to pouring perfect pinot noir and chardonnay, this winery’s tasting room, a historic 1842 structure called The Adobe just across the street from the girl & the fig, is a stunning indoor-outdoor space curated by the acclaimed designer Ken Fulk. The cofounder and general manager, Prema Kerollis, is lovelier than the décor, and she shared over dinner how much it meant to her to be part of Gay Wine Weekend as an ally and the daughter of a gay man. Another special guest, Gary Saperstein, Gay Wine Weekend’s friendly founder, stopped in to greet us at the meal. After bonding with our impeccably dressed group, we grabbed a nightcap a short walk away at BV Whiskey Bar, an Italian restaurant and gastropub, famous for its whiskey selection, that had turned into a pop-up gay bar for the evening.
Tired of wine? Grab a cocktail at the T-Dance.Matt Bradle
The following morning, I grabbed coffee and a scrumptious plate of chilaquiles with carnitas at Benicia’s Kitchen, a restaurant at the Lodge, before catching a 10 a.m. shuttle to a wine tour. For the next few hours, I bonded with my busmates as we got a taste of three Sonoma wineries.
Ram’s Gate was the first stop and most impressive of the three. Designed by architect Howard Backen, the main structure, blending high-raftered barn rusticity with modern minimalism, looked camera-ready for a spread in an architectural magazine. I was even more captivated with our tour from the head winemaker, Joe Nielsen, who spoke with care about details like harvesting wood from his favorite French forest for the oak barrels (the burning of Notre-Dame, which required long oak trees to replace its ceiling, affected the supply and price for a few years), the impact of climate change on the grape growing season, and the falconer who routinely releases his bird of prey to clear pests.
It was a hard act to follow. But we enjoyed an excellent tasting and pizza lunch at the nearby Anaba, which offers a pickleball and wine package at its boutique winery. (There’s also bocce ball onsite!) Our final stop, the Larson Family Winery, was the least pretentious. The former site of a dairy farm and rodeo has been operated by the same family (the Larsons) for over five generations. During our visit, kids and dogs roamed the grounds while moms and dads got buzzed. Our group found some shade in a trio of rocking gondolas, where we sipped wine and chatted while looking out over the fields.
There’s nothing quite like day-drinking with a group of new gay friends, and I bonded with some of my favorite people from the trip during this tour experience. Shout out to video director Chase Finn and Dean Lin, an influencer who shared fun content from the trip @deanwlin. In one video, he polled many of the guests about one word to sum up their GWW experience, and the most common response was “fabulous.”
Gay Wine Weekend guests raise a glass.Matt Bradle
Drinking wine in the sun all day takes its toll. After the tour, I napped and rehydrated before the main event: the Twilight T-Dance. A party bus took our group from the hotel to Cornerstone Sonoma, an event venue popular with weddings that boasts nine acres of gardens with artistic installations. Guests dressed in their best and most creative attire — one even had a disco ball on his head with his abs out — as they danced under the stars to beats from DJ Ryan Kenney and sipped on a selection of Sonoma wines. The party didn’t stop there — an après was held at Dead Letter, just off Sonoma Plaza, for a final twirl.
No Gay Wine Weekend would be complete without a Drag Queen Brunch. Conveniently, the event was held at The Lodge’s ballroom, where we enjoyed a buffet and performances. Saperstein then held the auction, which to date has raised over $700,000 for Face to Face. The founder praised how GWW has been “bringing people together through wine, community, and connection” for 15 years — though it was this fundraising for Sonoma County’s major HIV organization that “means the most to me…. That’s the true legacy of Gay Wine Weekend.”
Afterward, guests took the shuttle one last time for the weekend’s Closing Pool Soirée at a private residence, where the host led goats out onto the lawn to greet the revelers for their final splash. Water and wine, indeed!
The next Gay Wine Weekend occurs July 16-18, 2027. Learn more at outinthevineyard.com. This year, tickets to events could be purchased individually, with a VIP Party Pass priced at $575.
This writer was invited to cover Gay Wine Weekend by Out in the Vineyard.
OutTraveler cover from Out magazine's Sept-Oct 2026 print issue
This article is part of OUT’s Sept-Oct 2026 print issue, on newsstands September 1. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue now through Apple News+, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting August 20.
