Russian River Valley Winegrowers Crab & Fennel Fest

I ate and ate and ate until I couldn’t eat crab anymore. It is quite a sight, seeing everyone shoveling seafood into their mouths, as quickly as possible. I heard about the event in advance, and made sure we were there when the doors opened. When I bought the tickets, I assumed that this would be a real festival, with booths, samples, etc. I assumed it would begin much earlier than it did. Only when our tickets arrived in the mail did I realize that this was a «dinner», not a festival. I didn’t notice the set times on the website when checking it out, and luckily noticed on our tickets the limited hours. It was very disorganized, and it took all 4 people in our group going in opposite directions to figure out what the hell was going on. The servers piled the crabs high, and I got my fill. Fennel came in a distant 2^nd, more like 3^rd place. This was very much a free for all, and every man for themselves. We got lucky, and left happy, but it wasn’t the experience we had anticipated.

Calling all crab whores… Calling all crab whores… Come in crab whores…
Once a year, the Russian River Valley Winegrowers throw together an unbelieveable feast for crab-​cracking, wine-​quaffing, fennel-​munching food whores like me. And like YOU!
In response to the annual «plague» of fennel creeping into their vineyards, the ingenious winegrowers in this region decided to make some figurative lemonade out of their «lemons» and came up with this glorious event.
The Hall of Flowers at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds plays host to this once a year event that includes: all-​you-​can-​eat dungeness crab (already cleaned, cracked and cooled), fennel dishes created by local chefs, interesting dipping sauces, generous wine allowances (I’ve ALWAYS left with at least a bottle of wine), crab racing, silent auction of wine/​Russian River-​themed items (wine, overnight stays, culinary stuff), and a special Directors’ Tasting (for an extra $ 20 fee & you get a Riedel glass) that includes rare and unique bottles of wine from the cellars of the finest wineries in the Russian River Valley.
THIS EVENT IS AMAZING!!! It’s very popular, so the tickets always sell out in advance.
This year, the fest is on Saturday, March 3^rd. I’ve got mine already, but if you haven’t yet … GET THEM TODAY! They are only $ 45!!!
Seriously … it SELLS OUT:
Oh yeah … if you want to have an incredible day up in the Valley, check out some wineries as part of the annual Sonoma County Barrel-​Tasting Weekend (this year, there are two weekends) while you’re at it.
See you at the fair!