April 18, 2025 – The weather gods smiled, and the clouds parted for a divine final day of this year’s Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, held in two spacious tents near Pebble Beach Lodge. With all the booze everywhere, from guys with cocktail carts pushing bourbon, to a martini and truffle fries order window, the festival is getting higher octane every year. Perhaps it should actually be called Pebble Beach Food, Wine & Spirits. Thank goodness there was plenty of great food, although sometimes awkwardly so.
TOP TRENDS
- Booze, Baby, Booze! – More spirits and custom cocktails than ever were stationed throughout, and in the center green, with cute guys and gals pushing little beverage carts. I almost fell for the Villa Massa Limoncello cocktail, made with Lamarca Prosecco.
- Icelandic Glacial and Evian water – These two brands were title sponsors this year and we know there’s nothing more important to life than water. We learned that Evian comes from the French Alps, where snowmelt is filtered through layers of glacial rocks adding electrolytes and minerals. Icelandic Glacial water comes from an underground spring, called Ölfus, created by a volcanic eruption, filtered through lava rock.
- Tartare and Raw – Not only was the winning dish a hand roll of wagyu beef tartare, but there were more raw dishes than ever. The people’s prize winner was the creation of chef Gustavo Rios of Solbar Restaurant at Solage Resort & Spa in Calistoga.
- Consortium Tables – From the Santa Cruz Mountains to France, from Paso Robles to Washington and Oregon, there was an enhanced collective presence, enabling guests to try a selection of wines from a specific region.
- Beach theme – Veuve Clicquot sponsored a sundeck veranda that mimicked the foredeck of a yacht you’d find on the French Riviera. There were Aperol spritzes and carts with umbrellas, and cabanas serving Peroni. They really got the “beach” theme down.
BEST WINES
Lots of great rosés at this one, plus unusual whites, which makes sense, given the trend away from heavy, tannic reds. Kudos to Gallo for making wine pairing suggestions for their brands, including Hahn and Kali Hart. Alas, there were many wineries I missed, and there were several Napa Cabs I wish I’d skipped. Tough tradeoff.
2024 AIX Rosé – From a small family vineyard in southern France, these wines were pure Provence, made of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, perfectly pink and smartly bottled in screwcaps. Very crisp and delicious, but with plenty of fruit. Instead of wood, they used concrete and steel for aging. This brand is widely available.
2024 Roseblood d’Estoublon 1489 Rosé – A classic Provencal rose with a softer edge (thank you, global warming), I tried both the unoaked and oaked versions. Naturally, the oaked version is fancier and more expensive. No need to fall for that. The unoaked version was perfectly lovely.
2022 Neely Hidden Block Pinot Noir – At the Santa Cruz Mountains table it was a bounty of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, including the excellent 2023 Sante Arcangeli Integrato Pinot Noir (made mostly of Split Rail Vineyard fruit) and the 2022 Beauregard Coast Grade Pinot Noir. I was particular impressed by former Neely winemaker Shalini Sekhar’s perfect pick on the Hidden Block, which yielded a juicy, vibrant, yet composed wine that tamed the year’s warmth into the lightest shawl around your shoulders.
2024 Cass Oasis Mourvedre Rosé – Beautiful texture, color, savory elements, along with ripe watermelon and rhubarb and a finish of red grapefruit make this a superb food wine. Made of 63% Mourvèdre and 37% Grenache, grown in Paso Robles.
2023 Knights Bridge “Fairview” Sauvignon Blanc – Napa is very fond of whacking its Sauv Blanc with lots of new oak, and then charging you for the barrel. Knights Bridge sales and marketing VP Laura Kirk Lee happily poured something exquisite that was worth every penny of its $70 tag. The Musque clone of SB has a natural richness, and the oak treatment added another dimension to this wholly engaging wine: too good to spit, and extremely limited. At $40, the 2023 Pont de Chevalier Knights Bridge Sauvignon Blanc, done with mostly concrete and steel, and a mere 5% new French, was juicy and lush with grapefruit, tangerine and tropical fruit. Really lovely Cabernet, too.
2023 Stoller Estate Chardonnay, Dundee Hills – Oregon Chardonnay is generally so lithe and delicate, it really does not wear new oak well. It’s a pet peeve of mine. Save the trees and build homes. Stoller employs used barrels only for its Chardonnay, which delivers on the beauty of pure orchard fruit. This one is a winner.
Inniskillin Vidal Blanc & Cabernet Franc Ice Wines – What a glorious thing is Vidal Blanc, a cold-hardy grape bred in France by a guy named Vidal. Thanks to him, we have this fruity and persistent white that turns into liquid gold as an ice wine. Tasting a Cabernet Franc version of ice wine was a revelation: imagine distilling a Christmas tree decorated with dried cranberries garlands and hung with oranges pierced with cloves into a tiny bottle of resinous liquid.
2023 Sequoia Grove Chardonnay, Napa Valley – I admit to having a soft spot for Sequoia Grove, where the wines are terrifically understated and paired beautifully with some of the most creative food I’ve ever had. Winemaker Jesse Fox proudly presented the 2023 Chardonnay, as he told me they had recently acquired land on northeastern slopes of prestigious Mt. Veeder, where they are replanting the vineyard, formerly owned by Donald Hess. This cooler growing site should position them well for the future.
2023 Lucy Pico Blanco – This blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc made by Jeff Pisoni changes yearly. The 2023 is mostly Pinot Gris (86%) with a small amount of Pinot Blanc (14%), sourced from Arroyo Seco and the Santa Lucia Highlands. It’s whole cluster pressed into 100% neutral barrels and done with native yeast. It’s been a year since I’ve tried it, and the ripe yellow peach flavor, verging on apricot, is really coming out. Pico Blanco is named for the 3,694 foot limestone peak in the Santa Lucia Mountains, and proceeds from this wine benefit the ocean conservancy efforts of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Dominio IV Imagination Series Coyote The Trickster Blend – The “trickster” part refers to this pink wine’s composition of 80% Viognier and 20% Syrah, the “Inverse” of the norm. It is said to be the epitome of winemaker/artist Patrick Reuter’s creativity. He presses the Vio immediately off the skins and then co-ferments it for 30 days with whole berry Syrah in an anaerobic environment. I love the candied tropical fruit, bright floral note and lively spice and body from the skin contact of the Syrah. From the Willamette Valley of Oregon, each wine in the Imagination series sports a striking label that expresses the fruit, acid and tannin of each wine in a highly visual way. Quite unique and really cool.
BEST FOOD
People’s Choice went to Solbar chef Gustavo Rios, for his wagyu tartare hand roll, which was done in nori – really good! Congratulations!!
Roasted Beet tartare by Mike Stoves at La Playa Hotel – delightfully complex dish that fired on all cylinders. A real masterpiece.
Chef Lee Frank of Otis restaurant, Exeter, NH, served up my absolute favorite dish of the day, a bowl of locally grown grits with perfectly blanched ragout of peas and asparagus, topped with wild mushroom espuma. Talk about comfort food.
Jeanette Money of US Foods served up a Braised Bison short rib with crispy polenta and fire-kissed spring onion – wonderful mix of tender, creamy and crispy.
Chef Goran Basarov of Covey Grill served up a creation called Land and Sea, combining Dungeness crab, Miyazaki wagyu, crème fraiche and Meyer Lemon – an amazing bite and a very swanky display reminiscent of a Swedish icehouse bar.
Michael Toscano of Le Farfalle and Porchetta Shop (Charleston, SC) presented a Surf and Turf Tartarewith beef crudo, octopus, Charleston shrimp, beech mushrooms, toasted been, ramps & shrimp head vinaigrette – fantastic!
Roberto Alcocer of Valle’s (Oceanside) Land Scallop was a brilliant display of braised king oyster mushroom with serrano beurre blanc – more of these kinds of dishes, please!
Chef Chris Barnum-Dann of Localis, Sacramento, served up Thai Beef Tartare – This brilliant bite composed of wagyu beef and red curry, with Thai chili crunch and lime leaf aioli served on a ginger tapioca chip created a perfect 100% edible serving. More of this approach, please!
Mediterranean style Hamachi crudo by Rick Edge of Bardessono, Yountville, was a fantastic interplay of sweet, crunchy and spicy. Bring on the Champagne!
Overall, my wish is for more vegetarian options, and for more chefs to create bites on edible delivery devices.
WHAT I WISH I HAD TRIED
The Basque burnt cheese melt by Tiffani Faison – it looked and smelled amazing!
Smoke Pastrami slider with creamy slaw and pickles by Bruce Kalman of Soulbelly BBQ – way too big. No silverware, no dice.
Pho Arancini and Mushroom pâté on housemade bread by Tamie Aceves of The Grill at Point Pinos—again, a daunting bite for one person
Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ’s signature pulled pork with Carolina BBQ sauce, which looked awesome, but again, too big for this girl. Please cut these in half!
Truffles, Grits & Woody’s mushroom mix of truffles, porcini and chanterelles – Once again, Timothy Wood of Woody’s at the Airport, had a huge line, but never stopped smiling. Give people ‘shrooms and truffles and all will be well.
LAST WORD
Another overwhelmingly delicious and decadent display of the best and brightest in the culinary world, Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2025 reminds us how lucky we are to live in such a rich and beautiful land of plenty. May we never ever take it for granted.
About the author
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.
