The San Diego Food + Wine Festival, formerly known as the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, has been awarded the prestigious title of “Best Wine Festival” in the 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest. Recognized by USA TODAY’s expert panel, this honor celebrates the festival’s dedication to excellence and its position as the leading wine and food festival in the country.
More than just an entertainment event, the San Diego Food + Wine Festival serves as a vibrant hub for thought leaders in the food and beverage industry and will mark its 20th anniversary from November 2nd – 10th. This milestone year promises a revitalized experience with new partnerships including The James Beard Foundation® and Food Tank, and a lineup of enhanced programming. This accolade is a significant addition to the festival’s history, marking the 5th time since 2019 that it has received recognition from the USA TODAY 10Best panel.
“Our journey began over 20 years ago with a mission to create an annual showcase that casts a national and international spotlight on the vibrant city of San Diego, our surrounding bioregion and its incredibly talented and passionate chefs, farmers, fisherman, winemakers, and producers,” says Festival Co-producer, Michelle Metter. “Over 11,000 passionate wine and food enthusiasts now take part in this epic week that celebrates San Diego’s multinational influences and sunny and diverse culinary landscape alongside the largest curated collection of wine, beer and spirits producers and culinary friends from across the country. The 20th Annual San Diego Food + Wine Festival is honored to receive this distinction from USA TODAY 10Best for a 5th year, joining the other prestigious national accolades recently awarded to our deserving culinary community.”
The 10Best panel consists of wine industry experts, including editors from USA TODAY and 10Best.com, and esteemed contributors who seek out the finest wine-centric celebrations nationwide. The core of the site’s uniqueness lies in its team of local travel experts who offer unbiased and experiential travel content for top destinations globally.
The official results for Best Wine Festival are as follows:
- San Diego Food + Wine Festival
- Black Vines
- Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival
- World of Pinot Noir
- South Beach Wine & Food Festival
- Taste of Sonoma
- Naples Winter Wine Festival
- California Wine Festival – Dana Point
- Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta
- Key West Food & Wine Festival
The festival will showcase an extraordinary selection of over 800 wines and spirits from some of the world’s most renowned wine regions, including Paso Robles, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Lodi, Temecula, San Diego, Valle de Guadalupe, Spain, Argentina, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal.
Individual tickets and weekend packages are currently available for purchase for the Grand Decant, Grand Tasting, and Grand Fiesta experiences. Travelers can find information on hotel partner packages here and flights via the festival’s official airline partner, Southwest. For more information, please visit the festival website and Instagram at @sdfoodwine.
The 20th Annual San Diego Food + Wine Festival is an international showcase of the world’s premier wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities, and gourmet foods. Held November 2-10, 2024, the award-winning festival raises funds for culinary, oenology and hospitality scholarships and grants, and has awarded over $600,000 to individuals and nonprofits through previous events. For more information, please visit www.sandiegowineclassic.com and @sdfoodwine.
