Details

The 2012 Wine Tourism Conference will take place November 14-15 at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.

Cost, Payment, and Cancellation

The cost of the conference is $350. Payment is required in advance by credit card. If you must cancel your registration, your payment is 50% refundable through October 16 and not refundable after that. Please note if you are traveling from outside the area, you can insure against losing your conference registration fee (and your airplane tickets) by purchasing trip insurance.

Arrival and Departure

Registration begins at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, November 14 and the conference begins at 10:00 AM. The conference ends at 4:30 PM on Thursday, November 15. We plan to schedule optional excursions to the area wine country on Tuesday, November 13 and Friday, November 16 at an extra cost.

If you are flying in from outside the area, we suggest you arrive the day before. The closest commercial airport is the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa. You can also look at flying into San Francisco or Oakland airports (about 1:30 drive time) or Sacramento International Airport (2:00). There are a variety of shuttle and other options to get to Santa Rosa but your easiest option might be renting a car.

Host Hotel

Our host hotel is the Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa located at 2777 4th Street in Santa Rosa, California. The hotel is located in the heart of Sonoma County in close proximity to all the premier grape growing and wine tourism regions of the area. With 13,000 feet of event space, a beautiful outdoor pool, and a first-class gym on site, the Flamingo Resort is the perfect place to hold a conference. We at Zephyr Adventures are intimately familiar with the outstanding service and flexibility of the Flamingo, as the hotel hosted the first-ever Wine Bloggers Conference back in 2008. We have a block of rooms reserved for conference attendees with rates starting at $99. Please use the special Flamingo online reservation page for the Wine Tourism Conference to book your room reservation.

Pre-Conference and Post-Conference Excursions

We plan to create several options for pre-conference excursions in Sonoma County. Details coming soon.

Our partners at Legendary Napa invite you to participate in Flavor Napa Valley. Flavor Napa Valley runs from November 14-18 and is a “four-day extravaganza of farm-to-table fine cuisine, world-class wines, and the fun that is had when these elements come together”. It is a series of wine and food events, many of them being held at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. Events are ticketed and so you should purchase tickets on your own and have your own transportation. Net proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund at the CIA.

Weather & Dress Code

Dress is “wine country casual”. What does that mean? Really, you should dress as you feel comfortable. Jeans and a polo shirt are fine. The average high temperature in Sonoma County in November is a pleasant 67 degrees. However, nights can be cool and there is always a chance of rain. Remember to dress appropriately if you plan to visit wine country during your stay.