Mendocino Wine & Mushroom Festival

Mendocino County, home to more than 500 of the world's best mushroom species, will celebrate local fungi and wines with its Wine & Mushroom Festival from November 4-13. Activities on tap include winemaker dinners, foraging excursions, mushroom tasting menus, mushroom cooking classes and more.

The 10-day festival kicks off on Nov. 4 with a Wine & Mushroom Reception at Parducci Wine Cellars, dubbed America's "greenest" winery. On Nov. 5, you can sample mushroom appetizers at Beachcomber Motel, followed by an assortment of tasting menus about town.

Following is a quick guide to the Mendocino Wine and Mushroom Festival:

Nov. 4: Wine & Mushroom Reception at Parducci Wine Cellars. $50. 707-463-5350
Nov. 5: Wine & Mushroom Train on the historic Skunk Train. $125. 707-964.6371
Nov. 5: Mushroom Winemaking Dinner at Branches Restaurant with McDowell Valley Vineyards. $32. 707-468-5400
Nov. 5: Mushroom Appetizers and Wines at Beachcomber Motel with Handley Cellars. $20. 800-400-7873
Nov. 6: Glendeven Inn Farmhouse and Baxter Winery Wine Pairing Dinner. $90. 707-937-0083
Nov. 6: Buckhorn Boonville and Maple Creek Winery 5-Course Mushroom Dinner. $60. 707-895-3224
Nov. 10: Five-course mushroom dinner and seminar at Moosse Café and Greenwood Ridge Vineyards. $85. 707-937-4323
Nov. 11: Six-course tasting menu with MacCallum House Inn & Restaurant and Graziano Winery. $100. 800-609-0492
Nov. 12: Gourmet vegan feast at Ravens’ Restaurant and Meyer Family Cellars with local mushroom expert Ryane Snow, PhD. $85. 800-331-8884

Additional activities include Mushroom Foraging Tours with naturalist Ryane Snow, PhD (Nov 7-11), Kayak Mushroom Paddles down Noyo River on Nov. 5-6 and 11-12; and mushroom identification walks held at 1:30 p.m. Mondays from Nov. 7-Dec.9 at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.

Many Mendocino hotels will offer special "mushroom" discounts during the celebration, including the Emerald Dolphin Inn in For Bragg, the Country Inn B&B in Fort Bragg, the Gualala Country Inn in Gualala; Little River Inn in Little River; Brewery Gulch in Mendocino; and the Mendocino Hotel in Mendocino.

Click here for the complete brochure, call 866-782-9636, or visit www.visitmendocino.com.

Mendocino will celebrate local fungi and wines with its Wine & Mushroom Festival November 4-13. Photo by Isolino Ferreira / Flickr Creative Commons