Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting: October 14, San Francisco

ï»¿ï»¿I've beat the drum a lot about public wine tastings, but there's just no getting around the fact that they are the best way for wine lovers to educate their palates. There's just no substitute for tasting a lot of wines in a single "sitting" to learn what the differences are, and more importantly, what you like.

One of the other nice things about public tastings, put on as they are by big organizations, or in this case, publications, is that they often allow you to taste wines that you might not get a chance to taste otherwise for some reason -- whether that is because of their cost, their small production levels, or the fact that it's simply a pain in the rear to go track them down.

Of course one of the other reasons you might not get a chance to taste certain wines is because they've been so highly-rated by some magazine or critic that they're pretty hard to find on the shelves of even the best wine shops in the country. Which is one of the many reasons I urge people to attend the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting every year. While inclusion in Wine & Spirits doesn't quite make the available inventory of a wine vaporize, as a top score in some other magazines will do, the wines that are chosen for their list of "Top 100 of the year" are really some of the best wines in the world, and are not all that easy to track down for the casual wine lover.

I go to this tasting every year because of the high quality of the wines, and the excellent food that is usually on offer. This is, of course, the reason that so many other people go too (it can get a little crowded at times). But despite the popularity of the event, it is still one of the best public tasting events in San Francisco each year, and usually has a few utterly fantastic wines mixed in with a whole lot of excellent ones.

So grab a wine loving friend, or look your best and try to make a new one at the tasting, but definitely don't miss the Top 100.

Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top 100 Tasting
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
The Mint Building
88 Fifth Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(212) 695 4660 for more info

Tickets are $125 and include a subscription to the magazine. This event will likely sell out, so I recommend buying tickets ASAP. They can be purchased online at the event web site.

Posted by: Alder on September 28, 2008 7:36 PM: Filed under: Wine Activities; Like this post? Share it! Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit

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Comments (6)

Taylor Senatore wrote:

09.28.08 at 10:12 PM

I agree Alder. But, man, those consumer tasting can get cra-zaz-y! Nothing like getting pushed and shoved as people RUN to get a taste of wine. I wonder how much actual learning goes on versus trying to get $125 worth of vino into the system. The spit bucket tends to go unused at these events (but hey your paying so I would get my fill too) so watch out people.

Dylan wrote:

09.29.08 at 8:25 AM

I won't be able to attend, but I can't help but wonder, what kind of food has been served in the past?

Alder wrote:

09.29.08 at 9:04 AM

Dylan,

They usually have an amazing set of cheeses and artisan charcuterie, freshly shucked oysters, gourmet chocolates of some kind or another, and all sorts of other gourmet finger foods from top restaurants in San Francisco.

Jeff M wrote:

09.29.08 at 10:21 AM

This tasting is fantastic. This will be third different venue in three years, but that is not of any concern. Parking will be easy this year. The lineup is incredible and the food is fantastic. I personally find myself continually returning to the champagne and oyster section...My company is honored to have 4 producers as part of the Top 100 this year: MOVIA, LE MACCHIOLE, FONTANAFREDDA and CASA MARIN. Cheers, Jeff

Emily wrote:

10.06.08 at 3:49 PM

See you there, Alder! We'll be with Feiler-Artinger this year.

This is a fantastic event. Truly great wines (one example: 1999 Royal Tokaji Wine Company Tokaji Essencia. 100 points. $500/500ml. Where else you going to get a taste of that?)

The oysters were amazing.

Richard Brown wrote:

10.09.08 at 9:22 AM

Actually these are great events and the food is from some of the top end restaurants and chefs. And yes the spit bucket gets used ( although later in the night, not so much ; ), the people that attend these higher end events are not your average joe and take wine serious.