San Francisco Vintner's Market: April 10-11, San Francisco

Sometimes you hear an idea and wonder to yourself, exactly why it's taken someone so long to come up with it. And the really good ones make you think, "now why didn't I come up with that?"

That's exactly what I thought to myself when I found out about the upcoming San Francisco Vintners Market. It's a farmer's market, but for wine. Simple as that. Walk around, taste a bunch of wines, and buy the ones that you like. So incredibly straightforward it took years for someone to come up with the idea.

But now all you gotta do is show up. Think of it as a tasting room that you don't have to drive to. Or a big wine tasting you can go to and finally not have to worry about finding some retailer somewhere that carries the wines that you fell in love with at the tasting.

Perfectly timed for the recession, this event is about helping smaller wineries sell their wines to the public. And with tickets priced at a mere $25 the event is perfect for wine lovers on a budget.

Nearly 200 wineries will be pouring and selling their wares from all over California. It's definitely worth checking out.

First Ever San Francisco Vintners Market
Saturday and Sunday April 10th & 11th
12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA

Tickets are $25 if purchased in advance (prices go up at the door). You can also purchase a VIP ticket for $60 and get access to a room of $50+ wines.

Posted by: Alder on March 16, 2010 10:54 PM: Share this post elsewhere Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Wine Activities

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Comments (10)

jj wrote:

03.16.10 at 11:27 PM

I spent three seconds looking at the wineries and I can't see how an event that includes Trinchero and Rosenblum (owned by Diageo) among others can be construed as helping smaller wineries sell their wares to the public.

Jon Bjork wrote:

03.17.10 at 7:39 AM

jj, I know Alan Baker with his new boutique Cartograph wines will be there. If I had my new vintage of 99-case Panthos ready, I'd be there too. I agree with Alder that it looks like a fantastic event. I applaud the event organizers for their efforts to work out the details with ABC to allow this event to happen.

Alder Yarrow wrote:

03.17.10 at 7:42 AM

JJ,

Sure there are a couple larger wineries there, even Kendall Jackson. But for every one of those there are ten or twelve small, family run places.

Mark wrote:

03.17.10 at 7:52 AM

It does sound like a great idea, given my experiences with ABC I'm frankly borderline shocked that they allowed it to happen...that being said those of us in the industry love getting to these large scale tasting events, good to see them come to the general public.

Anthony Truchard wrote:

03.17.10 at 10:04 AM

As a small to midsized winery, I think it will be great for smaller wineries. The problem that small wineries face is the three tier system and distributors that are dominated by the larger corporations with a national sales force. We don't mind being on an even playing field with the big guys. Let the better wine win!

Gary "Iron" Chevsky wrote:

03.18.10 at 7:39 AM

Donato Enoteca in Redwood City did a tasting concept called Enoteca 100 in Nov 2009. I thought it was a great and innovative set-up - they combined large scale tasting in a restaurant with great finger foods and ability to purchase any of the wines at retail$. And rather than pouring for obscure wineries, they poured from some of the best Italian producers. That event turned out to be a huge success, the place was packed.

Christopher Coleman wrote:

03.22.10 at 6:38 AM

JJ- I agree with you- it's tough not to be more than a little cynical when KJ decides it has a first-born's right to maintain the "family winemaker" moniker (I'm sure they do it just for tradition's sake...;) However Alder and Jon have a great point- and besides it just may have been a KJ or a Diageo for that matter, who had the marketing foresight (and muscle) to force this through ABC in the first place (whomever knows the true story, please don't post the smoking gun memo of how KJ initially tried to crush it in committee, then jumped on board as it became a done deal... 'cause then I'm just gonna cry at the world I'm leaving for my son :..(

Nancy wrote:

04.09.10 at 11:21 AM

I'm very excited for this event! The weather cleared up right on time so SF is going to be beautiful this weekend. www.myjoffer.com is offering Reserve Level Tickets on both Saturday and Sunday for only $45, if anyone is looking for a discounted price.

Tina wrote:

04.06.11 at 11:38 PM

If any of you had a clue about ABC you would know that Fort Mason is on Federal land which allows you to do these kinds of events without California state ABC. So if you own a winery start your own event since anyone can. The San Francisco Vintners Market event sucks to sell at. I poured 7 cases and sold one since it was a drinkfest with 60% off tickets.

Matt Armanino wrote:

10.19.11 at 4:23 PM

We poured at the Vinters Market this year and enjoyed the opportunity (actually, it was our first time pouring wines at any public event as we have relied 100% on our wine club as a sales mechanism). We poured less than 3 cases of wine, sold 6 and added 7 new wine club members. Most importantly, as a (very) boutique,family winery it was terrific to make some new friends and receive so much positive feedback from people tasting our pinots and cabs for the first time.