Austria Uncorked Tasting 2010: May 3rd San Francisco, May 5th New York

Importers, distributors, country trade commissions, and individual wine regions have long put on tastings for the trade and media to showcase wines in the hopes of increased sales and better media coverage. One of the most encouraging trends I see in the wine world continues to be the proliferation of such tastings available for the general public.

Let's face it, even someone who has a bottle of wine with every meal only gets a couple hundred tastes of different wines every year. And most people tend to stick with the wines or grape varieties that they know. No matter how adventurous the palate, there aren't that many opportunities to learn what you like and what you don't like during the course of normal consumption of wine for pleasure at mealtimes.

Instead of consumption for pleasure, those interested in wine need to consumer for education, which is where large public wine tastings come in. The chance to sip and spit sixty, eighty, even one hundred wines for the price of a couple of bottles represents an unmatched opportunity to educate your palate.

The latest opportunity for such an education is around the corner in San Francisco. On May 3rd, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board is bringing a whole lot of Riesling and Gruner Veltliner to town for you to taste, along with cheese and various Austrian finger foods.

Austrian Riesling, in particular, is one of the world's greatest food wines and anyone who isn't that familiar with it should take this opportunity to find out why. Likewise, you might decide to discover why Gruner Veltliner is so popular with sommeliers in this country.

Austria Uncorked 2010 San Francisco
Monday, May 3rd - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
The Officer's Club
1 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123 (PDF map)

Austria Uncorked 2010 New York City
Wednesday, May 5th - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Tribeca Rooftop
2 Desbrosses Street
New York, NY 10013 (map)

Tickets for San Francisco $60 and New York tickets are $70. Both should be purchased in advance online. Use the code: AUSTRIAEB at checkout to get a $15 discount !!!

For those who may not have tasted a lot of Riesling in one sitting before, the wine is quite acidic and can make your teeth hurt after a while. Drink lots of water and eat as you go to minimize this effect. My other public tasting tips also apply -- get a good night's sleep, make sure you have some food in your stomach before you taste, and be sure to spit so you can learn something as you go, instead of getting schnockered after 10 tastes.

Posted by: Alder on April 18, 2010 6:29 PM: Tweet; 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 (7)

massager wrote:

04.21.10 at 12:02 AM

Yes,I think so
It may be

Chris Lopez wrote:

04.21.10 at 12:34 AM

I wish I could go to this! I love Austrian whites. Perhaps I'll have to try to move to San Fransisco...

Chris Lopez wrote:

04.21.10 at 12:35 AM

If you go, please share some tasting notes with us!

David A wrote:

04.21.10 at 2:09 PM

Hey Wine Fans,

I'm Dave, I work with the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. In preparation for
upcoming tastings in NY and San Francisco we are having a slogan contest
aiding us in building awareness of Austrian Wines. Tweet us an original
Slogan @AustrianWine, and the best one gets a CASE of Gruner Veltliner!
Check out what we have so far so you understand what we are going for. Thanks, I look forward to seeing what you got!

http://www.austriauncorked.com/#goto=uncorked-ad-campaign---win-free-wine

Ryan wrote:

04.21.10 at 9:11 PM

I am a total fan of the Austrian wines - really wish I was going to be in town for the event. I guess I'll have to book a ticket to Austria, check into a hotel in one of my favorite little towns - Krems - and drink Gruner until my teeth really hurt. Enjoy the tasting, wine fans. Cheers!

elishkiya wrote:

04.28.10 at 5:27 AM

yeah right u are.Austrian wines are really something very extravagant in respect of taste and impulse.

Christina Wehry wrote:

05.06.10 at 9:55 PM

Went to this event. Absolutely fabulous across-the-board experience. Fort Mason has become home to many tasting events in SF and for good reasons. There are plenty of venues to accommodate any size or style of event and the views are outstanding. There were some really topnotch producers with excellent examples here. Just wish I lived in SF...