One of the most important and valuable trends for the wine consumer, apart from the fantastic deals to be had on very nice wine these days, continues to be the proliferation of public wine tasting events put on by specific countries or regions of the world. The marketing associations for these regions, which tend to be government run or at least government funded in some respect, have finally realized that one of the best things they can do is get a whole lot of consumers together to taste a whole lot of their wines.

Such tastings, as I tend to repeat like a broken record, are unparalleled opportunities for wine consumers to learn about wines, calibrate their palates, and find new things to buy and drink. In short, they are some of the highest value for your money when it comes to things that wine lovers can spend their money on.

By way of example, consider the upcoming Wines of Argentina Tastings in New York and Los Angeles. With nearly sixty producers pouring 200 Argentinean wines, these events are a phenomenal opportunity to expose yourself to the country’s wines. Even compared to an Argentinean vacation (which I highly recommend), this tasting will give you access to more wines and more regions than you could practically visit even on a two week stay.

The tasting will include food, a seminar, and even tango lessons if you want to take a break from splashing your palate with Malbec, Torrontes, Syrah, and all sort of other good stuff.

If I was in New York or LA, I’d definitely be going.

Celebrate Argentina Grand Tasting 2010 – New York
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Altman Building
135 West 18th Street
New York, NY

Consumer Tickets: $45.00 / Buy them in advance at: CelebrateArgentinaConsumer.eventbrite.com

Celebrate Argentina Grand Tasting 2010 – Los Angeles
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
7:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Roosevelt Hotel
7000 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

Consumer Tickets: $60 advance / $75 at door. Buy them in advance at http://www.learnaboutwine.com