It’s June, and that means one thing when it comes to wine in San Francisco: Pinot Noir. For the past 12 years, June has played host to PinotDays, a celebration of the grape that brings wineries and wine lovers together for a couple of days of tasting and education.

There was a time when San Francisco had no large-scale tasting of Pinot Noir, but those days seem a distant memory, now in a post-Sideways world. Every year members of the wine-drinking public can spend an afternoon wandering in a sea of Pinot Noir, as scores of different producers (primarily California, but also Oregon and occasionally elsewhere) offer their wines for the tasting.

This year’s event will take place in a new venue — the Bespoke space at the Westfield Centre mall on Market Street in San Francisco.

As usual, the weekend kicks off with a winemaker dinner on Friday, June 17 at Waxman’s Restaurant. On the morning of Saturday the 18th, VIP ticket holders can attend a seminar on diversity in Pinot Noir, and then following that, the Grand Tasting event will be open for business (VIP ticket holders get in at Noon, everyone else gets in at 2 PM).

All of the events are available as part of packaged deals, or a la carte, for your pleasure. At the very least, if you love Pinot Noir, it’s hard to think of a better way to spend a few hours than wandering around tasting great juice.

12th Annual PinotDays San Francisco 2016 Grand Tasting
Saturday, June 18th – 12:00pm – 5:00pm
Bespoke
845 Market St #450
San Francisco, CA 94103 (map)

Tickets are $75 for the grand tasting, and an additional $45 for the seminar and VIP (read: early) access to the tasting. Tickets should be purchased in advance online.

My usual tips for such public tastings apply: get a good night’s sleep; go with a full stomach; drink lots of water; wear dark clothes; and remember to spit!