In the villages of Champagne, harvest having taken place more than a week ago, the wine is already through its fermentations and resting in tanks or barrels waiting to be bottled with the yeast and sugar that will give it the bubbles we all love so much.

What better time to begin thinking about one of the best wine tasting events each year in San Francisco. The Champagne tasting put on by the Institute for the Masters of Wine.

Very few opportunities exist to taste a lot of Champagnes side-by-side, even if you are a member of the trade. As a consumer, such opportunities are incredibly rare, especially compared to the relative frequency of opportunities to taste, say, as many Zinfandels as you want, or a lot of Pinot Noir.

If you are interested in giving yourself a little education when it comes to Champagne, or if you’re educated already and simply want to soak yourself in a few bubbles, then you ought to be in line at 6:00 PM on September 28th at the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf here in San Francisco.

This event serves both as a fundraising opportunity as well as a general outreach event for the institute, but more importantly, it offers an incredible opportunity to taste some of the world’s best Champagnes, poured by some of the world’s most knowledgeable wine experts.

The last one of these tastings I attended, many of the top cuvées from Dom Perignon, Taittinger, Bollinger, Roederer and more were on offer. The Institute claims that this tasting is “the most prestigious tasting of Champagne in North America,” and who is going to argue with…The Institute?

This year’s agenda includes seated guided tastings of older prestige wines before each walk-around tasting. Unfortunately the seated tasting AND the first tasting session of the afternoon are sold out, but tickets still remain for the evening tasting. Get them while you can!

Also of note, this year’s event lineup includes a smaller, BYOB dinner after the event at the Cantonese banquet restaurant R&G Lounge in Chinatown, which likely will be a lot of fun.

14th Annual Masters of Wine Champagne Tasting
Monday, September 24th, 2018
Seated Seminars: SOLD OUT
Session 1: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM – SOLD OUT
Session 2: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
BYOB Dinner: 8:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf
555 North Point Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

Tickets for this event are $80 for the only remaining session (6:00 – 8:00), or $100 for the BYOB dinner, and tickets should be purchased in advance online (this event always sell out, as there is limited capacity). If you’re interested in the dinner, you can purchase tickets for that separately. Proceeds benefit the Institute for the Masters of Wine, and in particular their scholarships for aspiring students.

Parking can be crazy in Fisherman’s Wharf, and if you’re going to swallow any of those bubbles, it would serve you well to simply take public transport to the tasting. Also, please leave your perfume at home.