SAN FRANCISCO, August 2, 2012 – If you haven’t already heard, Wine Riot, a fun, new wine tasting event is blowing through San Francisco this Friday and Saturday.  The event features 96 different wineries pouring 250 wines from around the world.  This international affair is perfect for breaking out of your comfort zone and trying wines you’ve never even heard of.  But with 250 to choose from, it might seem overwhelming.  Here is some advice on how to survive Wine Riot and make the most of your time.

 

LIST OF DOS

• - Take your time
• - Drink plenty of water before, during and after
• - Eat food (delicious munchies are available for as little as $5)
• - Attend the education and interactive brain juice sessions
• - Tour the world: focus on regions and varietals you are less familiar with to get the most out of the experience
• - Focus on wineries you’ve never tasted from before
• - Use the super cool Wine Riot free mobile app to take notes and rate the wines you like.  It’s the only way you’ll remember what you drank, liked and didn’t like for future reference and purchase
• - Pour out: it’s ok if you don’t like a wine, you won’t hurt anyone’s feelings if you utilize the dump buckets
• - Spit: Try carrying around a smaller plastic cup that you can use to spit out the wine after you’ve swirled it around in your mouth.  I recommend you do this for every first sip you take.  The first sip is only getting rid of the wine you had in there right before anyway.  You’ll save your palate and a few calories.

 

 

LIST OF DON’TS

• - Try to hit all the wineries
• - Make a bet with your friends about how many you can hit
• - Wear silly Vegas stiletto-style shoes.  If you do, you’ll be walking around like a baby giraffe within an hour and a half, then by the end of the night, you’ll be carrying your shoes and that is not a good look
• - Wear white (if you insist, bring some Wine Away)
• - Wear one of those silly necklaces that holds your wine glass, you will get made fun of
• - Make any important decisions; if it’s on a cocktail napkin, it should probably stay there
• - Fall over; if you feel yourself a little weak in the knees, take a breather and maybe the next round or two out; if you do take a dive, it won’t be graceful, it will look more like a cartoon exaggerated fall and it will be on Facebook within 8 seconds
• - Drink and drive: cabs will be hard to come by in this neck of the woods, be sure to plan your transportation to and from in advance.  There are several bus lines that run near there, a great alternative to get you into a more friends taxi zone

 

The final bit of advice is of course to relax, enjoy and have a blast.  Take to the other wine lovers and Rioters and compare notes.  Use this guide to navigate your way through the hectic world of Wine Riot this weekend.  Impress your friends with your knowledge, stamina and overall wine IQ.  Revisit the ratings and notes you added to the mobile app the next day with friends.  You can compare and contrast and maybe even throw together a little wine tasting event of your own with your favorites.

Interesting in attending?:  link to purchase tickets

Want to see more photos? Check out the Wine Riot/Second Glass Flickr page.

 

If you are taking public transportation, you can take MUNI buses and streetcars.  If you are coming from the East Bay, you can take BART and transfer to MUNI.  If you are coming from the South Bay, you can take CalTrain and transfer to MUNI.  From Marin, Golden Gate Transit buses.  To plan your trip with all available public transportation, click here.

Columnist Sherrie Perkovich offers an insider’s perspective of the very best San Francisco has to offer. Join her weekly to experience the best the City by the Bay has to offer - from parties to parks and everything in between. 

Sherrie is a San Francisco local that fancies herself an extroverted fine dining, wine drinking, know-it-all.  If it’s happening in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sherrie is in on it.  Follow her column, for the widest range of Out and About San Francisco treats.  

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