I love this annual event at San Francisco’s Fort Mason. Over 400 wineries pouring their wines in one long warehouse pier. It is nuts! This is primarily a trade event, as for business wine buyers and those of us in wine media, but they let the public in the door on Sunday afternoon from 3 to 6, and for only $50. How long would it take you to spend $50 for wine at dinner or in just tasting fees?

Info and tickets at: FamilyWinemakers.org

The variety is outstanding from these small family-owned wineries and the retail prices range from $8 to $200 a bottle.

While you have paced yourself wine tasting before, it is very important to be careful here. Just breathing the air will put your BA level at .03. Narrow your tasting to only what is most important to you. I roll with only dry robust Cabs – and still can’t make it half-way though.

- jim

Livermore wineries hosted a nice harvest festival on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day Weekend.  The weather was perfect and the wineries worked hard to make the event interesting with food vendors and live music at most of the locations.

However, almost half the wineries hosted loud nightclub type bands.  In some instances we could not hear anything the tasting bar staff was trying to tell us.  To preserve our hearing for later life and to only taste what we would enjoy, we promptly left without tasting.  We heard other complaints. We certainly don’t feel compelled to ever visit those wineries again.

There seems to be enough neurological research evidence to support the statement that senses cross influence each other.  Hearing can affect taste.  Overloaded senses such as hearing can also overload taste. Those senses are near each other in the brain and somewhat connected.

Loud bands have the following effects and should never be paired with wine tasting:

1. Taste is greatly impacted and sensitivity reduced.
2. People can’t have real conversations.
3. Hearing is damaged.

We attend wine events to enjoy wine and, equally important, to met other people.  Loud music ruins the experience.  If folks want to drink fine wine in a nightclub they can go to downtown San Jose on a Friday or Saturday night and blow their ears off.

Several wineries such as Concannon, Tenuta, and Garre had wonderful groups that created a pleasant background music.

- jim