Taste & Purchase Your favorite Wines at SF Vintners Market
Welcome to the first step of my Californian Wine Tour! I have been in California for now a month and a half, and I am more and more familiar with the characteristics and the uniqueness of New World’s wines.
Being based in San Francisco is convenient, there is plenty of awesome wine related events, near the world’s famous Napa Valley.
I have been given the opportunity to enter the famous SF Vintners Market 2017. The event is running over March, 11th and 12th. This fair, established since 2010 in Fort Mason, San Francisco, reunites wine makers and wine enthusiasts. Each year it helps more than 3.000 visitors discovering wines from all around California getting in contact with 200 Vintners and buy what they like on site. The location of the event grants even more credit to the fair: the shores of the San Francisco Bay, between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island, coupled with the sunset gives an astonishing view leaving you speechless.
Relaxed Atmosphere & Interesting Stories
I have already been to several wine fairs, most of them were B2B during an internship I did last year. It is then important to notice the different atmosphere within the event. Winemakers are more about telling stories about their winery and their wine. They are not focused on a technical approach, that wine amateurs would not even be interested in. I heard numerous funny and interesting stories, from a winemaker having an affair with the wife of the owner of the vineyard, to a former scientist doing now wine around chemistry and even the history of the Zinfandel grape varietal. This brings a lot of credit to the event to see the exhibitors involving themselves as much for people’s pleasure.
I have tasted several wines from the Napa Valley. The most common varietals of this area are Chardonnay, Cabernets (Sauvignon and Franc, but you can call them “Cabs”), Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Syrah/Petite Syrah. It goes without saying that Californian wines are stronger in alcohol than French wines, of which I am more used to. However, their nose, often insanely fruity turned me on and surprised me by their aromas. I have also noticed that a lot of winemakers are making a special wine, “French Style” or “Bordeaux like”, using old world techniques to bring the best to New World terroir, blessed with a favorable towards climate.
Fantastic wine & food pairing
Another non-negligible aspect of this event is the quality of the food that is proposed. Mexican tamales, French crêpes and various chocolate exhibitors that can help you dealing with all the wine tasted . The food is of an excellent quality even if the price is a bit high for what is in your plate…
As a conclusion, if you are a wine enthusiast, SF Vintners Market is an exciting event, for everyone to spend a good afternoon, tasting, experiencing and discovering “la crème de la crème” of Californian wines.
Do you plan to participate to the next SF Vintners Market?
I hope you liked my article, please feel free to leave your comments.
Board on wine 