After pouring in Boston and now moving onto New York, the traveling Wine Expo was held this past weekend here in D.C. A full line-up of wine tastings, food demos, and seminars filled the halls of the Ronald Reagan building all weekend long. Wine lovers, consumers, people in the trade and some miscellaneous drunk people all came out in the name of wine. The entire weekend kicked off Friday night with the Grand Cru tasting. Those willing to shell out $175 were granted a more personal visit to many of the exhibitors as well as sample many exclusive wines. Food samples and demonstrations included B.L.T. Steak, 1789, Dino, Proof, Equinox and PS-7, to name a few.

The actual festival was held Saturday and Sunday for those of us who were only willing to pay the $85 admission price (or if you were trade and got in for free). These events always seem to have an off vibe to them in terms of what is actually supposed to be going on. As someone in the business, it is supposed to be a good opportunity to network and check out new products. This is done in between regular consumers pushing and shoving to squeeze their way up to every table, just to ask the winemakers if they have any “White Zinfandels” before even looking at what is being poured. $85 is an awful lot to spend if you want to drink White Zin.

The mix of vendors also appeared to be slightly unbalanced, as Virginia wineries were sprinkled in between large California wineries, New York state had a large presence though most of Europe did not, and small boutique wineries were overshadowed by the large tents of Fetzer, Barefoot and the Mondavi wineries. Actually, the Mondavi winery had their own room where they gave out manicures and Mondavi vanilla lip balm. If that doesn’t entice someone to buy their wines, then we’re sure nothing will.

Photo by christaki

Although about half of the festival was filled with big name, run of the mill wineries with gimmicks, all was not lost. There were certainly a fair amount of smaller producers who were willing to take the time to discuss their winemaking and vineyards to those who wanted to learn. Highlights included Alexander Valley Vineyards and Opolo from California, Kluge from Virginia, most of the Oregon table but Amity Vineyards and Coelho winery specifically, and Bellingham Wines from South Africa.

Several Seminars offered a refuge for those who wanted a break from the tasting madness, although for an additional fee. Seminars included a how-to blind taste with Doug Frost M.S./M.W ($30), a tasty tour of Paso Robles ($55), apirits mix-ology course ($45) if you wanted a break from wine all together, and a “Grape Escape” tasting of same varietals grown in different regions ($55). Being the wine geeks that we are, we opted for the Blind tasting course, which taught us how to use deductive tasting skills in order to identify any type of wine set in front of us. It was a very intense course put on by the energetic Doug Frost, who walked everyone through blind tasting 7 wines and then laughed when we got them wrong. Of course he laughed in an encouraging way, and told us if we knew them already then we wouldn’t learn anything. It was money well spent.

Among all of that alcohol consumption, various food tables and demonstrations were set up around the rooms. Food ranged from cheese (of course), to curry, to peanuts and honey. Food demonstrations were put on by Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve, Todd Gray of Equinox, Enzo Febbraro of D’Acqua and Paolo Buffa of Bice Ristorante.

Overall it was an entertaining event if you didn’t have high expectations of what you were going to learn or taste. There was a lot of glitz and glam, but it at least seemed to offer a little something for everyone. Once you tired of wine you could cleanse your palate at the Blue Moon beer table or one of the many liquor tables. And if nothing else, where else can you consume that amount of alcohol in public by 6 p.m.?