Events
Wine, beer, and whiskey are all poured frequently at events held around the globe, and here at Drinkhacker we tend to patronize many of them. This category offers our tasting reports from these events — as well as announcements of upcoming events that you the reader may be interested in attending. Watch especially for discount codes and freebies, which we often cross-post to our Contests section.
Top Events Posts:
Tasting Report: Bourbon & Beyond 2018
Tasting Report: WhiskyFest San Francisco 2018
Tasting Report: Bordeaux and Sauternes, 2015 Vintage
2014 Bordeaux is arriving now, and as is customary, winemakers from all of Bordeaux’s many sub-regions brought their new releases to the U.S. for press and trade to taste and consider. All told, 2014 is shaping up as a relatively fresher, more fruit-forward year, though naturally some bombed-out, tannic exceptions exist. If any single region…
Madeira is one of the most enigmatic wine styles in the world. A fortified wine made from grapes grown on a single island and aged in a hot environment, Madeira has a flavor unlike any other wine you’ll encounter. A small variety of grapes are used, including dry sercial, medium dry verdelho, medium rich boal…
Draw a line eastward from Bodega Bay to Sonoma, and another one parallel to that about 10 miles to the south. Congratulations, you’ve just outlined, roughly, the Petaluma Gap, a much-discussed region of Sonoma County (plus a bit of Marin County) that is heralded particularly for its colder-climate pinot noir and chardonnay grapes. The “gap”…
WhiskyFest is always a great opportunity to get a look at new releases — and pre-sampling products I won’t be able to formally review for a few weeks or month is my favorite part of the show. WhiskyFest 2016 was shaping up to be a windfall for these kinds of releases, including Ardbeg Dark Cove,…
It’s been a few years since I’ve attended Family Winemakers of California, and event that once billed itself as the largest wine event in America, with hundreds of wineries showing off their wares. Things have settled down a bit in more recent years, but with 125 wineries showcasing some 500-plus wines, there’s still far more…
Wow, I almost missed it — we’re nine years old, today! Thanks to all our fans and readers for keeping Drinkhacker going strong for all this time — we’re gunning to publish our 5000th post before our 10th birthday next year, and I’m hoping to come up with some amazing giveaways for you guys for…
Finally I was in town to visit the Marin stopover of the roving California Beer Festival, which I last attended in 2013. This year saw plenty of worthwhile brews on tap for the hop-loving supplicants, as well as an ample collection of ciders, sours, and even a refreshing kombucha or two. With live music and…
The 17th annual Whiskies of the World event wrapped this March in San Francisco, and it was as fun and chaotic as ever to wander three stories of the San Francisco Belle paddleboat, moored in the San Francisco Bay. This year I focused my attention primarily on independent bottlers of Scotch whiskies, with Alexander Murray…
It’s been four years since we’ve checked in on the wines of New Zealand in earnest. At this year’s San Francisco installment of the New Zealand Wine Fair, I made it a point to focus particularly on white wines. Were they still tropical blowouts in the classic “New Zealand style” to which we’ve become accustomed?…
Recently I had the good fortune to attend one of the most entertaining events in this business: Petaluma’s annual “California Cheesin’” event, part of the annual California Artisan Cheese Festival, now in its 10th year. This highlight offers regional (northern California) restaurants plus purveyors of wine, beer, and cider — and let’s you go to town on…