In this tough economic climate, people are spending less on the discretionary side of their budgets. If you had asked me to make predictions, I would have told you that this would likely have led to fewer people attending this year's ZAP Zinfandel festival. Certainly market data are showing us that people are buying less expensive wines, and I would have thought that meant spending $69 for a chance to taste a whole lot of Zinfandel would be hard to justify.
But the line snaking around the edge of the parking lot, and the crowds inside proved me entirely wrong this year. While I won't go so far as to say Zinfandel is recession proof, it might be true that the chance to taste as much of it as you want to in the course of a few hours is just what everyone needed in this fiscal crisis.
It helps that apart from a few exclusive brands, most Zinfandels top-out at $40 a bottle, and most really good ones hover in the $25 to $35 per bottle range. At least that might help explain the hordes of people that (as they do every year) descended upon Fort Mason a couple of weeks ago, filling two huge exhibition halls and bringing a dull roar to that end of San Francisco.
While there didn't seem to be many less people attending, there were definitely fewer wineries showcasing their wares. It's easy to understand that in these tough times, wineries might not spring for the price of exhibiting at such events. But while there may have been a few less exhibitors, there was still way too much wine to taste. I took it easy and stopped at around 150 wines, but even if I had another five hours, I wouldn't have been able to taste even a quarter of the wines on offer.
As many of you know, when I attend these large events, my goal is to taste a lot of wines in order to comparatively score them, rather than making tasting notes about each wine. I educate my palate in the process, and provide (I hope) some guidance for those who are looking to find roses among the thorns, or at least a great wine or two
