Popular wine education and tasting events are filling up fast

June 27, 2019

This paid piece is sponsored by Wine Time on Main.

Learn a little, sample (maybe more than) a little and enjoy worldwide wines at an event that’s filling up so fast it can be hard to snag a seat.

Wine Time on Main began hosting its Wine 101 nights several months ago, and they caught on quickly.

“We don’t even really market it that much,” owner Bob Novak said. “And when we first started, we limited it to 10 people, and now we do 16 max, so we fill the bar and a few tables, and we try to leave the front half of the bar and patio open for customers.”

Held on the first and third Monday each month, the Wine 101 nights are about two hours, beginning at 6:30 p.m., and feature a different region each time as experts guide guests along the way.

“We always have a map that explains the region and why the wine is different,” Novak said. “This began because we had so many people come in and say there wasn’t wine education available, and they wanted to learn more about it, so we talked to some of our reps, and they thought it was a great idea.”

Previous Wine 101 nights have focused on the Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa and Piedmont regions.

An upcoming event July 1 sold out in a day and will highlight the Rhone Valley in France, “which is interesting because the south end is along the Mediterranean and it’s got a lot warmer weather and gets a sea breeze, where the north gets the four seasons and more temperature swings and wind off the baby Alps,” Novak said.

“We’ll be joined by John Thuringer, the best French wine expert in town. He truly understands France. And we will be tasting five different wines.”

Most of the Wine 101 nights are $35 or $40 and include about 2-ounce samples of five wines. Some bonus pours usually are available if you’d like another taste. There’s also a super-party-sized cheese and charcuterie tray to share and discounted wines by the bottle.

Plus you can usually count on some surprises, including the occasional treat from Novak’s personal cellar.

“We really like to make it interactive and get people asking questions,” he said. “I can see it getting big enough to do it more often because we’ll want to be able to get everyone in.”

Upcoming Wine 101 nights will be held July 15 featuring amazing wines from Washington and Aug. 5 featuring Tuscany. Novak typically sends an email out to his distribution list a week ahead and spots fill up fast.

“If you know you want to come and we’re having one coming up, we’ll put you on the list,” he said. “But typically we send the email out a week ahead and within minutes they’re calling.”

To sign up for Wine Time’s emails, click here. To pre-register for an event, call 605-937-9555.

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Popular wine education and tasting events are filling up fast

Learn a little, sample (maybe more than) a little and enjoy worldwide wines at a recurring event that’s filling up so fast it can be hard to snag a seat.

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