This was the second annual tasting of Spanish and Portuguese varietals made by American wineries. There were about 40 participating wineries in this year’s event and they were pouring mostly Albariño and Verdejo in the whites, and Garnacha and Tempranillo in the reds. Most of the wineries were small and obscure wineries from California. There were a few Oregon wineries and one from Arizona. I would say that at least half of the wineries were new names to me.
Thank goodness I was in the pool of Press attendees who were allowed in two hours before the public. Building A at Fort Mason was jammed even in the press event. I concentrated on red wines only and was able to taste at least one wine from all the participating wineries. Here are my favorites of the tasting.