Just in case you’d like to be tasting and learning about wine before getting ready for your Oscars party on Sunday February 22nd, here’s a class you can take at ~HEIRLOOM CAFE~ with owner Matt Straus (it’s a two-hour curriculum covering the building blocks of wine understanding and appreciation). You’ll taste eight wines and talk about some wine basics. 12pm. Tickets are $40.
Get your tickets now for In Pursuit of Balance, a tasting featuring 33 wineries (selected by the IPOB organization) pouring chardonnay and pinot noir. The San Francisco event is on Monday March 16th; it will also be happening in New York, Houston, and Tokyo and Osaka! $125.
Congrats to Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori of UMAMI MART in Oakland, who just got their off-sale liquor license, allowing them to sell sake, wine, and beer at their shop, which means they will be the nation’s first Japanese beer shop! They are stocking around 25 Japanese beers (lots of microbreweries and plenty of Hitachino too), and you’ll also find mirin and vermouth! Read their blog post for even more background on this exciting development. 815 Broadway at 8th St., Oakland, 510-250-9559.
Cider lovers, mark your calendars for the second annual Cider Summit SF, featuring artisanal ciders from around the world, more than 120 in all. It will be held at the Civil War Parade Ground in The Presidio on Saturday April 25th, 12pm-6pm. Tickets just went on sale and are $35 in advance, $40 at the door; they include a souvenir tasting glass and 10 tasting tickets. Additional tasting tickets will be available for sale on-site at $2 per ticket.
