Hip Tastes Salty & Sweet Tasting

Courtney Cochran of Hip Tastes is starting a new series of her popular evening event tastings. First up is ~THE SALTY & SWEET TASTING~, featuring salty-sweet creations from Elizabeth Faulkner, decadent rocky road-inspired nuggets from San Francisco's own Droga (love love love), single-origin chocolates from hot new European chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, and salty snacks from Estrellita's Snacks and Botanas Felicitas.

There will be a variety of still, sweet, and sparkling wines hand-picked for their affinities with sweet and salty snacks, including Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine, Meyer Family Port, Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Ice Wine, La Badia "Badis" Moscato d'Asti, La Tordera "Cuvee di Gabry" Spumante Rosato, Tenuta di Arceno "PrimaVoce" and more.

Plus there will music, and three prizes from Hotel Chocolat.

Please note Cochran has also added Thursday night classes at Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant in SoMa. The next one is March 20, 2008: Night School: Blind Tasting Bootcamp, 7pm–9pm, $60.

There are also Saturday School classes, offering a more focused environment than the Friday night parties to hone your tasting skills. Coming up on March 15, 2008, is Saturday School: Blind Tasting Bootcamp, 3pm–5pm, $60.

Here's more: "Allow us to enlighten you: it's not brain surgery. Come join a small group of Hip Tasters for our first class of 2008 as we walk you through the fundamentals of blind tasting at the brand spanking new San Francisco Wine Center in SoMa. You'll learn how to sniff and swirl your way to identifying six delicious wines the way professional sommeliers do in a gorgeous new exhibition kitchen setting. We'll wrap with a taste-off between teams to stir up a little friendly interaction in this class you definitely don't want to skip. No apples here: all students leave with a very cool free gift."

Attend any three Hip Tastes classes (Saturday School or Night School) and your fourth is free! All wines will be available for purchase at a discount after class.

Hip Tastes
Salty & Sweet Tasting
Fri., Mar. 28, 2008

Sugar Cafe
679 Sutter St.
Cross: Taylor St.
San Francisco, CA 94102

7pm–10pm

$30

tickets