Zaptastic!

 The ZAPtasting for 2009 at Fort Mason has come and gone and what a good time it was. From several perspectives and from someone who has been to her share of wine tastings both as a producer and as a consumer I have to say that this was a pretty great tasting. In the past ZAP has gotten a bad rap as a tasting focused on Zinfandel but at the end of the day turns into a “drunk fest”. Now with 275 wineries pouring Zins you can see how this would be an easy thing to have happen. This I would have to say that this is actually true for some of the past events but there seemed to be a different vibe among the 8,000 plus people that attended this tasting. There will always be that small group of people who don’t know when to put the wine glass down but this year, that group was much smaller then it has been in the past. With the exception of the guy who grabbed the wine bottle off our table and started pouring it for himself people where generally well behaved.
            For once I noticed a much higher presence in the 20-30 something age category. We all know that this age bracket has become a big percentage of new wine consumers and drinkers in the past few years. Being someone who falls into this category I also know that they are stereotyped into the group of wine drinkers who want to taste but never buy. This year I would have to say that there were more 20 something’s actually genuinely interested in the wine, our family story and signing up for the mailing list.  Wineries are more and more looking for new ways to pull in that millennial purchasing power and I think that tastings like these are a great place to start, especially in a city like SF. We poured both the 2004 and 2005 John Tyler Zinfandel (our new release).
            Tasting events like these are great opportunities for wineries to talk directly with consumers about their products. For smaller wineries who don’t have a tasting room, these venues are often the only time they get direct to consumer contact. After the success at SF ZAP we will also be heading to Austin, Texas for their ZAP event in May. Watch out Texas, we’re coming to your city!