Wine Weds: Burning Man Wine Tastings

It’s not often that I am caught without words. But in this case, I am not quite sure where to begin.

Except to say that hosting, participating and attending several wine tastings at Burning Man was one of the greatest, most unusual experiences of my life. And challenging. Ever do a wine tasting in a white-out like we did Saturday night before the Burn?

For another example, NONE of the planned wines arrived before we left EXCEPT Vino V’s Indigeno Syrah which winemaker Michael Meagher dropped off in the office at Pierpont Elementary School since we both have children in attendance there! And maybe another exception would be Twisted Oak, since El Jefe at Twisted Oak didn’t want to ship in the heat and risk it not getting here in time, so I scavenged some bottles from my cellar and sent them off in an RV with some other wines I had. The case from Frei Brothers arrived the day after we left; the FedEx door tags fluttered on the breeze when we arrived home and the wine was shipped back. Wine from Michel-Schlumberger didn’t leave the loading dock in time because of the heat, so I brought some from my cellar. Burke at Bonny Doon thought I was coming by to pick it up on my way to Burning Man so again I brought some from my cellar.

Fortunately, others took up the slack, including a Barolo which is leaving me hankering for more and determined to get a job where I can afford to buy it!

So we did have several spectacular wines on several occasions including a spontaneous wine tasting and educational course before Saturday night’s burn during a brutal white-out which we held INSIDE our VW van: seven adults crammed in there!

More details to follow as soon as I unpack the empties to make sure I get all the details right…and in hopes that some photos from the tastings arrive!

Thanks to fellow Kidsvillian Phil Spitler for the photo use!