At the weekend I went to the world’s biggest tasting of zinfandel, at the Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The general public had only 3 hours to sample an average of 2 or 3 wines from almost 300 vineyards. The organisers provided bread and cheese, presumably to soak up the alcohol. It was a swill-fest by late afternoon. Every time someone dropped their glass a cheer arose from the crowd of about 3,000 souls at the sound of smashing glass. By late afternoon the cheers became frequent and louder. The program was littered with errors, such as listing $20 wine at $120! The festival moves to New York, Chicago, Washington DC and Cleveland between March and July. Let’s hope they correct the errors.