Wine Riot, held at the 69th Regiment Aromory in Manhattan on September 18-19, is your all-access pass to hundreds of new wines. With two parts education and one part revolution, Wine Riot has reinvented “wine tasting” for the thirsty and curious.
Grab a glass and hit the floor at Wine Riot — it’s you unleashed against 250 wines from across the globe. Travel the world of wine all under one roof and tackle things you’ve never tried before. They’ve rallied up a team of die-hard experts to bring you the brain juice: interactive booths and crash courses loaded with tips and tricks for conquering the wine world. Fueling your night of conquest is a tireless DJ, photo booth, temporary tattoos, and a few thousand of your closest friends. The best part is, they made an app that tracks your favorite wines and shows you where to buy them later, arming you with all the tools needed for total wine domination.
Highlights of the event include:
Crash Courses: Drop in for a quick, 20-minute sit down with some of the coolest producers in the world. Taste your way through Portugal, guess the price of a bottle from California or learn all about German Riesling in one of these free mini seminars.
Winery Booths: They’ve searched high and low for the best and most diverse wineries. Some produce only a few barrels and others millions, but they want to put hundreds of wines from around the world in one room so you can sample the wares and chat with the folks that know them best.
Mobile App: Download the free app (available for iPhone and Android) to help navigate the event and remember all the wines you loved. Check out the top wines at the event or take a guided tour of the booths, like Bring on the Bubbly.
Wine 101: Hit up the Wine 101 Booth and learn eight wine terms by tasting them! Taste the difference between Dry and Sweet wine, sip Old World next to New World wines, see the change in Young versus Mature wines, and find out what Oaked versuss Unoaked means.
Bubbly Bar: Don’t miss the Bubbly Bar, where they’ll be pouring every type of Sparkling Wine and educating about the different styles. Did you know that in order to be called “Champagne” the grapes must be grown in the Champagne region of France? All other bubbly wines are called “Sparkling Wine,” but some countries have their own designations like Spanish Cava, from Penedes, Italian Prosecco from Veneto, and Cremant, from other regions in France.
The concept of Wine Riot was simple: they wanted to create a fun, non-intimidating place where people could learn about wine. So in 2008, Morgan and Tyler maxed out their credit cards, called in every favor they had, and made Wine Riot a reality. It was an instant hit. They’ve grown since those days but their dedicated team continues to work hard to find the best wineries, incredibly knowledgeable experts and put on an absolutely amazing show. What’s the mission? They want you to drink more wine. Sure, wine can seem complicated, but in the end it all comes down to whether you like it or not. It’s that simple. Their goal is to give you the tools to find cool wine tastings, talk to experts, explore wine regions and constantly discover new favorites. You don’t have to use dorky wine-speak or spend a lot of time learning about wine to have fun with it. And they’re here to help.