June 2, 2009

Gotta love free: there are complimentary wine tastings on Fridays at ~SPUNTINO~! Every Friday afternoon you'll be able to explore a different region, varietal, or producer at a casual, drop-in tasting. This Friday June 5th will feature the whites of Friuli, and next week (Friday June 12th) will be "Around the World with Sauvignon Blanc." All wines featured during the tastings are 10% off. 4pm–6pm. 1957 Union St. at Octavia, 415-931-6410.

Get your tickets: on Monday June 8th, Duggan McDonnell will be leading a ~PISCO CLASS AT CANTINA~, so you can learn the history of pisco and delve into its complex flavors while dining on the South American food of Guisell Osorios Sabores del Sur. Think empanadas and pisco punch. Causa and your creation. Guests will step behind the bar and live their bartender dreams to the fullest. And you can learn why his nickname is Shotzi. Tickets are $80, purchase them here. 580 Sutter St. at Mason.

On Sunday June 14th is the ~TAPAS~ (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society) tasting, the most extensive annual tasting of domestically produced Spanish and Portuguese varietal wines in North America. From 10:30am–noon there will be a trade seminar (including a guided tasting and featured speaker Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard), and noon–1:30pm is a trade walk-around tasting, complimentary to members of the wine trade. Consumers can taste from 2pm–4:30pm (there will be over 30 participating wineries), and there will also be some food provided. Tickets for the consumer tasting are $35 in advance, available online at tapas2009.eventbrite.com or $45 at the door. Fort Mason Center.

~CORTEZ RESTAURANT AND BAR~ is offering a $10 bar bite and cocktail menu from 5pm–7pm nightly. You can choose a cocktail and an item from the new Bar Bite menu for just ten bucks. They have also started "Tipsy Tuesdays," where you can order any bottle of wine at 50% off. 550 Geary St. at Jones, 415-292-6360.

~THE TYLER FLORENCE SHOP~ in Mill Valley has started a bi-monthly author event program, and next Thursday June 11th Doug "Bix" Biederbeck will be in for his new book, BIXOLOGY. Doug will be having a conversation with Tyler about the book, signing books, and demonstrating the "perfect" martini and bloody Mary a la Bix. RSVPs are requested at 415-380-9200 or email at rsvp [at] tylerflorence [dot] com. 6pm–8pm. 59 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley.

(Oh, and this isn't lush news, but if you're a big TyFlo fan, he'll be a celeb guest and is donating a private dinner for 12 to be auctioned off at the ~ONE BIG TABLE SUMMER DINNER~ on June 10th at the Hotel Kabuki to benefit the Food Bank. Here's the link and details.)