ZAP Festival

The 17th Annual ~ZINFANDEL ADVOCATES & PRODUCERS FESTIVAL (ZAP)~ has a variety of events coming up, and always draws quite the crowd. For more details, check out the site links below, but here are the highlights:

Flights: A Showcase of California Zinfandels, an afternoon of seated tastings and panel discussions, is Wednesday, January 23 from 2pm–6pm. Ticket prices are $100 per person for ZAP members, and $130 per person for non-ZAP members. Tickets are sold only in advance and not at the door. Read more about the event here.

Good Eats, a dine-around extravaganza, where zinfandel producers team up with restaurants and purveyors to offer fine-tuned food and wine “marriages,” will take place on Thursday, January 24 from 6pm–9pm at Herbst Pavilion (Ft. Mason Center, San Francisco, 415-441-3400). Ticket prices for members are $95 and $125 for non-members. This is a signature event at the annual ZAP Festival, where you spend the evening talking to zinfandel producers and chefs as you taste some winning wine-and-food combos. Tickets are sold only in advance and not at the door. There is some limited seating, but this is a walk-around event. There is limited parking at Ft. Mason Center (first hour is free; a maximum charge of $8/car). View complete details here.

Evening With the Winemakers, a live auction and dinner benefiting The Heritage Vineyard Projects, is Friday, January 25 at The Westin St. Francis Hotel (on Union Square, 335 Powell Street, San Francisco, 415-397-7000). Ticket prices are $210 for ZAP members and $260 for non-members. There is also a VIP ticket for Evening with the Winemakers at $350 per person. The pre-dinner tasting and reception starts at 5pm; the live auction and dinner at 6:15pm. Tickets must be purchased in advance. This will be the first place to taste the 2006 Heritage Vineyard Zinfandel, not to mention meeting winemakers and winery owners who will be pouring their zinfandels during the evening. Read all about the live auction lots here and the event here.

The 17th Annual Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Tasting will take place Saturday January 26 at the Herbst and Festival Pavilions at Ft. Mason Center (Marina Blvd. at Buchanan, San Francisco, 415-441-3400). Between 260 and 275 wineries will pour their zinfandels, highlighting the 2006 vintage, as well as barrel samples and new releases of other vintages. Here’s the complete list of participating wineries here.

The trade and media portion of the tasting is 10am–1pm; the public is welcome from 2pm–5pm. New this year is that ZAP members can enter at 1pm. A silent auction benefiting The Heritage Vineyard Projects will take place from 10am–4pm. Tickets are $49 for ZAP members, $59 for non-members, and $69 at the door on the day of the event. The program for this tasting is the most comprehensive listing of zinfandel wineries anywhere. You receive a commemorative ZAP-logo glass (and your own baguette) when you enter the tasting. Wineries are arranged in alphabetical order, divided between the two buildings. There are ample supplies of cheeses, fruit, and water throughout the event. There is limited parking at Ft. Mason so people, seriously, take public transpo or a cab—it’s safer, and the place is a total madhouse of cars.

ZAP Festival
January 23-26, 2008

Various locations
San Francisco, CA

website