A Big Disappointment

Yesterday, the wife and I attended the Washington International Wine and Food Festival at the new Washington Convention Center. We discovered this event back in 2001, the last year we lived in DC before moving back a few months ago. Back in '01, the event was at the Reagan Trade Center. It was fabulous. They had 3 different rooms of wine exhibitors, all organized by country or region. We went both Saturday and Sunday, and felt it was worth every penny.

This year was quite the opposite. Let's start at the beginning. First, the line to get in was massive. Truly a logistical nightmare. In 01, we got a nice cloth bag to hold all our swag. This year, only a paper bag big enough to hold a 6-pack. The whole thing was in one big room. It was setup like a low class trade show. Aisles were narrow. It was very hard to get to any of the tables. And my goodness, they oversold this thing. It seemed to me as though they didn't care how many people came. It was awful.

In terms of wine, there didn't seem to be many vendors. I am pretty sure I only saw three (3) tables from Italy. There couldn't have been more than 15 from California. It was a let down.

I did find some decent wines, when I could get to a table to try some. I have no idea how much they cost as that information wasn't readily available. However, I would guess they were all over my threshold of $10.

I am seriously considering trying to put together my own wine show. I think I could put it together much better than what I saw yesterday. Keep an eye out, you may see something on the horizon.