Hone Your Wine Skills at the 20th Annual Boston Wine Expo

Perhaps you know your single malt scotches and consider yourself well equipped to handle a deep discussion with the best of micro brew beer connoisseurs, but, despite your impeccable breeding, you are still a little fuzzy on your wines. You know what you like but don’t know your delicate bouquet from your hints of vanilla. How can you hone your sommelier skills without revealing your dirty little secret? The Boston Wine Expo is a perfect opportunity.

The 20^th Annual Boston Wine Expo takes place January 22^nd & 23^rd, 2011 at the Seaport World Trade Center.  If you have never attended, chances are you have heard of it, and you are certainly in for a treat.

The largest consumer and trade wine event in the country, more than 1800 wines from 300 wineries the world over will be offered for tastings. The list of wineries and exhibitors is truly impressive. And while you will, of course, not be able to conquer them all, you can certainly attain a global wine experience and pick up some significantly detailed expert information on what makes each and every wine unique and wonderful.

The event was founded in 1991 by the Boston Guild of Oenophilists along with founding chefs: Ming Tsai, Todd English, Jasper White, Michael Schlow, Daniel Bruce and Gordon Hamersley. All will be in attendance this year hosting cooking demonstrations alongside this year’s featured celebrity chefs Scott Robertson of Grafton Street Pub & Grill, Jeremy Sewall of Eastern Standard & Island Creek Oyster Bar, and Todd Winer of The Metropolitan Club.

And while the expo floor here can be a bit overwhelming unless you have pre-determined where you want to visit first, there are ample opportunities to enhance (or focus) your experience. Try a guided tasting or a seminar. Attend the Grand Cru Wine Lounge or “Meet and Greet” the Winemakers.

Tickets are now available online or at a number of retail locations throughout Greater Boston.

A philanthropic event, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the following charitable causes: Tufts-New England Medical Center’s Summer Camp Program for Children with Disabilities, Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Pan Mass Challenge, the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

How do you acquire the most knowledge throughout the experience without letting on how little you may or may not know? Play the role of devil’s advocate to the experts throughout the expo and get the best of their unyielding knowledge. It’s a classic game of “I know but I want to see if you know” in a perfectly suitable adult setting. You may be amazed by the wealth of knowledge, not to mention the pleasant taste in your mouth, that you will walk away with.