Nantucket Wine Festival, May 13-18, 2003

[wondersofwine]

In response to Glass_A_Day's post on the Boston Wine Expo.
I've been to four Nantucket Wine Festivals now (out of the six or seven they've held).
The grand tasting at the Casino at 'Sconset had some of the same faults you found with the BWE (too crowded, lots of mediocre pours, hard to find the gems and some years, long lines to get to the food which you need to stave off inebriation). However, this year they will have four two-hour sessions at the large wine tasting, cutting down the size of the crowds (previously tastings were all afternoon on Saturday or Sunday and I have been going Saturday which is probably the busier day). The tasting will also be in Nantucket proper, not at 'Sconset, so you don't need to rely on shuttle buses or taxis.
What I like BEST about the Nantucket Wine Festival is the smaller tastings in private homes (limited to 12 people). They can be pricy, but last year I attended a vertical tasting of Great White Burgundies (Corton-Charlemagne and Montrachet!) and a horizontal tasting of 2000 DeLoach Zinfandels with Cecil DeLoach doing the honors. One home was a modern home with bay view and the other home was an historic home in town. (One home in past years had sections dating from the 18th century and widow's walk to look over the town and bay). There are also numerous wine lunches or dinners to choose from with the vintner present (I've been to dinners with Jed Steele wines, Geyser Peak wines, Sequoia Grove wines in the past).