UNLVino Wine and Spirits Tasting

This was a fantastic experience as it was my first year attending. While I didn’t have anything to compare it to from the year before, people I went with have been attending for a number of year. They repeated mention how much they thoroughly enjoyed the this year’s showing.
This was the 40^th anniversary of the tasting put on to help raise money for UNLV studies studying hospitality. The event was held outdoors at The Cleveland Clinic and the weather could not have been better. There was a large variety of wines to taste, both read and white, along with Champagne and Sake. One of my favorites was Conundrum’s Cabernet. A highlight of the night was the surprise of stumbling upon Clase Azul tequila. While I love me some wine, a stellar glass of aged tequila always gets my toes tingling. I may have hung out at their tent a little longer than I should have.
The food was delightful. There was everything from Shrimp tacos to pizza, sushi, steak tartar and even food trucks. The steak tartar from Shibuya stood out the most. I haven’t had a steak tartar that mouth watering in ages. It went perfectly with the sweet, smokiness of my tequila and, yes a little later, my red wine. Hey when tickets are $ 125 a pop, you taste what you want and then go back and make sure that it was as good as the first time; consistency folks.
All in all, this a was really fun time, great energy, lots of new loves and old favorites tried and tasted while smiling and laughing with great friends. What more could you ask for in a night out? Well played UNLVino, well played! You will be seeing me next year.

I missed the last couple of years of UNLVino, and was so glad to be back! The food seems better than ever, with various tables set up around the room. The balsamic on the tomato and mozzarella skewers was very nice, and I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of cheeses. My companions kept raving about the shrimp!
On to the wine! There were quite a few very nice offerings with a really diverse selection. I couldn’t pass up the Amarone, because it’s Italian and it’s the very best (inside family Pocchia joke). I fell in love with the Spanish wines from Ontanon! Black Bird was a nice gem as well. There was a long table on the side wall that I with I could’ve spent more time tasting through the huge selection, but alas there were so many wines and so little time.
It was great to be back, and look forward to next year. Dum vivimus, vivamus!

I went to the main, open to the public event on Saturday. What a zoo. The parking garage was totally overflowing and was nearly impossible to park. After 20 minutes of circling, I finally found a spot. (I guess I got lucky because it took my friend 35 minutes to find a spot).
I was relieved to have finally parked and was looking forward to tasting some good wine and relaxing a little. Wrong. When I entered the convention area it was mobbed. The lines at the tasting tables were long. Usually about 5+ minutes to squeeze your way to the front of the line and finally get a glass, only to have the people behind you bumping into you all the while. It was loud and busy, so there was practically no time to ask the wineries/​distributors/​retailers even one question. I was unimpressed by the selection of wine. Most of what they had you could find at your local grocery store for $ 3−20/bottle. Nothing unique or exciting to try.
Walking through the convention area was nearly impossible. I walked most of the way with my arms across me just to pass through all the people. There were also a lot of rude and/​or pushy people. The food was practically nothing. There were cheese, crackers, fruit, and a couple of hot items. Not exactly what I was expecting based on some of the promo, but I wasn’t there to eat so wasn’t too upset.
The event ran from 7 – 10. They weren’t kidding when they said ends at 10. At 9:50 there was an announcement thanking everyone for coming out and stating that the event would be closing in 10 minutes, and many of the vendors had started packing up. Nice. They pulled the food stations up about 9:45. And, yes, many of the vendors did start packing up early. At 9:54 they started herding everyone out.
There were bottled water vendors toward the entrance on the way in. Guess what, on the way out they were already packed up/​gone, so you couldn’t even get water on the way out. Smart.
I have been to far better wine tasting events for less money. My suggestion is to save your money on this and instead go to your local liquor store and buy a couple of nice bottles of wine and stay home. I will never go to UNLVino again.

I went to the Grand Tasting thanks to Unilocal.The event was hosted at Bally’s Grand Ballroom and was a huge gathering of vineyards, distilleries, and distributors. The events are to benefit the Culinary and Hospitality college at UNLV. Spread over three nights, people had a choice to go to either the sparkling wines, sakes, or a mixture of everything.
My plus one and I got there around 7. The parking at Bally’s is a nightmare. The shared garage with Paris is difficult to maneuver around and is inadequate for this size of event. Other than that, I have no negative comments about the experience. The bounty of food could not keep up with all the ravenous fiends swarming the buffet area. Besides the displayed food, there were individuals passing hors d’ouvres. Organization was needed as the crowd got bigger. We met up with Regina P. and she was saying that dirty looks were being shot her way when trying to get food.
Fevertree is a premium mixer brand that makes a superb ginger beer and ginger ale. Both contains a concentrated taste and spiciness of the root. In between a few rounds of wines, I came back to the booth to settle my stomach. The Ambhar Tequila booth was also interesting. The combination of their liquor and a dessert wine was pleasantly smooth. The Grand Tasting is the place to be due to the variety of liquor available. Do not fret if wine is not your drink of choice; beers by Delirium, New Belgium, and Pabst was present. Not a fan of beer; liquors such as Irish Honey, Ambhar, and more were on premise. The three hour event provided enough time to sample a variety of wines.
A part of me is already looking forward to next year’s festivities.