Words And Photos By Priya Konings
If you are wondering why there is currently a wine shortage in DC it’s because DC’s winos drank it all this weekend at the Wine Riot. Seriously.
With no less than 36 wine tasting stations, this was a wine tasting experience of a life time. Held at the Sphinx Club in Franklin Square, the event was $60 for all you could consume. Basically, you entered the building, handed a cup, and started drinking copious amounts of wine.
People came as couples and with groups of friends; by the end of the night there were new couples and everyone was friends. Free sunglasses and temporary tattoos contributed to the merriment.
Perhaps the most popular area at the Wine Riot was the Bubbly Bar, which was pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Bubbles flowed. The booth featured seven different kinds of sparkling wines, including a brut cava, a rose cava, a Prosecco, a California sparkling wine, a cremant, and of course an actual Champagne. But by the end, everything tasted like Champagne so it didn’t really matter which one you tried.
Other notable stops on the wine route through the room included the “Young vs. Mature” tasting station, which was sampled by the young and the mature; the Wine Cocktails tasting booth and a “Sweet vs. Dry” tasting section, which was also visited by the sweet and the dry. Just kidding. No one was dry at this party.
There were wine stations from all over the world, with wines from Italy, Washington, California, and even New York, which was surprisingly good.
The South American booth was especially crowded; it offered wines from Brazil, Chile, and a delicious Malbec from Argentina. Of course, its proximity to the Bubbly Bar may have had something to do with its popularity.
There were even wine classes, if you had the patience to listen. Of course, it involved sampling wine, so it learning was interactive, which made it a whole lot more interesting.
Oh and there were two food stations, but who had time to eat? There was more wine to be imbibed!
As Ben Franklin once said, “Wine is proof that God loves us.” All the wine rioters agreed and held this as their motto….until the morning after the Wine Riot.
