Swirl, sniff, taste, swish, spit, repeat. Four … hundred … times. While it may seem a bit overwhelming, I can think of far worse things to be doing over a long weekend in San Francisco.

It all started when Anthony Dias Blue — Andy to his friends — invited me to fly out to California to participate as a judge in the 30th annual San Francisco International Wine Competition. Winemakers from around the globe — 28 states and 27 countries — submitted 3,900 wines from 1,290 wineries to be judged in several different categories, including best white wine, best red wine, best sparkling wine and best dessert wine.

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