Last Saturday night, a group of sommeliers gathered together for what is a unique San Francisco tradition--the late-night sommelier blind tasting.

That our hardworking restaurant wine professionals will bother to assemble at midnight on a Saturday—each bearing a bottle or two of expensive, classic wine to give to his or her comrades blind—for the purpose of learning and understanding is admirable.


Paul and his sister, Noah, Allen and Jean-Laurent Vacheron                           


Tony, Cezar, Allan and Matt

Here you will see such wine pros as Michael Mina's Rajat Parr, Tony Cha, Noah Dranow, Masa's Allan Murray, Quince's Christie Dufault, Coi's Paul Einbund and Rubicon's Cezar Kusik working together as a community.

I don't know about you, but it makes me feel better about the wine advice I'm getting at restaurants like this to know that their wine directors are bothering to take their tired bodies out after work and spend time tasting and trying to determine the variety, country of origin, vintage and producer of a wine served to them blindly in a glass.

That's dedication.