I’ll admit that I have not yet seen an episode of “The Winemakers” television show. I just never got around to programming it into my DVR. And if it’s not on the DVR... Nonetheless, when I saw that the show was hosting wine quizzes in wine bars I was interested. And, when I discovered they were giving away prizes that people would actually want to win, I was motivated.

So it was that I found myself, and a lot of other wine lovers, at the the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in San Francisco Tuesday night. Volunteers from among the audience/bar flies were signed up to stand before their fellows and prove their wine savvy, or lack thereof.

The show’s host, Brian von Dedenroth emcee’d the event. Three of the show’s judges were on hand to ask the questions and evaluate answers. Each contestant was given 3 minutes to answer 10 questions. The judges did a good job of adjusting the difficulty of the questions for each person so that nobody would get completely embarrassed. For example, if you respond to the question “What grape is used in Barolo?” with “Burgundy,” the remainder of the questions are of the “True or false: wine is wet” variety.

If, on the other hand, you smirk at those questions and can quickly name three towns in Burgundy as I did, you’re rewarded with questions like “what grape is used in the Italian wine Gattinara?” Call if friendly handicapping. The answer, by the way, is Nebbiolo. I resisted the urge to confirm my unfamiliarity with that wine by answering “German Shepherd” and mentally flipped a coin between Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. I lost the toss.

Fortunately, miraculously, that was the only question I missed. I was able to translate and explain “AOC,” name three Burgundy Grand Cru vineyards, name three sub-appellations of Sonoma County, balance a bar stool on my nose, etc. I was on fire!

In the end, I came in second. My feeling of Doh! at losing was entirely balanced by knowing that the 3rd place finisher was an award-winning winemaker who knows a hell of a lot more than I do about wine.

The most important thing is that it was a fun evening out. I met some nice people and tasted some good wine. I exercised my brain cells while simultaneously dulling them by tasting some good wine. And I gained an appreciation for the steely nerves of successful game show contestants. I can tell you that it’s darned hard to answer even the most routine questions while a presenter is entertaining the crowd by trying to shove a microphone up your nose. At least it wasn’t the bar stool...

I also won a couple of cool prizes. I got a bottle of wine created by the yet-to-be-named “The Winemakers” winner. And I got a special edition of the Crushpad Fusebox which was used for the show. Its components are red Rhone varietals from Paso Robles. I’m looking forward to breaking into that!

If, like me, you’ve yet to see The Winemakers television show, here’s a link to the schedule. If my description of The Winemakers Crossfire Challenge was enticing and you want to try your hand, here’s a link to the schedule for those. There may be one coming to your town. Finally, if  the idea of doing a Rhone blend is appealing, here’s a link to the special edition Fusebox which is available only from the TV show’s website. They are just $59.99 plus tax and shipping.

Disclaimer: I won something, so I could be biased.

Contradisclaimer: I spent about a hundred bucks on wine and parking. And I ain’t biased. So there.

This article is original to NorCalWine.com. Copyright 2009 NorCal Wine. All rights reserved.

Follow NorCalWine on Twitter for breaking wine news, and information on events and more.

Become a fan and join the NorCal Wine community on Facebook.

| More...