Though the San Antonio Wine Festival technically features three events over a two-day period, Katrina Kehoe — public relations manager for KLRN — insists the 210SA demographic (aka young people looking to have fun on the cheap) will find one Wine Fest event particularly enticing.

That event, the 28th annual Fine Wine and Cuisine Tasting, is slated for Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Alamodome. For $45 — should you purchase your tickets at the door — revelers will be able to sample more than 500 various types of wine and food from more than 40 area restaurants.

The wine and cuisine tasting, which closes out this year's San Antonio Wine Festival, is the festival's most highly attended event. More than 3,500 people attended last year's event at the Alamodome, Kehoe said.

“We really try to give people an opportunity to taste as many different types of wines as we can,” Kehoe said. “Some people we have there wanted to be educated on how to drink it and what to drink because wine really is more than just a beverage and there's so much to learn about it.

Some people are just there to drink wine, and that's wonderful.”

All proceeds from the San Antonio Wine Festival benefit KLRN, which relies on public funding to stay on the air. The station is in particular need of funds at this point in time as KLRN — along with many other stations — transition to digital and high-definition TV.

The wine festival serves as one of KLRN's largest fundraisers of the year.

“The proceeds go into an all-encompassing fund,” Kehoe said. “It goes towards our educational outreach efforts, programming and paying for it, the equipment that it takes to put the station on the air — it goes into all of those things. ..... It's so we can be out there and more in the public eye because we're always looking to do more and expand on our horizons.”

Other events taking place at the San Antonio Wine Festival are a wine opener on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa and a champagne brunch Feb. 17 at the same locale.
The Fine Wine and Cuisine Tasting, however, is the highlight of the weekend.

“Wine is something (younger people) have heard a lot about, and it seems like a very adult thing to do,” Kehoe said. “But the crowds range anywhere from new drinkers — a welcome to being 21 — while other people have been at the event for all 28 years. The range is very broad, which is why we really say there's something for everybody.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA